Direct photon production beyond leading order in QCD

The significance of the quark-quark scattering process (quark+quark→quark+quark+photon) for the production of large-q_T real photons is discussed in the framework of perturbative QCD. To extract the finite contribution of this process to the differential cross section dσ/dy d²q_T (hadron 1+hadron 2→photon+anything) we define the gluon distribution and the quark-to-photon fragmentation function beyond the leading approximation. The calculations are performed consistently in the dimensional regularization scheme. Our numerical estimates show the resulting finite qq→qqγ contribution to be a small (order α_s/2π) correction in comparison with the basic QCD subprocesses.     

Calculable observables in quantum chromodynamics: (II). Heavy quark production

It is argued that the color-averaged inclusive cross section dσ/d³p for the production of a heavy quark of given momentum p and given flavor is infrared-singularity free and therefore calculable in perturbative QCD if it is evaluated away from heavy quark thresholds and if the typical reaction energy Q is such that α_s(Q)ln[Q/m(Q)] is small, α_s and m being the strong coupling constant and the heavy quark mass respectively. An interpretation of this cross section is proposed in terms of heavy flavor hadronic production.     

Leading logarithms of heavy quark masses in processes with light and heavy quarks

The matrix elements of operators containing both heavy quark (Q) and light quark (q) fields can contain large logarithms of the type ln(m_Q²/μ²), where μ is a typical QCD mass scale and m_Q is the heavy quark mass. We outline a method for summing leading logarithms of this type. We apply it to the decay constant f_M of a low lying pseudoscalar meson M with Q̄q flavor quantum numbers and predict the ratios of decay constants for mesons with different heavy flavors. We also apply it to a matrix element of a four-quark operator which is relevant for B⁰−B̄⁰ mixing.     

QCD corrections to the Drell-Yan mechanism and the pion structure function

We compute the differential cross section dσ/dQ² dy for lepton pair production up to first order in the strong coupling constant α_s. We show that, in the region where the theory applies and where the statistical accuracy of the experiments is good, the ratio of the QCD correction to the Drell-Yan cross section is approximately constant, and that its magnitude is in good agreement with the results of the CERN-NA3 experiment. We thus show that, within the framework of this first-order calculation, the shape of the pion structure function extracted from dilepton production in πp collisions is approximately correct. We also comment on the average transverse momentum of the dilepton due to gluon or quark recoil.     

Radiative corrections to the structure functions and sum rules in polarized dis

The one-loop NLO radiative corrections (RC) to the observables in polarized DIS using assumption that a quark is an essential massive particle are considered. If compared with classical QCD formulae the obtained results are identical for the unpolarized and different for polarized sum rules, that can be explained as the influence of the finite quark mass effects on NLO QCD corrections. The explicit expression for one-loop NLO QCD contribution to the structure function g ₂ is presented.     

Virtual photon structure

The structure functions of a real photon are calculable in QCD. The leading contribution is proportional to 1n Q², with a coefficient reflecting the gluon flux in a real photon. We investigate this leading term for non-zero target photon mass. In an appropriate limit the gluon content in a virtual photon is found to vanish. The gluon radiative corrections of QCD can thus be turned off by tuning the target photon mass.     

Mass corrections to the tau decay rate

In this note radiative corrections to the total hadronic decay rate of the τ-lepton are studied employing perturbative QCD and the operator product expansion. We calculate quadratic quark mass corrections to the decay rate rationR _τ to the order0(α _s ² m²) and find that they contribute appreciably to the Cabbibo supressed decay modes of the τ-lepton. We also discuss corrections of mass dimensionD=4, where we emphasize the need of a suitable choice of the renormalization scale of the quark and gluon condensates.     

Leading log radiative corrections to deep inelastic neutral and charged current scattering at HERA

TheO(α) radiative corrections for neutral and charged current deep inelastic scattering are calculated in the leading log approximation. The numerical results are found to agree within a few per cent with the results of a completeO(α) calculation by Bardin et al. It is demonstrated that both for the leading log and completeO(α) calculation all light quark mass terms can be eliminated from the cross section.     

Large perturbative corrections to the Drell-Yan process in QCD

The total cross section $\text{d}\text{σ}\text{d}\text{Q}{}^2$ for the production of a muon pair of invariant mass Q²via the Drell-Yan mechanism and the Feynman x_F differential cross section $\text{d}{}^2\text{σ}\text{d}\text{Q}{}^2\text{d}\text{x}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>F</mtext>}}$ are calculated in QCD retaining all terms up to order α_s(Q². The calculations are performed using dimensional regularisation of the intermediary infrared and collinear singularities, but we present our results in a form independent of such details. The corrections to both these cross sections coming from radiative corrections to the lowest-order $\text{q}\text{q}$ annihilation diagram are found to be large at present values of Q² and S when the cross section is expressed in terms of parton densities derived from leptonproduction, for all Drell-Yan processes of practical interest. Numerical calculations are presented which show, for any reasonable parametrisation of the parton densities, that the neglect of higher-order terms in α_s(Q²) is not justifiable. The quark-gluon diagrams on the other hand give small corrections in this order and are only important for PP scattering.     

Higher order leading logarithmic QED corrections to deep inelasticep scattering at very high energies

Higher order electromagnetic radiative corrections to neutral current deep inelastic electron proton scattering are studied in collinear approximation. Second order corrections show qualitatively new features compared to the first order ones and are non-negligible for largey and smallx. We also show how kinematical cuts on the recoil quark jet, in particular the jet angle, will allow a strong reduction of the contribution from radiative events for smallx and largey.     

