Electroweak radiative corrections to W-boson production at hadron colliders

TL;DR

This work delivers the complete electroweak O(alpha) corrections to Drell-Yan-like W-boson production at hadron colliders, including non-resonant contributions and a careful treatment of gauge invariance and W instability. It compares the full result to a pole approximation based on the W resonance, and discusses how different input schemes (alpha(0), alpha(MZ^2), G_mu) affect the corrections. Numerically, the pole expansion accurately describes resonance observables but fails in the high-energy tails of transverse-momentum distributions, which are crucial for new-physics searches. The results have practical implications for precision MW measurements at the Tevatron and LHC and provide detailed formulas suitable for implementation in phenomenological studies.

Abstract

The complete set of electroweak O(alpha) corrections to the Drell--Yan-like production of W bosons is calculated and compared to an approximation provided by the leading term of an expansion about the W-resonance pole. All relevant formulae are listed explicitly, and particular attention is paid to issues of gauge invariance and the instability of the W bosons. A detailed discussion of numerical results underlines the phenomenological importance of the electroweak corrections to W-boson production at the Tevatron and at the LHC. While the pole expansion yields a good description of resonance observables, it is not sufficient for the high-energy tail of transverse-momentum distributions, relevant for new-physics searches.

Figures (9)

• Figure 1: Lowest-order diagram for $u\bar{d}\to\mathrm{W^+}$W^+$\to\nu_l l^+$.
• Figure 2: Diagrams for vertex and box corrections.
• Figure 3: Generic diagram for factorizable corrections.
• Figure 4: Diagrams for non-factorizable corrections ($\varphi$ is the would-be Goldstone partner to the W boson, and $\mathrm{u}$u$_\pm$, $\mathrm{u}$u$_\gamma$ denote Faddeev--Popov ghosts).
• Figure 5: Diagrams for real-photon emission.