English

Efficient numerical integration of thermal interaction rates

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2021-09-27 v2

Abstract

In many problems in particle cosmology, interaction rates are dominated by 22{2}\leftrightarrow{2} scatterings, or get a substantial contribution from them, given that 12{1}\leftrightarrow{2} and 13{1}\leftrightarrow{3} reactions are phase-space suppressed. We describe an algorithm to represent, regularize, and evaluate a class of thermal 22{2}\leftrightarrow{2} and 13{1}\leftrightarrow{3} interaction rates for general momenta, masses, chemical potentials, and helicity projections. A key ingredient is an automated inclusion of virtual corrections to 12{1}\leftrightarrow{2} scatterings, which eliminate logarithmic and double-logarithmic IR divergences from the real 22{2}\leftrightarrow{2} and 13{1}\leftrightarrow{3} processes. We also review thermal and chemical potential induced contributions that require resummation if plasma particles are ultrarelativistic.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2107.07132,
  title  = {Efficient numerical integration of thermal interaction rates},
  author = {G. Jackson and M. Laine},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2107.07132},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

48 pages, programs as ancillary files. v2: clarifications added

R2 v1 2026-06-24T04:13:03.202Z