arXiv subjects

Prasanna K. Dhani

Publications and source records attributed to Prasanna K. Dhani.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

On the analytic continuation and matching of threshold singularities from Vacuum Amplitudes

We provide a detailed discussion for all kinematical configurations of the analytic continuation to negative values of initial-state on-shell energies used to generate interferences of scattering amplitudes from vacuum amplitudes in the Loop-Tree Duality. We also extend previous discussions on the matching of threshold singularities and introduce angular averaging as an efficient strategy to achieve a local cancellation when the matching of threshold singularities from vacuum amplitudes is constrained by flavour.

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arXiv2026

Understanding IR singularities in the Loop-Tree Duality

One of the main advantages of the Loop-Tree Duality representation of scattering amplitudes is that it makes the origin of infrared and threshold singularities particularly transparent. This talk reviews recent progress in describing how singularities emerge and cancel at the level of scattering and vacuum amplitudes, discusses a novel strategy to efficiently construct finite integrals, and presents a complementary perspective based on encoding the underlying causal and singular structure in terms of qubits and quantum circuits.

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arXiv2026

A Systematic Approach to Finite Multiloop Feynman Integrals

Finite Feynman integrals have been advocated as the optimal components for constructing a basis of master integrals in multiloop calculations, due to their improved analytic and numerical properties. In this paper, we show how the Loop-Tree Duality (LTD) is particularly well suited for systematically identifying finite integrals, as it makes the origin of infrared and threshold singularities fully transparent at the integrand level. This clear separation of singular and non-singular contributions enables a more efficient strategy for isolating and promoting finite integrals, thereby streamlining both reduction and numerical evaluation. We present a new strategy based on numerator and raised propagator Ansätze that provides results similar to other methods, although in a clearer and compact way. While this construction and other approaches establish a robust foundation, they often produce integrands that exhibit a rapid growth in the ultraviolet (UV) regime. To mitigate this bad UV behaviour, we introduce a generalized set of integrands fully defined within LTD. This new set is inherently infrared-finite and frequently free of threshold singularities, offering a more versatile framework for high-order calculations.

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arXiv2026

Catani's generalization of collinear factorization breaking

We consider the most general form of soft and collinear factorization for hard-scattering amplitudes to all orders in perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics. Specifically, we present the generalization of collinear factorization to configurations with several collinear directions, where the most singular behaviour is encoded by generalized collinear splitting amplitudes that manifestly embed the breaking of strict collinear factorization in space-like collinear configurations. We also extend the analysis to the simultaneous soft-collinear factorization with multiple collinear directions where na\"ıve multiplicative factorization does not hold. As an illustrative example of factorization breaking, we present explicit results at the one-loop level in the soft-collinear limit.

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arXiv2025

Heavy Flavor Jet Substructure at Lepton Colliders

We provide a detailed analysis of event-shape observables, namely the energy correlation function and jet angularity, for heavy-flavor jets produced in electron-positron collisions, focusing on quantum chromodynamics (QCD) interactions. Using modern jet substructure techniques, we investigate the dead-cone effect, where QCD radiation is suppressed around a heavy quark within an angle proportional to its mass. Our analysis achieves next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy, combined with fixed-order contributions, to improve the description of the transition near the dead-cone threshold. To ensure a comprehensive perspective, we compare our analytical results with predictions from the Pythia, Herwig and Sherpa Monte Carlo simulations at past and future lepton colliders.

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arXiv2025

Heavy Flavour Jet Substructure

We present a comprehensive study of energy correlation functions and jet angularities for heavy-flavour QCD jets. In particular, we discuss the possibility of using these observables to expose the dead cone effect, i.e. the suppression of collinear QCD radiation around massive quarks, and to investigate the sensitivity of different observable definitions to the presence of quark masses. Our calculations are presented as all-order resummed predictions at next-to-leading-logarithmic accuracy, matched to (partial) fixed-order results to obtain a better description of the transition around the dead cone threshold. We also compare our analytic results with Pythia, Herwig and Sherpa Monte Carlo predictions to estimate the impact of non-perturbative contributions such as hadronisation, underlying events and $B$-hadron decays.

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arXiv2024

Vacuum amplitudes and time-like causal unitary in the loop-tree duality

We present the first proof-of-concept application to decay processes at higher perturbative orders of LTD causal unitary, a novel methodology that exploits the causal properties of vacuum amplitudes in the loop-tree duality (LTD) and is directly well-defined in the four physical dimensions of the space-time. The generation of loop- and tree-level contributions to the differential decay rates from a kernel multiloop vacuum amplitude is shown in detail, and explicit expressions are presented for selected processes that are suitable for a lightweight understanding of the method. Specifically, we provide a clear physical interpretation of the local cancellation of soft, collinear and threshold singularities, and of the local renormalisation of ultraviolet singularities. The presentation is illustrated with numerical results that showcase the advantages of the method.

