arXiv subjects

Maximilian Stahlhofen

Publications and source records attributed to Maximilian Stahlhofen.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Rapidity renormalized TMD soft and beam functions at two loops

We compute the transverse momentum dependent (TMD) soft function for the production of a color-neutral final state at the LHC within the rapidity renormalization group (RRG) framework to next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO). We use this result to extract the universal renormalized TMD beam functions (aka TMDPDFs) in the same scheme and at the same order from known results in another scheme. We derive recurrence relations for the logarithmic structure of the soft and beam functions, which we use to cross check our calculation. We also explicitly confirm the non-Abelian exponentiation of the TMD soft function in the RRG framework at two loops. Our results provide the ingredients for resummed predictions of pT-differential cross sections at NNLL' in the RRG formalism. The RRG provides a systematic framework to resum large (rapidity) logarithms through (R)RG evolution and to assess the associated perturbative uncertainties.

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arXiv2018

Fully-differential Top-Pair Production at a Lepton Collider: From Threshold to Continuum

We present an approach to predict exclusive $W^+bW^-\bar{b}$ production at lepton colliders that correctly describes the top-anti-top threshold as well as the continuum region. We incorporate $t\bar{t}$ form factors for the NLL threshold resummation derived in NRQCD into a factorized relativistic cross section using an extended double-pole approximation, which accounts for fixed-order QCD corrections to the top decays at NLO. This is combined with the full fixed-order QCD result at NLO for $W^+bW^-\bar{b}$ production to obtain predictions that are not only valid at threshold but smoothly transition to the continuum region. Our implementation is based on the Monte Carlo event generator WHIZARD and the code TOPPIK and allows to compute fully-differential threshold-resummed cross sections including the interference with non-resonant background processes. For the first time it is now possible to systematically study general differential observables at future lepton colliders involving the decay products of the top quarks at energies close to the pair production threshold and beyond.

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arXiv2018

Exclusive top production at a Linear Collider at and off the threshold

We review exclusive top pair production including decays at a future high-energy lepton collider, both in the threshold region and for higher energies. For the continuum process, we take complete QCD next-to-leading order matrix elements for the $2\to 6$ process with leptonic W decays into account. At threshold, we match the fixed-order relativistic QCD-NLO cross section to a nonrelativistic cross section with next-to-leading logarithmic (NLL) threshold resummation implemented via a form factor.

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arXiv2017

Relativistic corrections to the static energy in terms of Wilson loops at weak coupling

We consider the ${\mathcal O}(1/m)$ and the spin-independent momentum-dependent ${\mathcal O}(1/m^2)$ quasi-static energies of heavy quarkonium (with unequal masses). They are defined nonperturbatively in terms of Wilson loops. We determine their short-distance behavior through ${\mathcal O}(α^3)$ and ${\mathcal O}(α^2)$, respectively. In particular, we calculate the ultrasoft contributions to the quasi-static energies, which requires the resummation of potential interactions. Our results can be directly compared to lattice simulations. In addition, we also compare the available lattice data with the expectations from effective string models for the long-distance behavior of the quasi-static energies.

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arXiv2017

On the Casimir scaling violation in the cusp anomalous dimension at small angle

We compute the four-loop $n_f$ contribution proportional to the quartic Casimir of the QCD cusp anomalous dimension as an expansion for small cusp angle $ϕ$. This piece is gauge invariant, violates Casimir scaling, and first appears at four loops. It requires the evaluation of genuine non-planar four-loop Feynman integrals. We present results up to ${\mathcal O}(ϕ^4)$. One motivation for our calculation is to probe a recent conjecture on the all-order structure of the cusp anomalous dimension. As a byproduct we obtain the four-loop HQET wave function anomalous dimension for this color structure.

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arXiv2016

Top pair threshold production at a linear collider with WHIZARD

We briefly describe how the Monte Carlo generator WHIZARD 2.2 can be employed to study large QCD effects enhancing the top-antitop production threshold at a next-generation lepton collider. While present state-of-the-art predictions at NNLL order are confined to inclusive total cross sections, our tool can be used to simulate differential distributions including NLL threshold resummation in the production, and with off-shell decaying tops. The new model will be shipped with WHIZARD from version 2.2.3 onwards, to be released along with this article.

