Complete NLO corrections to ${\rm W}^+{\rm W}^+$ scattering and its irreducible background at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper presents the first complete calculation of NLO QCD and electroweak corrections for W+W+ scattering and its background at the LHC, including all interferences and realistic cuts, crucial for precise experimental measurements.

Contribution

It provides the first full NLO QCD and electroweak correction computation for VBS and background processes with no approximations, incorporating all interferences at the amplitude level.

Findings

NLO corrections significantly impact the VBS and background processes.

All contributions should be measured together due to their interference.

The results enable more accurate experimental analyses of W+W+ scattering.

Abstract

The process ${\rm p}{\rm p}\to\mu^+\nu_\mu{\rm e}^+\nu_{\rm e}{\rm j}{\rm j}$ receives several contributions of different orders in the strong and electroweak coupling constants. Using appropriate event selections, this process is dominated by vector-boson scattering (VBS) and has recently been measured at the LHC. It is thus of prime importance to estimate precisely each contribution. In this article we compute for the first time the full NLO QCD and electroweak corrections to VBS and its irreducible background processes with realistic experimental cuts. We do not rely on approximations but use complete amplitudes involving two different orders at tree level and three different orders at one-loop level. Since we take into account all interferences, at NLO level the corrections to the VBS process and to the QCD-induced irreducible background process contribute at the same orders. Hence the two processes cannot be unambiguously distinguished, and all contributions to the $\mu^+\nu_\mu{\rm e}^+\nu_{\rm e}{\rm j}{\rm j}$ final state should be preferably measured together.