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arXiv2024

Rewording Theoretical Predictions at Colliders with Vacuum Amplitudes

We propose multiloop vacuum amplitudes as the optimal building blocks for efficiently assembling theoretical predictions at high-energy colliders. This hypothesis is strongly supported by the manifestly causal properties of the loop-tree duality (LTD) representation of a vacuum amplitude. The vacuum amplitude, acting as a kernel, encodes all the final states contributing to a given scattering or decay process through residues in the on-shell energies of the internal propagators. It also naturally implements gauge invariance and the wave function renormalisation of the external legs. This methodological approach, dubbed LTD causal unitary, leads to a novel representation of differential cross sections and decay rates that is locally free of ultraviolet and infrared singularities at all orders in perturbation theory. Threshold singularities also match between different phase-space residues. Most notably, it allows us to conjecture for the first time the local functional form of initial-state collinear singularities. The fulfillment of all these properties provides a theoretical description of differential observables at colliders that is well defined in the four physical dimensions of the space-time.

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arXiv2024

Two loop QCD corrections for the process Pseudo-scalar Higgs $\rightarrow 3$ partons

We present virtual contributions up to two loop level in perturbative Quantum Chromodynamic (QCD) to the decay of pseudo-scalar Higgs boson ($A$) to three gluons ($g$) and also to quark ($q$), anti-quark ($\overline q$) and a gluon. With appropriate crossing, they are well suited for predicting the differential distribution of $A$ in association with a jet in hadron colliders up to next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in strong coupling constant and also for the subsequent decay of $A$ to hadrons. We use effective field theory approach to integrate out the top quarks in the heavy top limit. The resulting theory involves two pseudo-scalar composite operators describing the interaction of $A$ with gluons as well as with quark and anti-quark. We perform our computation in dimensional regularisation and use minimal subtraction ($\overline{MS}$) scheme to renormalise strong coupling constant as well as the composite operators. The ultraviolet (UV) finite amplitudes contain infrared (IR) divergences that are found to be in agreement with the predictions by Catani. For both the amplitudes namely $A \rightarrow g g g$ and $A \rightarrow q \overline q g$, the leading transcendental terms at one and two loops are found to be identical to those in a three point form factor (FF) of the half-BPS operator in ${\cal N}=4$ Supersymmetric Yang Mills (SYM) theory when the QCD color factors are adjusted in a specific way. We present our results in terms of harmonic polylogs well suited for further numerical study.

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arXiv2023

Triple-collinear splittings with massive particles

We analyze in detail the most singular behaviour of processes involving triple-collinear splittings with massive particles in the quasi-collinear limit, and present compact expressions for the splitting amplitudes and the corresponding splitting kernels at the squared-amplitude level. Our expressions fully agree with well-known triple-collinear splittings in the massless limit, which are used as a guide to achieve the final expressions. These results are important to quantify dominant mass effects in many observables, and constitute an essential ingredient of current high-precision computational frameworks for collider phenomenology.

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arXiv2023

Towards higher-order collinear splittings with massive partons

The singularities associated with QCD factorization in the collinear limit are key ingredients for high-precision theoretical predictions in particle physics. They govern the collinear behaviour of scattering amplitudes, as well as the perturbative energy evolution of parton densities (PDFs) and fragmentation functions (FFs). In this talk, we present the computation of multiple collinear and higher-order QCD splittings with massive partons. Our results are highly-relevant for the consistent introduction of mass effects in the subtraction formalism and PDF/FF evolution.

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arXiv2023

Collinear functions for QCD resummations

The singular behaviour of QCD squared amplitudes in the collinear limit is factorized and controlled by splitting kernels with a process-independent structure. We use these kernels to define collinear functions that can be used in QCD resummation formulae of hard-scattering observables. Different collinear functions are obtained by integrating the splitting kernels over different phase-space regions that depend on the hard-scattering observables of interest. The collinear functions depend on an auxiliary vector $n^μ$ that can be either light-like $(n^2=0)$ or time-like $(n^2 > 0)$. In the case of transverse-momentum dependent (TMD) collinear functions, we show that the use of a time-like auxiliary vector avoids the rapidity divergences, which are instead present if $n^2=0$. The perturbative computation of the collinear functions lead to infrared (IR) divergences that can be properly factorized with respect to IR finite functions that embody the logarithmically-enhanced collinear contributions to hard-scattering cross sections. We evaluate various collinear functions and their $n^μ$ dependence at ${\cal O}(α_{\rm S})$. We compute the azimuthal-correlation component of the TMD collinear functions at ${\cal O}(α_{\rm S}^2)$, and we present the results of the ${\cal O}(α_{\rm S}^2)$ contribution of linearly-polarized gluons to transverse-momentum resummation formulae. Beyond ${\cal O}(α_{\rm S}^2)$ the collinear functions of initial-state colliding partons are process dependent, as a consequence of the violation of strict collinear factorization of QCD squared amplitudes.

