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S. Moch

Publications and source records attributed to S. Moch.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

Higher-order threshold resummation for semi-inclusive e^+e^- annihilation

The complete soft-enhanced and virtual-gluon contributions are derived for the quark coefficient functions in semi-inclusive e^+e^- annihilation to the third order in massless perturbative QCD. These terms enable us to extend the soft-gluon resummation for the fragmentation functions by two orders to the next-to-next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (N^3LL) accuracy. The resummation exponent is found to be the same as for the structure functions in inclusive deep-inelastic scattering. This finding, together with known results on the higher-order quark form factor, facilitates the determination of all soft and virtual contributions of the fourth-order difference of the coefficient functions for these two processes. Unlike the previous (N^2LL) order in the exponentiation, the numerical effect of the N^3LL contributions turns out to be negligible at LEP energies.

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New results for t bar t production at hadron colliders

We present new theoretical predictions for the t bar t production cross section at NNLO at the Tevatron and the LHC. We discuss the scale uncertainty and the errors due to the parton distribution functions (PDFs). For the LHC, we present a fit formula for the pair production cross section as a function of the center of mass energy and we provide predictions for the pair production cross section of a hypothetical heavy fourth generation quark t'.

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Analytic integration of real-virtual counterterms in NNLO jet cross sections II

We present analytic expressions of all integrals required to complete the explicit evaluation of the real-virtual integrated counterterms needed to define a recently proposed subtraction scheme for jet cross sections at next-to-next-to-leading order in QCD. We use the Mellin-Barnes representation of these integrals in $4-2ε$ dimensions to obtain the coefficients of their Laurent expansions around $ε=0$. These coefficients are given by linear combinations of multidimensional Mellin-Barnes integrals. We compute the coefficients of such expansions in $ε$ both numerically and analytically by complex integration over the Mellin-Barnes contours.

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The QCD form factor of heavy quarks at NNLO

We present an analytical calculation of the two-loop QCD corrections to the electromagnetic form factor of heavy quarks. The two-loop contributions to the form factor are reduced to linear combinations of master integrals, which are computed through higher orders in the parameter of dimensional regularization epsilon=(4-D)/2. Our result includes all terms of order epsilon at two loops and extends the previous literature. We apply the exponentiation of the heavy-quark form factor to derive new improved three-loop expansions in the high-energy limit. We also discuss the implications for predictions of massive n-parton amplitudes based on massless results in the limit, where the quark mass is small compared to all kinematical invariants.

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Top-quark pair production near threshold at LHC

The next-to-leading order analysis for the cross section for hadroproduction of top quark pairs close to threshold is presented. Within the framework of non-relativistic QCD a significant enhancement compared to fixed order perturbation theory is observed which originates from the characteristic remnant of the 1S peak below production threshold of top quark pairs. The analysis includes all color singlet and color octet configurations of top quark pairs in S-wave states and, for the dominant configurations, it employs all-order soft gluon resummation for the hard parton cross section. Numerical results for the Large Hadron Collider at $\sqrt{s} = 14 $TeV and $\sqrt{s} = 10 $TeV and also for the Tevatron are presented. The possibility of a top quark mass measurement from the invariant mass distribution of top quark pairs is discussed.

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Threshold Resummation of the Structure Function F_L

The behaviour of the quark coefficient function for the longitudinal structure function F_L in deep-inelastic scattering is investigated for large values of the Bjorken variable x. We combine a highly plausible conjecture on the large-x limit of the physical evolution kernel for this quantity with our explicit three-loop results to derive the coefficients of the three leading large-x logarithms, alpha_s^n ln^(2n-1-k) (1-x), k = 1, 2, 3, to all orders in the strong coupling constant alpha_s. Corresponding results are derived for the non-C_F part of the gluon coefficient function suppressed by a factor 1-x, and for the analogous subleading (1-x) ln^k (1-x) contributions in the quark case. Our results appear to indicate an obstacle for an exponentiation with a higher logarithmic accuracy.

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Parton Distributions

We provide an assessment of the state of the art in various issues related to experimental measurements, phenomenological methods and theoretical results relevant for the determination of parton distribution functions (PDFs) and their uncertainties, with the specific aim of providing benchmarks of different existing approaches and results in view of their application to physics at the LHC. We discuss higher order corrections, we review and compare different approaches to small x resummation, and we assess the possible relevance of parton saturation in the determination of PDFS at HERA and its possible study in LHC processes. We provide various benchmarks of PDF fits, with the specific aim of studying issues of error propagation, non-gaussian uncertainties, choice of functional forms of PDFs, and combination of data from different experiments and different processes. We study the impact of combined HERA (ZEUS-H1) structure function data, their impact on PDF uncertainties, and their implications for the computation of standard candle processes, and we review the recent F_L determination at HERA. Finally, we compare and assess methods for luminosity measurements at the LHC and the impact of PDFs on them.

