Top mass effects in Higgs production at next-to-next-to-leading order QCD: virtual corrections

TL;DR

This paper calculates the effects of the top quark mass on Higgs production via gluon fusion at three-loop order in QCD, using asymptotic expansions to improve theoretical precision.

Contribution

It introduces an automated asymptotic expansion method to evaluate top mass effects at three-loop level, extending previous effective Lagrangian results.

Findings

Computed top mass suppressed terms at three-loop order

Extended the accuracy of Higgs production predictions

Validated asymptotic expansion approach for complex loop calculations

Abstract

Top quark mass suppressed terms are calculated for the virtual amplitude for Higgs production in gluon fusion at three-loop level, i.e. O(\alpha_s^3). The method of asymptotic expansions in its automated form is used to evaluate the first three non-vanishing orders in terms of M_H^2/M_t^2, where the first order corresponds to the known results of the effective Lagrangian approach.