Two-loop Form Factors Research Articles

Two-loop form factors for diphoton production in quark annihilation channel with heavy quark mass dependence

We present the computation of the two-loop form factors for diphoton production in the quark annihilation channel. These quantities are relevant for the NNLO QCD corrections to diphoton production at LHC recently presented in [1]. The computation is performed retaining full dependence on the mass of the heavy quark in the loops. The master integrals are evaluated by means of differential equations which are solved exploiting the generalised power series technique.

Two-loop form factors for pseudo-scalar quarkonium production and decay

We present the analytic expressions for the two-loop form factors for the production or decay of pseudo-scalar quarkonia, in a scheme where the quarks are produced at threshold. We consider the two-loop amplitude for the process gamma gamma leftrightarrow {}^1{S}_0^{left[1right]} , that was previously known only numerically, as well as for the processes ggleftrightarrow {}^1{S}_0^{left[1right]} , gamma gleftrightarrow {}^1{S}_0^{left[8right]} and ggleftrightarrow {}^1{S}_0^{left[8right]} , which have not been computed before. The two-loop corrections to ggleftrightarrow {}^1{S}_0^{left[1right]} are the last missing ingredients for a full NNLO calculation of ηQ hadro-production. We discuss how the singularity structure of the amplitudes is affected by the threshold kinematics, which in particular introduces Coulomb singularities. In this context, we first show how the usual structure of the infrared singularities degenerates at threshold kinematics, and then extract the anomalous dimensions governing the Coulomb singularities for colour-singlet and octet channels, the latter being presented here for the first time. We give high-precision numerical results for the hard functions, which can be used for phenomenological studies of ηQ production and decay at NNLO.

Two-Loop renormalization of High-Dimensional QCD operators and Higgs EFT amplitudes

We consider the two-loop renormalization of high-dimensional operators in QCD and the relevant Higgs EFT amplitudes. Efficient unitarity-IBP strategy is used to compute the two-loop minimal form factors of length-3 operators up to dimension sixteen. From the ultraviolet divergences of form factor results, we extract the renormalization matrices and compute anomalous dimensions. We also obtain the analytic finite remainder functions which exhibit several universal transcendentality structures. The form factors we compute are equivalent to Higgs plus three-gluon amplitudes which capture high-order top mass corrections in Higgs effective field theory.

Two-photon exchange in leptophilic dark matter scenarios

In leptophilic scenarios, dark matter interactions with nuclei, relevant for direct detection experiments and for the capture by celestial objects, could only occur via loop-induced processes. If the mediator is a scalar or pseudo-scalar particle, which only couples to leptons, the dominant contribution to dark matter-nucleus scattering would take place via two-photon exchange with a lepton triangle loop. The corresponding diagrams have been estimated in the literature under different approximations. Here, we present new analytical calculations for one-body two-loop and two-body one-loop interactions. The two-loop form factors are presented in closed analytical form in terms of generalized polylogarithms up to weight four. In both cases, we consider the exact dependence on all the involved scales, and study the dependence on the momentum transfer. We show that some previous approximations fail to correctly predict the scattering cross section by several orders of magnitude. Moreover, we quantitatively show that form factors in the range of momentum transfer relevant for local galactic dark matter, can be significantly smaller than their value at zero momentum transfer, which is the approach usually considered.

Non-planar form factors of generic local operators via on-shell unitarity and color-kinematics duality

Form factors, as quantities involving both local operators and asymptotic particle states, contain information of both the spectrum of operators and the on-shell amplitudes. So far the studies of form factors have been mostly focused on the large Nc planar limit, with a few exceptions of Sudakov form factors. In this paper, we discuss the systematical construction of full color dependent form factors with generic local operators. We study the color decomposition for form factors and discuss the general strategy of using on-shell unitarity cut method. As concrete applications, we compute the full two-loop non-planar minimal form factors for both half-BPS operators and non-BPS operators in the SU(2) sector in mathcal{N} = 4 SYM. Another important aspect is to investigate the color-kinematics (CK) duality for form factors of high-length operators. Explicit CK dual representation is found for the two-loop half-BPS minimal form factors with arbitrary number of external legs. The full-color two-loop form factor result provides an independent check of the infrared dipole formula for two-loop n-point amplitudes. By extracting the UV divergences, we also reproduce the known non-planar SU(2) dilatation operator at two loops. As for the finite remainder function, interestingly, the non-planar part is found to contain a new maximally transcendental part beyond the known planar result.

