Linear power corrections to single top production processes at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper investigates non-perturbative linear power corrections in single top production at the LHC, showing they vanish for total cross sections when using a short-distance top mass and deriving a universal correction formula.

Contribution

It introduces a method to compute linear power corrections using renormalon calculus and the Low-Burnett-Kroll theorem, with implications for top mass schemes.

Findings

No linear power corrections to total cross sections with short-distance top mass

Derived a universal formula for power corrections to top-quark observables

Demonstrated the use of renormalon calculus in electroweak top production

Abstract

We discuss the linear power corrections to the electroweak production of top quarks at the LHC using renormalon calculus. We show how such non-perturbative corrections can be obtained using the Low-Burnett-Kroll theorem, which provides the first subleading term to the expansion of the real-emission amplitudes around the soft limit. We demonstrate that there are no linear power corrections to the total cross sections of arbitrary processes of a single top production type provided that these cross sections are expressed in terms of a short-distance top quark mass. We also derive a universal formula for the linear power corrections to generic observables that involve the top-quark momentum.