arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Tom J. E. Zirke.
A numerical program for the evaluation of the inclusive cross section for associated Higgs production with a massive weak gauge boson at hadron colliders is described, sigma(pp/pbar p -> HV), V=W,Z. The calculation is performed in the framework of the Standard Model and includes next-to-next-to-leading order QCD as well as next-to-leading order electro-weak effects.
Gluon-induced contributions to the associated production of a Higgs and a Z-boson are calculated with NLO accuracy in QCD. They constitute a significant contribution to the cross section for this process. The perturbative correction factor (K-factor) is calculated in the limit of infinite top-quark and vanishing bottom-quark masses. The qualitative similarity of the results to the well-known ones for the gluon-fusion process $gg\to H$ allows to conclude that rescaling the LO prediction by this K-factor leads to a reliable NLO result and realistic error estimate due to missing higher-order perturbative effects. We consider the total inclusive cross section as well as a scenario with a boosted Higgs boson, where the Higgs boson's transverse momentum is restricted to values ptH>200GeV. In both cases, we find large correction factors $K\approx 2$ in most of the parameter space.