English

Three-loop jet function for boosted top quarks

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2026-01-16 v2 High Energy Physics - Theory

Abstract

We present the calculation of the inclusive jet function for highly energetic heavy quarks at order O(αs3)\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s^3) using boosted Heavy-Quark Effective Theory (bHQET). This jet function describes the effect of collinear radiation emitted by energetic heavy quarks on observables dependent on the jet invariant mass MM. In particular, we focus on the regime M2m2m2M^2 - m^2 \ll m^2, which is relevant for boosted top quark production at high-energy colliders in the resonance region. Our results are consistent with non-Abelian exponentiation and reproduce the known cusp and non-cusp anomalous dimensions up to three loops. We also verify that the n2αs3n_\ell^2 \alpha_s^3 contribution, with nn_\ell denoting the number of light quark flavors, agrees with predictions from renormalon calculus. This calculation completes the list of ingredients required for the N3^3LL^\prime resummed (self-normalized) thrust distribution, an essential component for calibrating the top quark mass parameter in parton-shower Monte Carlo generators. It likewise contributes to the invariant-mass distribution of reconstructed top quarks, enabling precise mass determinations at future lepton colliders. Finally, we determine the relation between the pole and two short-distance jet-mass schemes at O(αs3)\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s^3) and provide an estimate of the non-logarithmic part of the four-loop jet function based on renormalon dominance.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2512.05795,
  title  = {Three-loop jet function for boosted top quarks},
  author = {Alberto M. Clavero and Vicent Mateu and Maximilian Stahlhofen},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.05795},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

9 pages, 3 figures. Talk presented by V. Mateu at the European Physical Society Conference on High Energy Physics (EPS-HEP) 2025, 7-11 July 2025, Marseille, France. v2: Few typos fixed