Higher order QCD contributions to electron structure functions

We study deep inelastice ⁺ e ^? scattering with untagged throughgoing target electrons. The corresponding electron structure functions are not trivially related to photon structure functions. Both can be calculated in QCD perturbation theory but the first ones can be measured more easily. In studying next-to-leading log contributions to electron structure functions we find that the leading logQ ² approximation completely fails at present energies. This is due to different scales λ andm _e . A modified leading-log approximation is introduced. Higher order corrections to this approximation are small away fromx=0 or 1.     

A model for chiral symmetry breaking in QCD

A recently proposed model for dynamical breaking of chiral symmetry in QCD is extended and developed for the calculation of pion and chiral symmetry breaking parameters. The pion is explicitly realized as a massless Goldstone boson and as a bound state of the constituent quarks. We compute, in the limit of exact chiral symmetry, M_Q, the constituent quark mass $\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{\pi }}$ the pion decay coupling, $\text{〈}\text{u}\text{u〉}$, the constituent quark loop density, μ_π²/m_q, the ratio of the Goldstone boson mass squared to the bare quark mass, and 〈r²〉_π, the pion electromagnetic charge radius squared.     

Pion properties at finite isospin chemical potential with isospin symmetry breaking

Pion properties at finite temperature, finite isospin and baryon chemical potentials are investigated within the SU(2) NJL model. In the mean field approximation for quarks and random phase approximation fpr mesons, we calculate the pion mass, the decay constant and the phase diagram with different quark masses for the u quark and d quark, related to QCD corrections, for the first time. Our results show an asymmetry between μI 0 and μI 0 in the phase diagram, and different values for the charged pion mass(or decay constant) and neutral pion mass(or decay constant) at finite temperature and finite isospin chemical potential. This is caused by the effect of isospin symmetry breaking, which is from different quark masses.     

The triple regge limit of diffractive dissociation in deep inelastic scattering

We derive, within perturbative QCD, a formula for the inclusive cross section of the diffractive dissociation of the deep inelastic photon γ^*+q→X+q in the triple Regge limits?M ²?Q ²?Λ ². We use the leading ln(s/M ², ln(M ²/Q ²) approximation and derive an, expression for the triple Pomeron vertex. The Pomeron above this vertex is found to be of higher order than the BFKL Pomeron. The resulting formula for the cross section is infrared finite. We show that the Abramovsky-Gribov-Kanchelli cutting rules are satisfied, and we discuss implications for the Pomeron structure function.     

Perturbative QCD and the exclusive decay of heavy quarkonium into a photon and two mesons

We consider the radiative decays of the ³S₁ ground state Q$\text{Q}$ into a real photon and two light pseudoscalar or vector mesons. For sufficiently large mass of the heavy quark Q, the decay, e.g. ? → γππ, can be calculated in perturbative QCD, provided that the photon does not carry away a predominant fraction of the available energy. We present differential and integrated Dalitz plot distributions and, for quarkonium states produced with transverse polarization in e⁺e^? annihilation, angular distributions of the orientation of the decay triangle relative to the beam direction.     

Analysis of the QCD spectrum and chiral symmetry breaking with varying quark masses

The meson spectrum of QCD is studied in the framework of nonperturbative QCD as a function of varying quark masses m _q . It is shown that the total spectrum consists of two branches: 1) the standard one, which may be called the flux-tube spectrum, depending approximately linearly on m _q , and 2) the chiral symmetry breaking (CSB) spectrum for pseudoscalar (PS) flavor nonsinglet mesons with mass dependence √m _q . The formalism for PS mesons is derived from the QCD Lagrangian with m _q corrections, and a unified form of the PS propagator was derived. It is shown that the CSB branch of PS mesons joins to the flux-tube branch at around m _q = 200 MeV. All these results are in close correspondence with recent numerical data on large lattices.     

The total cross section for the production of heavy quarks in hadronic collisions

We present the results of a full calculation of the QCD O(α_S³) radiative corrections to the total cross section for the production of a heavy quark pair. We find large contributions for parton subenergies near threshold and well above threshold. The implications for the production of top and bottom quarks at collider energies are discussed.     

Bound states of light and heavy quarks in hot hadronic matter

The correlators of currents \(\bar q\) Q,γ _v γ ₅ Q,q andQ being correspondingly light and heavy quark fields, in hot hadronic matter are investigated by means of finite temperature QCD sum rules. AtT? 100 MeV the modification of the effective spectrum parameters takes place, similar to that found earlier in the correlators of light quark currents. AtT?150 MeV the form of the spectrum is obtained, which indicates an appearance in hadronic matter of quasifree quarks with nonzero mass being fixed by the value of the quark condensate 〈 \(\bar q\) q〉 (T).     

Weak decays of heavy quarks

To investigate the role of real gluons in heavy meson weak decays, we compute the first-order QCD corrections to the total rate for the weak decay of a heavy quark. We find that to this order there are no leading log contributions. Furthermore, the first-order QCD corrections depress the total decay rate, although they provide an enhancement of the nonleptonic rate over the semileptonic rate. We discuss the relevance of our results to the usual picture of QCD enhancements based on short-distance expansions of weak decay amplitudes.     

Precise prediction for the mass of the lightest Higgs boson in the MSSM

The leading diagrammatic two-loop corrections are incorporated into the prediction for the mass of the lightest Higgs boson, m_h, in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). The results, containing the complete diagrammatic one-loop corrections, the new two-loop result and refinement terms incorporating leading electroweak two-loop and higher-order QCD contributions, are discussed and compared with results obtained by renormalization group calculations. Good agreement is found in the case of vanishing mixing in the scalar quark sector, while sizable deviations occur if squark mixing is taken into account.