arXiv subjects

Hua-Sheng Shao

Publications and source records attributed to Hua-Sheng Shao.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

Two-loop massive QCD and QED helicity amplitudes for light-by-light scattering

We present the analytic and compact two-loop helicity amplitudes for QCD and QED corrections to the light-by-light scattering process with massive internal fermions. We express the master integrals either in terms of multiple polylogarithms or in terms of iterated integrals with dlog one-forms. We also elaborate on optimizing the analytic results for each phase-space region. This makes the numerical evaluation of the scattering amplitudes fast, stable and suitable for phenomenological applications.

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arXiv2024

Light-by-Light Scattering at Next-to-Leading Order in QCD and QED

The recent experimental observation of Light-by-Light (LbL) scattering at the Large Hadron Collider has revived interest in this fundamental process, and especially of the accurate prediction of its cross-section, which we present here for the first time at Next-to-Leading Order (NLO) in both QCD and QED. We compare two radically different computational approaches, both exact in the fermion mass dependence, thus offering a strong cross-check of our results. The first approach is a fully analytic method to calculate compact and well-organized two-loop helicity amplitudes. The second one is entirely numerical and leverages the Local Unitarity construction. Our two calculations agree with each other and conclude that including the exact fermion mass contribution typically increases the size of the NLO corrections. Moreover, we find that the exact result converges slowly to the massless limit of the high-energy regime, thus emphasizing the importance of including the full mass dependence at NLO. We also compare our results with the ATLAS measurement of LbL in ultra-peripheral lead-lead collisions, and find that the inclusion of exact NLO corrections reduces, but does not eliminate, the existing tension with theoretical predictions.

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arXiv2023

Di-Higgs productions at N$^3$LO+N$^3$LL

In this talk, we discuss the soft-gluon resummation for a pair of Higgs bosons in the dominant gluon fusion channel to next-to-next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (N$^3$LL) accuracy. Through the study, we achieve sub-percent level accuracy in the uncertainties from the residual renormalisation and factorisation scales, for both inclusive and differential mass distribution in the infinite top quark mass limit. We also combine these results with the full top mass dependent next-to-leading order calculations.

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arXiv2023

Collider constraints on massive gravitons coupling to photons

We study the discovery potential of massive graviton-like spin-2 particles coupled to standard model fields, produced in photon-photon collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) as well as in electron-positron ($e^+e^-$) collisions, within an effective theory with and without universal couplings. Our focus is on a massive graviton G coupled to the electromagnetic field, which decays via $\mathrm{G}\to γγ$ and leads to a resonant excess of diphotons over the light-by-light scattering continuum at the LHC, and of triphoton final states at $e^+e^-$ colliders. Based on similar searches performed for pseudoscalar axion-like particles (ALPs), and taking into account the different cross sections, $γγ$ partial widths, and decay kinematics of the pseudoscalar and tensor particles, we reinterpret existing experimental bounds on the ALP-$γ$ coupling into G-$γ$ ones. Using the available data, exclusion limits on the graviton-photon coupling are set down to $g_{\mathrm{G}γγ}\approx 1$--0.05~TeV$^{-1}$ for masses $m_\mathrm{G} \approx 100$~MeV--2~TeV. Such bounds can be improved by factors of 100 at Belle~II in the low-mass region, and of 4 at the HL-LHC at high masses, with their expected full integrated luminosities.

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arXiv2023

UFO 2.0 -- The Universal Feynman Output format

We present an update of the Universal FeynRules Output model format, commonly known as the UFO format, that is used by several automated matrix-element generators and high-energy physics software. We detail different features that have been proposed as extensions of the initial format during the last ten years, and collect them in the current second version of the model format that we coin the Universal Feynman Output format. Following the initial philosophy of the UFO, they consist of flexible and modular additions to address particle decays, custom propagators, form factors, the renormalisation group running of parameters and masses, and higher-order quantum corrections.

