The Feynman rules for the SMEFT in the background field gauge

TL;DR

This paper introduces a FeynRules package that derives Feynman rules for the SMEFT up to dimension-six, including squared effects, validated through Ward identities, and highlights the importance of consistent field shift inclusion.

Contribution

The paper presents the first publicly available package that consistently includes dimension-six squared effects in SMEFT calculations using the background field method.

Findings

Validated the package via Ward identities at dimension-six and one-loop order.

Demonstrated that neglecting dimension-six squared effects breaks Ward identities.

Provided downloadable FeynRules files and notebooks for community use.

Abstract

We present a package for FeynRules which derives the Feynman rules for the Standard Model Effective Field Theory up to dimension-six using the background field method for gauge fixing. The package includes operators which shift the kinetic and mass terms of the Lagrangian up to dimension-eight and including dimension-six squared effects consistently. To the best of the author's knowledge this is the first publicly available package to include dimension-six squared effects consistently. The package is validated in a partner publication by analyzing the Ward Identities at dimension-six and one-loop order. We also extend the partner work in this article by including the dimension-six squared effects further demonstrating the consistency of their implementation. In doing so we find that failure to consistently include field shifts to dimension-six squared causes a breakdown in the Ward identities implying concerns about many calculations in the literature which do not properly incorporate these effects. The FeynRules files, as well as Mathematica notebooks performing the relevant calculations, can be downloaded from the FeynRules website and are included as ancillary files to this publication.