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.

Hidden analytic relations for two-loop Higgs amplitudes in QCD

We compute the Higgs plus two-quark and one-gluon amplitudes () and Higgs plus three-gluon amplitudes () in the Higgs effective theory with a general class of operators. By changing the quadratic Casimir C F to C A , the maximally transcendental parts of the amplitudes turn out to be equivalent to that of the amplitudes, which also coincide with the counterparts in SYM. This generalizes the so-called maximal transcendentality principle to the Higgs amplitudes with external quark states, thus the full QCD theory. We further verify that the correspondence applies also to two-loop form factors of more general operators, in both QCD and scalar-YM theory. Another interesting relation is also observed between the planar amplitudes and the minimal density form factors in SYM.

The SU(2|3) dynamic two-loop form factors

We compute two-loop form factors of operators in the $SU(2|3)$ closed subsector of $N=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills. In particular, we focus on the non-protected, dimension-three operators $\mathrm{Tr} (X[Y,Z])$ and $\mathrm{Tr} ( \psi \psi)$ for which we compute the four possible two-loop form factors, and corresponding remainder functions, with external states $\langle \bar{X} \bar{Y} \bar{Z}|$ and $\langle \bar{\psi} \bar{\psi}|$. Interestingly, the maximally transcendental part of the two-loop remainder of $\langle\bar{X} \bar{Y} \bar{Z}| \mathrm{Tr} (X[Y,Z]) |0\rangle$ turns out to be identical to that of the corresponding known quantity for the half-BPS operator $\mathrm{Tr} (X^3)$. We also find a surprising connection between the terms subleading in transcendentality and certain a priori unrelated remainder densities introduced in the study of the spin chain Hamiltonian in the SU(2) sector. Next, we use our calculation to resolve the mixing, recovering anomalous dimensions and eigenstates of the dilatation operator in the SU(2|3) sector at two loops. We also speculate on potential connections between our calculations in $N=4$ super Yang-Mills and Higgs + multi-gluon amplitudes in QCD in an effective Lagrangian approach.

The last of the simple remainders

We compute the n-point two-loop form factors of the half-BPS operators Tr(phi_{AB}^n) in N=4 super Yang-Mills for arbitrary n >2 using generalised unitarity and symbols. These form factors are minimal in the sense that the n^{th} power of the scalar field in the operator requires the presence of at least n on-shell legs. Infrared divergences are shown to exponentiate as for amplitudes, reproducing the known cusp and collinear anomalous dimensions at two loops. We define appropriate infrared-finite remainder functions and compute them analytically for all n. The results obtained by using the known expressions of the integral functions involve complicated combinations of Goncharov multiple polylogarithms, but we show that much simpler expressions can in fact be derived using the symbol of transcendental functions. For n=3 we find a very compact remainder function expressed in terms of classical polylogarithms only. For arbitrary n>3 we are able to write all the remainder functions in terms of a single compact building block, expressed as a sum of classical polylogarithms augmented by two multiple polylogarithms. The decomposition of the symbol into specific components is crucial in order to single out a natural combination of multiple polylogarithms. Finally, we analyse in detail the behaviour of these minimal form factors in collinear and soft limits, which deviates from the usual behaviour of amplitudes and non-minimal form factors.

