Investigation of the factorization scheme dependence of finite order perturbative QCD calculations

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how the choice of factorization schemes affects finite order perturbative QCD calculations, deriving related formulae and examining the practical use of the ZERO scheme for NLO Monte Carlo generators.

Contribution

It provides a detailed theoretical analysis of factorization scheme dependence and evaluates the practical applicability of the ZERO scheme in perturbative QCD calculations.

Findings

Derived formulae for scheme dependence of PDFs and cross-sections

Discussed the specification of schemes via splitting functions

Numerical analysis of the ZERO scheme's practicality

Abstract

The freedom associated with the definition of parton distribution functions is analyzed and formulae governing the dependence of parton distribution functions and hard scattering cross-sections on unphysical quantities associated with the renormalization and factorization procedure are derived. The issue of the specification of factorization schemes via the corresponding higher order splitting functions is discussed in detail. A numerical analysis of the practical applicability of the so called ZERO factorization scheme, which could be useful for the construction of consistent NLO Monte Carlo event generators, is presented.