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arXiv2022

Azimuthally-correlated contributions to QCD transverse-momentum resummation at $\mathcal{O}(α_{\rm S}^2)$

Singular factors originating from the QCD factorisation of scattering amplitudes in soft and collinear limits play a prominent role in both organising and computing high-order perturbative contributions to hard-scattering cross sections. In this talk, we start from the factorisation structure of scattering amplitudes in the collinear limit, and we introduce collinear functions that have a process-independent structure. These collinear functions, which are defined at the fully-differential level, can then be integrated over the appropriate observable-dependent phase space to compute logarithmically-enhanced contributions to the corresponding observable. For transverse-momentum dependent observables, we show how the collinear functions can be defined without introducing what is known as rapidity divergences in the literature. We present the results of explicit computations of the collinear functions up to next-to-next-to-leading order in the QCD perturbation theory.

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arXiv2020

Two-loop Doubly Massive Four-Point Amplitude Involving a half-BPS and Konishi Operator

The two-loop four-point amplitude of two massless SU(N) colored scalars and two color singlet operators with different virtuality described by a half-BPS and Konishi operators is calculated analytically in maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. We verify the ultraviolet behaviour of the unprotected composite operator and exponentiation of the infrared divergences with correct universal values of the anomalous dimensions in the modified dimensional reduction scheme. The amplitude is found to contain lower transcendental weight terms in addition to the highest ones and the latter has no similarity with similar amplitudes in QCD.

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arXiv2020

Form factors with two operator insertions and the principle of maximal transcendentality

We present the first calculations of two-point two-loop form factors (FFs) with a two identical operators insertion in maximally supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. In this article, we consider the supersymmetry protected half-BPS primary and unprotected Konishi operators. Unlike the FFs of a single operator insertion of the half-BPS primary, the FFs involving two half-BPS operators are found to contain lower transcendentality weight terms in addition to the highest ones. Moreover, in contrast to Sudakov FFs, the highest weight terms of the FFs of a double half-BPS no longer match with that of a double Konishi. We also find that the principle of maximal transcendentality, which dictates the presence of identical highest weight terms in the scalar FFs of half-BPS and quark/gluon FFs in QCD, does not hold true anymore for insertions of two identical operators. We discover the absence of any additional ultraviolet counterterm that could arise from the contact interaction between two composite operators.

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arXiv2020

Polarised Amplitudes and Soft-Virtual Cross Sections for $b\bar b \rightarrow ZH$ at NNLO in QCD

Production of the Higgs boson, $H$ in association with a massive vector boson, $V$, i.e., the $VH$ process, plays an important role in the explorations of Higgs physics at the Large Hadron Collider, both for a precise study of Higgs' Standard Model couplings and for probing New Physics. In this publication we present the two-loop corrections in massless quantum chromodynamics (QCD) to the amplitude of the Higgs production associated with a $Z$ boson via the bottom quark-antiquark annihilation channel with a non-vanishing bottom-quark Yukawa coupling, which is a necessary ingredient of the full next-to-next-to-leading-order QCD corrections to the $VH$ process in the five-flavour scheme. The computation is performed by projecting the D-dimensional scattering amplitude directly onto an appropriate set of Lorentz structures related to the linear polarisation states of the $Z$ boson. We provide analytic expressions of the complete set of renormalised polarised amplitudes in terms of polylogarithms of maximum weight four. To give an estimation of the size of contributions from amplitudes considered in this work, we compute numerically the resulting cross sections under the soft-virtual approximation. We also take the opportunity to make a dedicated discussion regarding an interesting subtlety appearing in the conventional form factor decomposition of amplitudes involving axial currents regularised in D dimensions.

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arXiv2019

Infrared structure of $\mathcal{N}$ = 4 SYM and leading transcendentality principle in gauge theory

We present a detailed study on the infrared structure of $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM and its connection to QCD. Calculation of collinear splitting functions helps to understand the structure and thus one can get infrared safe cross sections. We also demonstrate the factorization property that soft plus virtual part of the cross section satisfies and through factorization, we calculate soft distribution function up to third order in perturbation theory. We show that the soft distribution function is process independent that includes operators as well as external legs. In addition to this we compare our findings against the known results in QCD through principle of maximum transcendentality (PMT). We extend our analysis further for the case of three-point form factors involving stress tensor and find that it violates the PMT while comparing with the corresponding quantity in the standard model, observed for the first time at the level of form factor.

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arXiv2019

Two-Loop QCD Helicity Amplitudes for Higgs Production Associated with a Vector Boson through Bottom Quark Annihilation

We present the two-loop QCD corrections to the amplitude of the Higgs production associated with a $Z$ boson via the bottom quark-antiquark annihilation channel with a non-vanishing bottom-quark Yukawa coupling. The computation is performed by projecting the D-dimensional scattering amplitude directly onto a set of Lorentz structures related to the linear polarisation states of the $Z$ boson. We cross-check the finite remainders through a computation based on conventional form factor decomposition. We show that for physical observables, an ultimate D-dimensional form factor decomposition of amplitudes is not necessary which has a huge potential to simplify a multiloop computation. We compute numerically the resulting cross sections under the soft-virtual approximation to NNLO and find it three orders of magnitude smaller than that of the s-channel.

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