NNLOCAL: Fully Local Subtractions for Precision Predictions in Hadron Collisions

TL;DR

This paper introduces NNLOCAL, a new subtraction method for precise higher-order calculations in hadron collisions, enabling stable, fully-differential predictions validated through Higgs production cross-section computations.

Contribution

It extends the CoLoRFulNNLO method with universal local counterterms, providing a fully local subtraction scheme for NNLO calculations in hadron collisions.

Findings

Successfully computed NNLO Higgs production cross-section

Validated the NNLOCAL code with stable, differential predictions

Achieved analytical integration of counterterms for numerical stability

Abstract

This work extends the CoLoRFulNNLO subtraction method to address soft and collinear divergences in the computation of higher-order corrections for hadronic collisions. By utilizing universal local counterterms which can be integrated analytically over the unresolved phase space, we achieve numerically stable, fully-differential predictions. Our publicly available NNLOCAL code serves as a proof-of-concept implementation, validated by calculating the NNLO cross-section for Higgs boson production in gluon-gluon fusion with no light quarks.