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arXiv2023

Prospects for ditauonium discovery at colliders

The feasibility of observing ditauonium, the bound state of two tau leptons, at $e^+e^-$ colliders (BES III at $\sqrt{s} = 3.78$ GeV, Belle II at $\sqrt{s} = 10.6$ GeV, a future super tau-charm factory (STCF) at $\sqrt{s} \approx 2m_τ$, and the FCC-ee at $\sqrt{s} = 91.2$ GeV) as well as in hadronic and photon-photon collisions at the LHC, is studied. Cross sections and expected yields for spin-0 para- ($\mathcal{T}_0$) and spin-1 ortho- ($\mathcal{T}_1$) ditauonium are presented for nine different production and decay processes. Para-ditauonium can be observed at the FCC-ee via photon fusion in its diphoton decay ($γγ\to\mathcal{T}_0\toγγ$). Ortho-ditauonium can be observed at STCF via $e^+e^-\to\mathcal{T}_1\toμ^+μ^-$, where a threshold scan with monochromatized beams can also provide a very precise extraction of the tau lepton mass with a $\mathcal{O}(25$ keV) uncertainty or less. Observing pp $\to \mathcal{T}_1(μ^+μ^-)+X$ at the LHC is possible by identifying its displaced vertex with a good control of the combinatorial dimuon background. In addition, we compute the rare decay branching fractions of ditauonium into quarkonium plus a photon.

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arXiv2023

Precise predictions for same-sign W-boson scattering at the LHC

Vector-boson scattering processes are of great importance for the current run-II and future runs of the Large Hadron Collider. The presence of triple and quartic gauge couplings in the process gives access to the gauge sector of the Standard Model (SM) and possible new-physics contributions there. To test any new-physics hypothesis, sound knowledge of the SM contributions is necessary, with a precision which at least matches the experimental uncertainties of existing and forthcoming measurements. In this article we present a detailed study of the vector-boson scattering process with two positively-charged leptons and missing transverse momentum in the final state. In particular, we first carry out a systematic comparison of the various approximations that are usually performed for this kind of process against the complete calculation, at LO and NLO QCD accuracy. Such a study is performed both in the usual fiducial region used by experimental collaborations and in a more inclusive phase space, where the differences among the various approximations lead to more sizeable effects. Afterwards, we turn to predictions matched to parton showers, at LO and NLO: we show that on the one hand, the inclusion of NLO QCD corrections leads to more stable predictions, but on the other hand the details of the matching and of the parton-shower programs cause differences which are considerably larger than those observed at fixed order, even in the experimental fiducial region. We conclude with recommendations for experimental studies of vector-boson scattering processes.

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arXiv2023

Precision predictions for exotic lepton production at the Large Hadron Collider

We calculate total and differential cross sections for the pair production, at the Large Hadron Collider, of exotic leptons that could emerge from models with vector-like leptons and in Type-III seesaw scenarios. Our predictions include next-to-leading-order QCD corrections, and we subsequently match them with either parton showers, or threshold resummation at the next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy. Our results show an important increase of the cross sections relative to the leading-order predictions, exhibit a distortion of the shapes for various differential distributions, and feature a significant reduction of the scale uncertainties. Our predictions have been obtained from new FeynRules model implementations and associated UFO model libraries. This completes the set of next-to-leading-order implementations of new physics models featuring extra leptons that are publicly available on the FeynRules model database.

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arXiv2023

N$^3$LO+N$^3$LL QCD improved Higgs pair cross sections

We report a new calculation of the soft-gluon threshold resummation for the Higgs boson pair production in the dominant production mode -- gluon-gluon fusion -- up to the next-to-next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (N$^3$LL) accuracy. After matching N$^3$LL to the next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (N$^3$LO) QCD calculation in the infinite top quark mass approximation, we show that the central values of the inclusive cross sections are quite stable with respect to N$^3$LO, while the conventional renormalisation and factorisation scale uncertainties are reduced by a factor of two, reaching to the subpercent level. Our study further consolidates the good asymptotic perturbative convergence. After combining with the full top-quark mass dependent next-to-leading order QCD results, our most advanced predictions are presented for both the inclusive total cross sections and the differential invariant mass distributions of the Higgs pair.