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Higher order QCD corrections to charged-lepton deep-inelastic scattering and global fits of parton distributions

We study the perturbative QCD corrections to heavy-quark structure functions of charged-lepton deep-inelastic scattering and their impact on global fits of parton distributions. We include the logarithmically enhanced terms near threshold due to soft gluon resummation in the QCD corrections at next-to-next-to-leading order. We demonstrate that this approximation is sufficient to describe the available HERA data in most parts of the kinematic region. The threshold-enhanced next-to-next-to-leading order corrections improve the agreement between predictions based on global fits of the parton distribution functions and the HERA collider data even in the small-x region.

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Third-order QCD corrections to the charged-current structure function F_3

We compute the coefficient function for the charge-averaged W^(+/-)-exchange structure function F_3 in deep-inelastic scattering (DIS) to the third order in massless perturbative QCD. Our new three-loop contribution to this quantity forms, at not too small values of the Bjorken variable x, the dominant part of the next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order corrections. It thus facilitates improved determinations of the strong coupling alpha_s and of 1/Q^2 power corrections from scaling violations measured in neutrino-nucleon DIS. The expansion of F_3 in powers of alpha_s is stable at all values of x relevant to measurements at high scales Q^2. At small x the third-order coefficient function is dominated by diagrams with the colour structure d_abc d^abc not present at lower orders. At large x the coefficient function for F_3 is identical to that of F_1 up to terms vanishing for x to 1.

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Automating dipole subtraction

We report on automating the Catani-Seymour dipole subtraction which is a general procedure to treat infrared divergences in real emission processes at next-to-leading order in QCD. The automatization rests on three essential steps: the creation of the dipole terms, the calculation of the color linked squared Born matrix elements, and the evaluation of different helicity amplitudes. The routines have been tested for a number of complex processes, such as the real emission process gg --> t anti-t ggg.

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Heavy-quark pair production at two loops in QCD

We present updated predictions for the total cross section of top-quark pair production at Tevatron and LHC. For the LHC we also provide results at sqrt(s) = 10 TeV, in view of the anticipated run in 2008 and quote numbers for the production of new heavy-quark pairs with mass in the range 0.5 - 2 TeV. Our two-loop results incorporate all logarithmically enhanced terms near threshold including Coulomb corrections as well as the exact dependence on the renormalization and factorization scale through next-to-next-to-leading order in QCD.

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Towards the NNLO evolution of polarised parton distributions

We report on the first calculation of the structure function g_1 in polarised deep-inelastic scattering to the third order in massless perturbative QCD. The calculation follows the dispersive approach already used for the corresponding unpolarised cases of F_2,L, but additionally involves higher tensor integrals and the Dirac matrix gamma_5 in D unequal 4 dimensions. Our results confirm all known two-loop expressions including the coefficient functions of Zijlstra and van Neerven not independently verified before. At three loops we extract the helicity-difference next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) quark-quark and gluon-quark splitting functions Delta P_qq and Delta P_qg. The results exhibit interesting features concerning sum rules and the momentum-fraction limits x to 1 and x to 0.

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NNLO Time-like Splitting Functions in QCD

We review the status of the calculation of the time-like splitting functions for the evolution of fragmentation functions to the next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD. By employing relations between space-like and time-like deep-inelastic processes, all quark-quark and the gluon-gluon time-like splitting functions have been obtained to three loops. The corresponding quantities for the quark-gluon and gluon-quark splitting at this order are presently still unknown except for their second Mellin moments.

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Hard QCD at hadron colliders

We review the status of QCD at hadron colliders with emphasis on precision predictions and the latest theoretical developments for cross sections calculations to higher orders. We include an overview of our current information on parton distributions and discuss various Standard Model reactions such as W/Z-boson, Higgs boson or top quark production.

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Massive QCD amplitudes at higher orders

We consider the factorization properties of on-shell QCD amplitudes with massive partons in the limit when all kinematical invariants are large compared to the parton mass and discuss the structure of their infrared singularities. The dimensionally regulated soft poles and the large collinear logarithms of the parton masses exponentiate to all orders. Based on this factorization a simple relation between massless and massive scattering amplitudes in gauge theories can be established. We present recent applications of this relation for the calculation of the two-loop virtual QCD corrections to the hadro-production of heavy quarks.

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On Third-Order Timelike Splitting Functions and Top-Mediated Higgs Decay into Hadrons

We employ relations between spacelike and timelike deep-inelastic processes in perturbative QCD to calculate the next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) contributions to the timelike quark-quark and gluon-gluon splitting functions for the evolution of flavour-singlet fragmentation distributions. We briefly address the end-point behaviour and the numerical size of these third-order corrections, and write down the second moments of all four timelike splitting functions. In the same manner we re-derive the NNLO result for the Higgs-boson decay rate into hadrons in the limit of a heavy top quark and five massless flavours, and confirm the recent N^3LO computation of this quantity.

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