English

Factorization at Subleading Power and Endpoint-Divergent Convolutions in $h\to\gamma\gamma$ Decay

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2020-04-06 v3 High Energy Physics - Theory

Abstract

It is by now well known that, at subleading power in scale ratios, factorization theorems for high-energy cross sections and decay amplitudes contain endpoint-divergent convolution integrals. The presence of these divergences hints at a violation of simple scale separation, as a result of the so-called collinear anomaly. At the technical level, endpoint divergences indicate an unexpected failure of dimensional regularization and the MSˉ\bar{\rm MS} subtraction scheme. In this paper we start a comprehensive discussion of factorization at subleading power within the framework of soft-collinear effective theory. As a concrete example, we factorize the decay amplitude for the radiative Higgs-boson decay hγγh\to \gamma\gamma mediated by a bb-quark loop, for which endpoint-divergent convolution integrals require both dimensional and rapidity regulators. We derive a factorization theorem for the decay amplitude in terms of bare Wilson coefficients and operator matrix elements. We show that endpoint divergences caused by rapidity divergences cancel to all orders in perturbation theory, while endpoint divergences that are regularized dimensionally can be removed by rearranging the terms in the factorization theorem. We use our result to resum the leading double-logarithmic corrections of order αsnln2n+2(Mh2/mb2)\alpha_s^n\ln^{2n+2}(-M_h^2/m_b^2) to all orders of perturbation theory.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1912.08818,
  title  = {Factorization at Subleading Power and Endpoint-Divergent Convolutions in $h\to\gamma\gamma$ Decay},
  author = {Ze Long Liu and Matthias Neubert},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1912.08818},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

39 pages, 9 figures, 3 appendices; v2: several references and further acknowledgements added, some typos corrected; v3: extended discussion of the method of regions, some comments added (version accepted for publication in JHEP)