Isospin breaking in the phases of the K e4 form factors

Isospin breaking in the K ℓ4 form factors induced by the difference between charged and neutral pion masses is studied. Starting from suitably subtracted dispersion representations, the form factors are constructed in an iterative way up to two loops in the low-energy expansion by implementing analyticity, crossing, and unitarity due to two-meson intermediate states. Analytical expressions for the phases of the two-loop form factors of the K ±→π + π − e ± ν e channel are given, allowing one to connect the difference of form-factor phase shifts measured experimentally (out of the isospin limit) and the difference of S- and P-wave ππ phase shifts studied theoretically (in the isospin limit). The isospin-breaking correction consists of the sum of a universal part, involving only ππ rescattering, and a process-dependent contribution, involving the form factors in the coupled channels. The dependence on the two S-wave scattering lengths $a_{0}^{0}$ and $a_{0}^{2}$ in the isospin limit is worked out in a general way, in contrast to previous analyses based on one-loop chiral perturbation theory. The latter is used only to assess the subtraction constants involved in the dispersive approach. The two-loop universal and process-dependent contributions are estimated and cancel partially to yield an isospin-breaking correction close to the one-loop case. The recent results on the phases of K ±→π + π − e ± ν e form factors obtained by the NA48/2 collaboration at the CERN SPS are reanalysed including this isospin-breaking correction to extract values for the scattering lengths $a_{0}^{0}$ and $a_{0}^{2}$ , as well as for low-energy constants and order parameters of two-flavour χPT.

Analytic two-loop form factors in $ \mathcal{N} = 4 $ SYM

We derive a compact expression for the three-point MHV form factors of half-BPS operators in N=4 super Yang-Mills at two loops. The main tools of our calculation are generalised unitarity applied at the form factor level, and the compact expressions for supersymmetric tree-level form factors and amplitudes entering the cuts. We confirm that infrared divergences exponentiate as expected, and that collinear factorisation is entirely captured by an ABDK/BDS ansatz. Next, we construct the two-loop remainder function obtained by subtracting this ansatz from the full two-loop form factor and compute it numerically. Using symbology, combined with various physical constraints and symmetries, we find a unique solution for its symbol. With this input we construct a remarkably compact analytic expression for the remainder function, which contains only classical polylogarithms, and compare it to our numerical results. Furthermore, we make the surprising observation that our remainder is equal to the maximally transcendental piece of a closely related two-loop amplitude in QCD.

Two-loop representations of low-energy pion form factors and ππ scattering phases in the presence of isospin breaking

Dispersive representations of the ππ scattering amplitudes and pion form factors, valid at two-loop accuracy in the low-energy expansion, are constructed in the presence of isospin-breaking effects induced by the difference between the charged and neutral pion masses. Analytical expressions for the corresponding phases of the scalar and vector pion form factors are computed. It is shown that each of these phases consists of the sum of a “universal” part and a form-factor dependent contribution. The first one is entirely determined in terms of the ππ scattering amplitudes alone, and reduces to the phase satisfying Watson’s theorem in the isospin limit. The second one can be sizeable, although it vanishes in the same limit. The dependence of these isospin corrections with respect to the parameters of the subthreshold expansion of the ππ amplitude is studied, and an equivalent representation in terms of the S-wave scattering lengths is also briefly presented and discussed. In addition, partially analytical expressions for the two-loop form factors and ππ scattering amplitudes in the presence of isospin breaking are provided.

Two-loop formfactors in theories with mass gap and Z-boson production

The non-factorizable two-loop corrections to the formfactor both for a U ( 1 ) × U ( 1 ) and a SU ( 2 ) × U ( 1 ) gauge theory with massive and massless gauge bosons respectively are evaluated at arbitrary momentum transfer q 2 . The asymptotic behaviour for q 2 → ∞ is compared to a recent calculation of Sudakov logarithms. The result is an important ingredient for the calculation of radiative corrections to Z-boson production at hadron and lepton colliders.

Two-loop form factors in QED

We evaluate the on shell form factors of the electron for arbitrary momentum transfer and finite electron mass, at two loops in QED, by integrating the corresponding dispersion relations, which involve the imaginary parts known since a long time. The infrared divergences are parameterized in terms of a fictitious small photon mass. The result is expressed in terms of harmonic polylogarithms of maximum weight 4. The expansions for small and large momentum transfer are also given.