The real-virtual antenna functions for $S \to Q\bar{Q} X$ at NNLO QCD

TL;DR

This paper calculates real-virtual antenna functions for massive quark pair production at NNLO in QCD, enhancing the precision of infrared divergence handling in theoretical predictions.

Contribution

It introduces the analytic computation of real-virtual antenna functions for massive quark production at NNLO, using harmonic polylogarithms within the antenna subtraction framework.

Findings

Analytic expressions for leading and subleading color antenna functions.

Exact NNLO calculation of the ratio R_Q in e+e- collisions.

Validation of results through comparison with existing data.

Abstract

We determine, in the antenna subtraction framework for handling infrared divergences in higher order QCD calculations, the real-virtual antenna functions for processes involving the production of a pair of massive quarks by an uncolored initial state at NNLO QCD. The integrated leading and subleading color real-virtual antenna functions are computed analytically in terms of (cyclotomic) harmonic polylogarithms. As a by-product and check we compute $R_Q=\sigma(e^+e^-\to \gamma^*\to Q\bar{Q}X)/\sigma(e^+e^-\to \gamma^*\to\mu^+\mu^-)$ and compare with existing results. Our result for $R_Q$ is exact to order $\alpha_s^2$.