Analytic results for color-singlet production at NNLO QCD with the nested soft-collinear subtraction scheme

TL;DR

The authors address the problem of obtaining analytic, fully-differential NNLO QCD predictions for color-singlet production at hadron colliders. They implement a modified nested soft-collinear subtraction scheme that enables complete analytic integration of triple-collinear terms, ensuring exact cancellation of infrared poles. The work provides comprehensive NNLO formulas for all relevant partonic channels (quark- and gluon-initiated) and includes spin correlations where needed, validated against known $Z$ and Higgs results. The approach yields compact, modular building blocks suitable for extending NNLO accuracy to arbitrary color-singlet final states in LHC phenomenology, with fiducial cuts demonstrated to be efficiently handled.

Abstract

We present analytic formulas that describe fully-differential production of color-singlet final states in $q\bar q$ and $gg$ annihilation, including all the relevant partonic channels, through NNLO QCD. We work within the nested soft-collinear scheme which allows for fully local subtraction of infrared divergences. We demonstrate analytic cancellation of soft and collinear poles and present formulas for finite parts of all integrated subtraction terms. These results provide an important building block for calculating NNLO QCD corrections to arbitrary processes at hadron colliders within the nested soft-collinear subtraction scheme.