QCD corrections to the Golden decay channel of the Higgs boson

TL;DR

This paper enhances the theoretical precision of the Higgs boson’s Golden decay channel by calculating NNLO mixed QCD-electroweak corrections, providing analytical results for two-loop integrals and studying their phenomenological impact on decay observables.

Contribution

It introduces the first full analytical calculation of two-loop master integrals with full mass dependence for the $H o Z^{(*)}Z^{(*)} o 4l$ decay, including NNLO mixed QCD-electroweak corrections.

Findings

Improved predictions for the Higgs decay width in the Golden channel.

Quantified the impact of mixed corrections on invariant mass and angular distributions.

Provided a public code implementation for precise decay amplitude calculations.

Abstract

Precision studies within the Higgs sector of the Standard Model are crucial to deepen our understanding of the fundamental interactions and uncovering new physics phenomena beyond the Standard Model. To fully leverage the potential of future precision machines aiming to provide highly precise experimental measurements of the Higgs properties, it is crucial to minimize theoretical errors in the Higgs sector observables, such as production and decay rates. In this thesis, we focus on providing precise predictions for observables associated with the Golden decay channel of the Higgs boson. We improve theoretical predictions for the partial decay width of this channel, specifically $H \to Z^{(*)}Z^{(*)} \to e^+ e^- \mu^+ \mu^-$, by incorporating NNLO mixed QCD-electroweak corrections in perturbation theory. We also describe the full analytical evaluation of the two-loop master integrals appearing in the $\mathcal{O}(\alpha \alpha_s)$ corrections to the $HZZ$ vertex with both $Z$-bosons being off-shell, employing the method of differential equations retaining full mass dependence. The analytic results for all the master integrals are obtained in terms of Chen's iterated integrals with logarithmic kernels order-by-order in the dimensional regularization parameter $\epsilon$, along with analytic boundary constants. This thesis also presents a phenomenological study of the $H \to e^+ e^- \mu^+ \mu^-$ decay at $\mathcal{O}(\alpha \alpha_s)$ by implementing the entire calculation of the decay amplitude in the public code Hto4l to perform the phase space integration over final state leptons. We study the impact of these mixed QCD-electroweak corrections on the invariant mass distribution of the final-state leptons and angular variables, specifically the angle between the decay planes of the intermediate $Z$-bosons relative to leading-order predictions and NLO electroweak corrections.