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arXiv2015

N-jettiness Subtractions for NNLO QCD Calculations

We present a subtraction method utilizing the N-jettiness observable, Tau_N, to perform QCD calculations for arbitrary processes at next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO). Our method employs soft-collinear effective theory (SCET) to determine the IR singular contributions of N-jet cross sections for Tau_N -> 0, and uses these to construct suitable Tau_N-subtractions. The construction is systematic and economic, due to being based on a physical observable. The resulting NNLO calculation is fully differential and in a form directly suitable for combining with resummation and parton showers. We explain in detail the application to processes with an arbitrary number of massless partons at lepton and hadron colliders together with the required external inputs in the form of QCD amplitudes and lower-order calculations. We provide explicit expressions for the Tau_N-subtractions at NLO and NNLO. The required ingredients are fully known at NLO, and at NNLO for processes with two external QCD partons. The remaining NNLO ingredient for three or more external partons can be obtained numerically with existing NNLO techniques. As an example, we employ our method to obtain the NNLO rapidity spectrum for Drell-Yan and gluon-fusion Higgs production. We discuss aspects of numerical accuracy and convergence and the practical implementation. We also discuss and comment on possible extensions, such as more-differential subtractions, necessary steps for going to N3LO, and the treatment of massive quarks.

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arXiv2015

The Fully-Differential Quark Beam Function at NNLO

We present the first calculation of a fully-unintegrated parton distribution (beam function) at next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO). We obtain the fully-differential beam function for quark-initiated processes by matching it onto standard parton distribution functions (PDFs) at two loops. The fully-differential beam function is a universal ingredient in resummed predictions of observables probing both the virtuality as well as the transverse momentum of the incoming quark in addition to its usual longitudinal momentum fraction. For such double-differential observables our result provides the part of the NNLO singular cross section related to collinear initial-state radiation (ISR), and is important for the resummation of large logarithms through N3LL.

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arXiv2014

Rapidity-Dependent Jet Vetoes

Jet vetoes are a prominent part of the signal selection in various analyses at the LHC. We discuss jet vetoes for which the transverse momentum of a jet is weighted by a smooth function of the jet rapidity. With a suitable choice of the rapidity-weighting function, such jet-veto variables can be factorized and resummed allowing for precise theory predictions. They thus provide a complementary way to divide phase space into exclusive jet bins. In particular, they provide a natural and theoretically clean way to implement a tight veto on central jets with the veto constraint getting looser for jets at increasingly forward rapidities. We mainly focus our discussion on the 0-jet case in color-singlet processes, using Higgs production through gluon fusion as a concrete example. For one of our jet-veto variables we compare the resummed theory prediction at NLL'+NLO with the recent differential cross section measurement by the ATLAS experiment in the $H\toγγ$ channel, finding good agreement. We also propose that these jet-veto variables can be measured and tested against theory predictions in other SM processes, such as Drell-Yan, diphoton, and weak diboson production.

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arXiv2014

The Gluon Beam Function at Two Loops

The virtuality-dependent beam function is a universal ingredient in the resummation for observables probing the virtuality of incoming partons, including N-jettiness and beam thrust. We compute the gluon beam function at two-loop order. Together with our previous results for the two-loop quark beam function, this completes the full set of virtuality-dependent beam functions at next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO). Our results are required to account for all collinear ISR effects to the N-jettiness event shape through N^3LL order. We present numerical results for both the quark and gluon beam functions up to NNLO and N^3LL order. Numerically, the NNLO matching corrections are important. They reduce the residual matching scale dependence in the resummed beam function by about a factor of two.

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arXiv2014

The Top-Antitop Threshold at the ILC: NNLL QCD Uncertainties

We discuss the top-antitop production cross section near threshold at a future linear collider accounting for the NNLL QCD corrections to the anomalous dimension of the leading S-wave production current computed recently within renormalization-group-improved NRQCD perturbation theory. We argue that the still unknown soft NNLL mixing corrections are negligible so that the NNLL QCD corrections to the total cross section can be considered complete for practical purposes. Based on combined variations of the renormalization and matching scales and the overall size of the perturbative corrections we estimate that the NNLL QCD total cross section has a normalization uncertainty of 5% at threshold. We present results for the total cross section and also for the experimentally more relevant case, when moderate cuts are imposed on the reconstructed top and antitop invariant masses.

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arXiv2014

The Quark Beam Function at Two Loops

In differential measurements at a hadron collider, collinear initial-state radiation is described by process-independent beam functions. They are the field-theoretic analog of initial-state parton showers. Depending on the measured observable they are differential in the virtuality and/or transverse momentum of the colliding partons in addition to the usual longitudinal momentum fraction. Perturbatively, the beam functions can be calculated by matching them onto standard quark and gluon parton distribution functions. We calculate the inclusive virtuality-dependent quark beam function at NNLO, which is relevant for any observables probing the virtuality of the incoming partons, including N-jettiness and beam thrust. For such observables, our results are an important ingredient in the resummation of large logarithms at N3LL order, and provide all contributions enhanced by collinear t-channel singularities at NNLO for quark-initiated processes in analytic form. We perform the calculation in both Feynman and axial gauge and use two different methods to evaluate the discontinuity of the two-loop Feynman diagrams, providing nontrivial checks of the calculation. As part of our results we reproduce the known two-loop QCD splitting functions and confirm at two loops that the virtuality-dependent beam and final-state jet functions have the same anomalous dimension.

