Next-to-leading order QCD corrections to $Z\to \eta_Q+Q+\bar{Q}$

TL;DR

This paper calculates the next-to-leading order QCD corrections to Z boson decays into eta_Q plus heavy quark pairs, revealing significant enhancements in decay widths relevant for high-luminosity colliders.

Contribution

It provides the first NLO QCD correction calculations for Z decays into eta_Q plus heavy quark pairs, improving theoretical precision.

Findings

NLO corrections increase decay widths by approximately 37% and 28%.

Differential decay widths are analyzed for these processes.

Results are relevant for experiments at high-luminosity colliders.

Abstract

It has been found that at a high luminosity $e^+ e^-$ collider, sizable $\eta_c+c\bar{c}X$ and $\eta_b+b\bar{b}X$ events can be produced when it works around the $Z$ peak. In this paper, we calculate the decay widths of $Z \to \eta_c+c+\bar{c}+X$ and $Z \to \eta_b+b+\bar{b}+X$ up to next-to-leading order (NLO) accuracy. We find that the NLO corrections are significant in these two processes. After including the NLO corrections, the decay widths of $Z \to \eta_c+c+\bar{c}+X$ and $Z \to \eta_b+b+\bar{b}+X$ are enhanced by about $37\%$ and $28\%$ for the case of $\mu_R=2m_c$ and $\mu_R=2m_b$, respectively. The differential decay widths $d\Gamma/ds_1$ and $d\Gamma/dz$ for these two decay processes are also analyzed.