O(α_s) QCD Corrections to Spin Correlations in $e^- e^+ \to t \bar t$ process at the NLC

Abstract

Using a Generic spin basis, we present a general formalism of one-loop radiative corrections to the spin correlations in the top quark pair production at the Next Linear Collider, and calculate the O(α_s) QCD corrections under the soft gluon approximation. We find that: (a) in Off-diagonal basis, the $O(α_s)$ QCD corrections to $e_L^- e^+$ ($e_R^- e^+$) scattering process increase the differential cross sections of the dominant spin component $t_{\uparrow}\bar{t}_{\downarrow}$ ($t_{\downarrow}\bar{t}_{\uparrow}$) by $\sim 30%$ and $\sim (0.1%-3%)$ depending on the scattering angle for $\sqrt{s}=400 GeV$ and 1 TeV, respectively; (b) in {Off-diagonal basis} (Helicity basis), the dominant spin component makes up 99.8% ($\sim 53%$) of the total cross section at both tree and one-loop level for $\sqrt{s}=400 GeV$, and the Off-diagonal basis therefore remains to be the optimal spin basis after the inclusion of $O(α_s)$ QCD corrections.