Towards the inclusion of NLO EW corrections in the MiNLO method in Drell-Yan processes

TL;DR

This paper pioneers the integration of NLO electroweak corrections into the MiNLO method for Drell-Yan processes, focusing on initial-state radiation and proposing a variant to address QED emission challenges.

Contribution

It introduces the first application of MiNLO to QED NLO corrections in Drell-Yan, including an abelianization procedure and a modified formula to handle QED emissions.

Findings

Demonstrates the impact of NLO EW corrections on differential cross sections.

Quantifies uncertainties with the proposed method.

Highlights potential discrepancies with physical electromagnetic coupling values.

Abstract

In this paper we present the first application of the MiNLO method to the calculation of QED NLO corrections to the production of a neutral vector boson in Drell-Yan processes. We consider only the case of initial-state radiation, when the Z boson decays into neutrinos. We illustrate the abelianization procedure of the MiNLO formulae and discuss the impact that it has on the differential cross section. We then propose a variant of the MiNLO formulae in order to circumvent some of the problems that arise when dealing with QED emissions. Since this is a case study, we use ad-hoc parton distribution functions and a larger value of the electromagnetic coupling constant, in order to emphasize potential discrepancies with respect to the expected behavior of the MiNLO formulae. We quantify the uncertainties connected with the proposed method, also for a the physical value of the electromagnetic coupling. The study presented here is a necessary first step towards incorporating full electroweak effects into the MiNNLOPS framework.