English

The Dead Cone Effect in Heavy-Quark Jets: A Unified Study from Charm and Bottom to Top

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2026-01-21 v1 High Energy Physics - Experiment

Abstract

We present a unified overview of recent progress in the study of QCD radiation in heavy-quark jets, focusing on the dead-cone effect. Using precision data from LEP at s=91.2\sqrt{s}=91.2~GeV, we demonstrate strong momentum-space suppression in charm and bottom quark jets, supported by Monte Carlo simulations with \textsc{Pythia}8, and provide a quantitative interpretation within the Modified Leading Logarithmic Approximation (MLLA) of perturbative QCD. We then extend the analysis to top-quark jets at s=1\sqrt{s}=1~TeV, where finite lifetime effects and decay radiation introduce new conceptual challenges. A new method is presented to isolate the top-quark dead cone by separating production and decay radiation, and it is validated at both parton and hadron level using \textsc{Pythia}8. Together, these results establish a coherent framework for testing QCD radiation dynamics across all three heavy quarks.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2601.13831,
  title  = {The Dead Cone Effect in Heavy-Quark Jets: A Unified Study from Charm and Bottom to Top},
  author = {Redamy Perez-Ramos and Stefan Kluth and Wolfgang Ochs},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.13831},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

7 pages, contribution to International Workshop on Future Linear Colliders (LCWS---2025), Valencia, Spain