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arXiv2023

Revisiting NLO QCD corrections to total inclusive J/psi and Upsilon photoproduction cross sections in lepton-proton collisions

We revisit inclusive J/psi and Upsilon photoproduction at lepton-hadron colliders, namely in the limit when the exchanged photon is quasi real. Our computation includes the next-to-leading-order (NLO) alpha_s corrections to the leading-order contributions in v. Similarly to the case of NLO charmonium-hadroproduction processes, the resulting cross sections obtained in the MS-bar factorisation scheme are sometimes found to be negative. We show that the scale-fixing criteria which we derived in a previous study of eta(c) production successfully solves this problem from the EicC all the way up to the FCC-eh energies. We then elaborate on how to study a scale uncertainty akin to that derived by scale variations when one fixes a scale. In turn, we investigate where both J/psi and Upsilon photoproduction could be used to improve our knowledge of gluon content of the proton at scales as low as a couple of GeV.

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arXiv2022

Ditauonium spectroscopy

We examine the properties of ditauonium, an exotic atom consisting of a pair of opposite-sign $τ$ leptons bound together by the quantum electrodynamics (QED) interaction in a hydrogen-like state. The energy levels, decay modes and associated partial widths, as well as total widths and lifetimes of the ortho- and para-ditauonium states are calculated. Higher-order QED effects -- including Lamb shifts, hyperfine splitting structure, and partial decay widths corrections -- are incorporated up to approximately next-to-next-to-leading-order (NNLO) accuracy. Beyond the dominant diphoton and difermion decays, the rates of rare decay channels -- including Dalitz, radiative, triple-photon, double-Dalitz, four-fermion, and neutrinos final states -- are determined.

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arXiv2022

gamma-UPC: Automated generation of exclusive photon-photon processes in ultraperipheral proton and nuclear collisions with varying form factors

The automated generation of arbitrary exclusive final states produced via photon fusion in ultraperipheral high-energy collisions of protons and/or nuclei is implemented in the MadGraph5_aMC@NLO and HelacOnia Monte Carlo codes. Cross sections are calculated in the equivalent photon approximation using $γ$ fluxes derived from electric dipole and charge form factors, and incorporating hadronic survival probabilities. Multiple examples of $γγ$ cross sections computed with this setup, named gamma-UPC, are presented for proton-proton, proton-nucleus, and nucleus-nucleus ultraperipheral collisions (UPCs) at the Large Hadron Collider and Future Circular Collider. Total photon-fusion cross sections for the exclusive production of spin-0,2 resonances (quarkonia, ditauonium, and Higgs boson; as well as axions and gravitons), and for pairs of particles ($J/ψJ/ψ$, WW, ZZ, Z$γ$, $t\bar{t}$, HH) are presented. Differential cross sections for exclusive dileptons and light-by-light scattering are compared to LHC data. This development paves the way for the upcoming automatic event generation of any UPC final state with electroweak corrections at next-to-leading-order accuracy and beyond.

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arXiv2022

Single production of vector-like quarks: the effects of large width, interference and NLO corrections

We provide a comprehensive discussion, together with a complete setup for simulations, relevant for the production of a single vector-like quark at hadron colliders. Our predictions include finite width effects, signal-background interference effects and next-to-leading order QCD corrections. We explicitly apply the framework to study the single production of a vector-like quark $T$ with charge 2/3, but the same procedure can be used to analyse the single production of vector-like quarks with charge $-4/3$, $-1/3$, $2/3$ and $5/3$, when the vector-like quark interacts with the Standard Model quarks and electroweak bosons. Moreover, this procedure can be straightforwardly extended to include additional interactions with exotic particles. We provide quantitative results for representative benchmark scenarios characterised by the $T$ mass and width, and we determine the role of the interference terms for a range of masses and widths of phenomenological significance. We additionally describe in detail, both analytically and numerically, a striking feature in the invariant mass distribution appearing only in the $T \to th$ channel.