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arXiv2014

The QCD static potential in D<4 dimensions at weak coupling

We study the static potential of a color singlet quark-antiquark pair with (fixed) distance r in D=3 and D=2 space-time dimensions at weak coupling (alpha r << 1 and g r << 1, respectively). Using the effective theory pNRQCD we determine the ultrasoft contributions, which cannot be computed in conventional perturbative QCD. We show in detail how the ultrasoft renormalization in pNRQCD is carried out. In three dimensions the precision of our results reaches O(alpha^3 r^2), i.e. NNLO in the multipole expansion, and NNLL in a alpha/DeltaV expansion, where DeltaV ~ alpha ln(alpha r). We even present results up to partly N^4LL order and compare them to existing lattice data. Finally we discuss the relevance of the perturbative calculation in two dimensions, where the exact result is known.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

Bottom Mass from Nonrelativistic Sum Rules at NNLL

We report on a recent determination of the bottom quark mass from nonrelativistic (large-n) Upsilon sum rules with renormalization group improvement (RGI) at next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (NNLL) order. The comparison to previous fixed-order analyses shows that the RGI computed in the vNRQCD framework leads to a substantial stabilization of the theoretical sum rule moments with respect to scale variations. A single moment fit (n=10) to the available experimental data yields M_b^{1S}=4.755 +- 0.057(pert) +- 0.009(alpha_s) +- 0.003(exp) GeV for the bottom 1S mass and m_b(m_b)= 4.235 +- 0.055(pert) +- 0.003(exp) GeV for the bottom MSbar mass. The quoted uncertainties refer to the perturbative error and the uncertainties associated with the strong coupling and the experimental input.

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arXiv2012

NLL resummation for the static potential in N=4 SYM theory

We determine the complete NLL running of the static potential associated with the locally 1/2 BPS Wilson loop in N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. We present results for the SU(N_c) singlet as well as for the adjoint configuration and arbitrary N_c at weak coupling. In order to derive the respective anomalous dimensions we perform a two-loop calculation in the N=4 supersymmetric version of the effective field theory pNRQCD. In addition we confirm the recently obtained fixed-order result for the singlet static potential generated exclusively by ladder diagrams to the third order in the t`Hooft coupling. We also give an explicit expression for the logarithmic contribution of all non-ladder diagrams at this order.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Renormalization Group Improved Bottom Mass from Upsilon Sum Rules at NNLL Order

We determine the bottom quark mass from non-relativistic large-n Upsilon sum rules with renormalization group improvement at next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic order. We compute the theoretical moments within the vNRQCD formalism and account for the summation of powers of the Coulomb singularities as well as of logarithmic terms proportional to powers of alpha_s ln(n). The renormalization group improvement leads to a substantial stabilization of the theoretical moments compared to previous fixed-order analyses, which did not account for the systematic treatment of the logarithmic alpha_s ln(n) terms, and allows for reliable single moment fits. For the current world average of the strong coupling (alpha_s(M_Z) = 0.1183 +- 0.0010) we obtain M_b^{1S}=4.755 +- 0.057(pert) +- 0.009(alpha_s) +- 0.003(exp) GeV for the bottom 1S mass and m_b(m_b)= 4.235 +- 0.055(pert) +- 0.003(exp) GeV for the bottom MSbar mass, where we have quoted the perturbative error and the uncertainties from the strong coupling and the experimental data.

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arXiv2011

NNLL top-antitop production at threshold

We present an update to the NNLL RG-improved QCD prediction of top-antitop production in electron-positron annihilation at threshold. It includes for the first time a complete NNLL resummation of ultrasoft logarithms, which are dominant at this order and give a sizable correction. The renormalization scale dependence of the total resonance cross section decreases substantially compared to earlier predictions, where the ultrasoft logarithms were included only partially.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

Ultrasoft NLL Running of the Nonrelativistic O(v) QCD Quark Potential

Using the nonrelativistic effective field theory vNRQCD, we determine the contribution to the next-to-leading logarithmic (NLL) running of the effective quark-antiquark potential at order v (1/mk) from diagrams with one potential and two ultrasoft loops, v being the velocity of the quarks in the c.m. frame. The results are numerically important and complete the description of ultrasoft next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (NNLL) order effects in heavy quark pair production and annihilation close to threshold.

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