Abstract
We calculate, for the first time, the next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) QCD corrections to spin correlations in top quark pair production at the LHC. The NNLO corrections play an important role in the description of the corresponding differential distributions. We observe that the standard model calculation describes the available Δϕ_{ℓℓ} data in the fiducial region but does not agree with the Δϕ_{ℓℓ} measurement extrapolated to full phase space. Most likely this discrepancy is due to the difference in precision between existing event generators and NNLO calculations for dilepton top-pair final states.
Highlights
Institut für Theoretische Teilchenphysik und Kosmologie, RWTH Aachen University, D-52056 Aachen, Germany and Institute for Theoretical Particle Physics, KIT, D-76128 Karlsruhe, Germany
Introduction.—Within the standard model (SM) of particle physics, individual top quarks produced in proton-(anti)proton collisions are not polarized
Spin correlations have been long recognized as a powerful tool for probing the nature of the quark sector in the SM [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14] as well as Higgs and/or beyond the SM (BSM) physics [15,16,17,18,19]
Summary
For the first time, the next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) QCD corrections to spin correlations in top quark pair production at the LHC. Given the potential significance of such a discrepancy, in this Letter we calculate for the first time the complete set of NNLO QCD corrections to top quark pair production and decay. This means that NNLO QCD corrections to both top-pair production and top quark decay are included.
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