NNLO QCD corrections to unpolarized and polarized electroweak structure functions in semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering

TL;DR

This paper calculates NNLO QCD corrections for unpolarized and polarized electroweak structure functions in semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering, enhancing theoretical precision for future experiments.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive NNLO QCD correction calculations for all relevant structure functions in semi-inclusive DIS with electroweak interactions, including flavor dependence.

Findings

NNLO corrections are sizable and phenomenologically significant.

Residual scale dependence is substantially reduced at NNLO.

Results are crucial for future global parton distribution and fragmentation function extractions.

Abstract

We present results for unpolarized and polarized semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering mediated by electroweak gauge bosons at next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in perturbative quantum chromodynamics. The results include all relevant structure functions arising from both neutral current (NC) and charged current (CC) interactions, incorporating contributions from all partonic channels with full flavor dependence. These corrections are crucial for improving the theoretical precision. A detailed numerical analysis of the NNLO corrections demonstrates their phenomenological importance, revealing sizable effects and a significant reduction in residual scale dependence in the kinematic range probed by the future Electron-Ion-Collider. These results will serve as a critical input for future global extractions of parton distributions functions and fragmentation functions.