Electroweak Radiative Corrections to Associated WH and ZH Production at Hadron Colliders

TL;DR

This work delivers a calculation of electroweak $O(\alpha)$ corrections to Higgs production in association with a $W$ or $Z$ boson at hadron colliders, reducing the predicted cross sections by up to 5–10% depending on the Higgs mass and input scheme. The authors update the cross sections for $WH$ and $ZH$ production at the Tevatron and the LHC, incorporating next-to-leading order electroweak and QCD effects and quantifying theoretical uncertainties from factorization/renormalization scales and parton distribution functions. They emphasize the relevance of electroweak corrections for precision predictions and discuss the potential gains from ratios to Drell–Yan–like processes to mitigate remaining uncertainties. The results enhance the reliability of VH channels as a probe for a light SM Higgs in current and future collider data.

Abstract

Higgs-boson production in association with W or Z bosons, p pbar -> WH/ZH + X, is the most promising discovery channel for a light Standard Model Higgs particle at the Fermilab Tevatron. We present the calculation of the electroweak O(alpha) corrections to these processes. The corrections decrease the theoretical prediction by up to 5-10%, depending in detail on the Higgs-boson mass and the input-parameter scheme. We update the cross-section prediction for associated WH and ZH production at the Tevatron and at the LHC, including the next-to-leading order electroweak and QCD corrections, and study the theoretical uncertainties induced by factorization and renormalization scale dependences and by the parton distribution functions.