Complete NLO QCD Corrections for Tree Level Delta F = 2 FCNC Processes

TL;DR

This paper provides complete next-to-leading order QCD corrections for tree-level Delta F=2 processes mediated by heavy gauge bosons and scalars, crucial for indirect new physics searches at very short distances.

Contribution

It introduces the calculation of O(alpha_s) corrections to Wilson coefficients' matching conditions, reducing unphysical scale and scheme dependences in NLO analyses.

Findings

Unphysical scale dependence reduced from 10-25% to 1-2%.

Results applicable to various models including Z', gauged flavor, and Left-Right symmetric models.

Enhanced precision in theoretical predictions for Delta F=2 processes.

Abstract

Anticipating the important role of tree level FCNC processes in the indirect search for new physics at distance scales as short as 10^-19-10^-21 m, we present complete NLO QCD corrections to tree level Delta F=2 processes mediated by heavy colourless gauge bosons and scalars. Such contributions can be present at the fundamental level when GIM mechanism is absent as in numerous Z' models, gauged flavour models with new heavy neutral gauge bosons and Left-Right symmetric models with heavy neutral scalars. They can also be generated at one loop in models having GIM at the fundamental level and MFV of which Two-Higgs Doublet models with and without SUSY are the best known examples. In models containing vectorial heavy fermions that mix with the standard chiral quarks and models in which Z and SM neutral Higgs H mix with new heavy gauge bosons and scalars also tree-level Z and SM neutral Higgs contributions to Delta F=2 processes are possible. In all these extensions new local operators are generated having Wilson coefficients that are generally much stronger affected by RG QCD effects than it is the case of the SM operators. The new aspect of our work is the calculation of O(alpha_s) corrections to matching conditions for the Wilson coefficients of the contributing operators in the NDR-MS scheme that can be used in all models listed above. This allows to reduce certain unphysical scale and renormalization scheme dependences in the existing NLO calculations. We show explicitly how our results can be combined with the analytic formulae for the P_i^a QCD factors that include both hadronic matrix elements of contributing operators and RG evolution from high energy to low energy scales. For the masses of heavy gauge bosons and scalars O(1)TeV the remaining unphysical scale dependences for the mixing amplitudes are reduced typically from 10-25%, depending on the operator considered, down to 1-2%.