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arXiv2022

Observing true tauonium via two-photon fusion at $e^+e^-$ and hadron colliders

The feasibility of observing true tauonium, the bound state of two tau leptons, $\mathcal{T}_0\equiv(τ^+τ^-)_0$, via photon-photon collisions at $e^+e^-$ colliders and at the LHC, is studied. The production cross sections of the process $γγ\to\mathcal{T}_0\toγγ$ -- as well as those of all relevant backgrounds: spin-0 and 2 charmonium resonances decaying to diphotons, and light-by-light scattering -- are computed in the equivalent photon approximation for $e^+e^-$ collisions at BES III ($\sqrt{s} = 3.8$ GeV), Belle II ($\sqrt{s} = 10.6$ GeV), and FCC-ee ($\sqrt{s} = 91.2$ GeV), as well as for ultraperipheral p-p, p-Pb, and Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC. Despite small $\mathcal{T}_0$ production cross sections and a final state swamped by decays from overlapping pseudoscalar and tensor charmonium states -- the $\mathrm{χ_{c2}}$, $\mathrm{η_{c}(2S)}$, and $\mathrm{χ_{c0}}$ states have masses only 2.5, 84, and 139 MeV away, respectively, from the $\mathcal{T}_0$ peak -- evidence and observation of the ground state of the heaviest leptonium appears feasible at Belle II and FCC-ee, respectively, with in-situ high-precision measurements of the irreducible backgrounds.

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arXiv2021

Prospects for quarkonium studies at the high-luminosity LHC

Prospects for quarkonium-production studies accessible during the upcoming high-luminosity phases of the CERN Large Hadron Collider operation after 2021 are reviewed. Current experimental and theoretical open issues in the field are assessed together with the potential for future studies in quarkonium-related physics. This will be possible through the exploitation of the huge data samples to be collected in proton-proton, proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions, both in the collider and fixed-target modes. Such investigations include, among others, those of: (i) J/psi and Upsilon produced in association with other hard particles; (ii) chi(c,b) and eta(c,b) down to small transverse momenta; (iii) the constraints brought in by quarkonia on gluon PDFs, nuclear PDFs, TMDs, GPDs and GTMDs, as well as on the low-x parton dynamics; (iv) the gluon Sivers effect in polarised-nucleon collisions; (v) the properties of the quark-gluon plasma produced in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions and of collective partonic effects in general; and (vi) double and triple parton scatterings.

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arXiv2021

Automated EW corrections with isolated photons: $t \bar t γ$, $t \bar t γγ$ and $t γj$ as case studies

In this work we compute for the first time the so-called Complete-NLO predictions for top-quark pair hadroproduction in association with at least one isolated photon ($ t \bar t γ$). We also compute NLO QCD+EW predictions for the similar case with at least two isolated photons ($ t \bar t γγ$) and for single-top hadroproduction in association with at least one isolated photon. In addition, we complement our results with NLO QCD+EW predictions of the hadronic and leptonic decays of top-quark including an isolated photon. All these results have been obtained in a completely automated approach, by extending the capabilities of the MadGraph5_aMC@NLO framework and enabling the Complete-NLO predictions for processes with isolated photons in the final state. We discuss the technical details of the implementation, which involves a mixed EW renormalisation scheme for such processes.

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arXiv2021

NLO inclusive $J/ψ$ photoproduction at large $P_T$ at HERA and the EIC

We study inclusive $J/ψ$ photoproduction at NLO at large $P_T$ at HERA and the EIC. Our computation includes NLO QCD leading-$P_T$ corrections, QED contributions via an off-shell photon as well as those from $J/ψ$+charm channels. For the latter, we employ the variable-flavour-number scheme. Our results are found to agree with the latest HERA data by H1 and provide, for the first time, a reliable estimate of the EIC reach for such a measurement. Finally, we demonstrate the observability of $J/ψ$+charm production and the sensitivy to probe the non-perturbative charm content of the proton at high $x$, also known as intrinsic charm, at the EIC.

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arXiv2021

Reweighted nuclear PDFs using Heavy-Flavor Production Data at the LHC: nCTEQ15_rwHF & EPPS16_rwHF

We present the reweighting of two sets of nuclear PDFs, nCTEQ15 and EPPS16, using a selection of experimental data on heavy-flavor meson [D0, J/psi, J/psi from B and Upsilon(1S)] production in proton-lead collisions at the LHC which were not used in the original determination of these nuclear PDFs. The reweighted PDFs exhibit significantly smaller uncertainties thanks to these new heavy-flavor constraints. We present a comparison with another selection of data from the LHC and RHIC which were not included in our reweighting procedure. The comparison is overall very good and serves as a validation of these reweighted nuclear PDF sets, which we dub nCTEQ15_rwHF & EPPS16_rwHF. This indicates that the LHC and forward RHIC heavy-flavor data can be described within the standard collinear factorization framework with the same (universal) small-x gluon distribution. We discuss how we believe such reweighted PDFs should be used as well as the limitations of our procedure.

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