Two-loop QCD corrections to H rightarrow b + bar{b} + g at higher powers in the dimensional regulator
Pith reviewed 2026-06-29 11:39 UTC · model grok-4.3
The pith
The two-loop massless QCD corrections to the amplitude for Higgs decay H to b plus anti-b plus gluon are computed to higher powers in the dimensional regulator epsilon.
A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.
Core claim
We compute the two-loop massless QCD corrections to the amplitude of Higgs boson decay to bottom quark pair and a gluon (H to b plus b-bar plus g) in the higher powers of the dimensional regularization parameter epsilon. The calculation is performed by projecting the amplitude onto the appropriate Lorentz structures related to the process. We also show the numerical behaviour of the form factors for a few sample phase-space points. These amplitudes are necessary ingredients for computing the three-loop virtual corrections to bottom-quark annihilation to Higgs plus jet production at the hadron collisions.
What carries the argument
Projection of the amplitude onto the appropriate Lorentz structures related to the process, which extracts the form factors including higher powers of epsilon.
If this is right
- These amplitudes serve as necessary ingredients for three-loop virtual corrections to bottom-quark annihilation to Higgs plus jet production.
- Numerical values of the form factors are provided for several sample phase-space points.
- The results enable more precise higher-order QCD predictions for Higgs plus jet final states at hadron colliders.
Where Pith is reading between the lines
- The projection technique may extend to other two-loop amplitudes where higher epsilon powers are needed for infrared subtraction.
- The explicit higher-order terms could be used to test conjectures about the structure of epsilon expansions in massless QCD amplitudes.
Load-bearing premise
The projection of the amplitude onto the chosen Lorentz structures remains valid and complete when higher powers of epsilon are retained.
What would settle it
An independent calculation of the form factors at one of the sample phase-space points that disagrees with the projected results on the higher-order epsilon terms would falsify the computation.
read the original abstract
We compute the two-loop massless QCD corrections to the amplitude of Higgs boson decay to bottom quark pair and a gluon ($H \rightarrow b + \bar{b} + g$) in the higher powers of the dimensional regularization parameter $\epsilon$. The calculation is performed by projecting the amplitude onto the appropriate Lorentz structures related to the process. We also show the numerical behaviour of the form factors for a few sample phase-space points. These amplitudes are necessary ingredients for computing the three-loop virtual corrections to bottom-quark annihilation to Higgs plus jet production at the hadron collisions.
Editorial analysis
A structured set of objections, weighed in public.
Referee Report
Summary. The manuscript computes the two-loop massless QCD corrections to the amplitude for Higgs decay H → b + ar{b} + g, retaining higher powers of the dimensional regulator ε. The amplitude is projected onto the relevant Lorentz structures, numerical values of the resulting form factors are shown at sample phase-space points, and the results are presented as inputs for three-loop virtual corrections to bar{b} → H + jet.
Significance. If correct, the calculation supplies the higher-order ε terms required for infrared cancellation when combining virtual and real contributions at three loops in Higgs-plus-jet production. This is a standard and useful ingredient for precision LHC phenomenology. The projection technique is conventional in the field, and the provision of numerical checks is a positive feature for reproducibility.
minor comments (2)
- [Abstract] The abstract and introduction should state explicitly the highest power of ε retained in the form factors (e.g., up to ε^3 or ε^4).
- [Method] A brief statement confirming that the chosen Lorentz basis remains complete and linearly independent when higher powers of ε are kept would strengthen the method section.
Simulated Author's Rebuttal
We thank the referee for their positive assessment of the manuscript, including its significance for three-loop virtual corrections in Higgs-plus-jet production, and for recommending minor revision. No specific major comments were provided in the report.
Circularity Check
No significant circularity; direct perturbative computation
full rationale
The paper reports a concrete two-loop QCD amplitude computation for H→bbg at higher orders in ε, performed by projecting the amplitude onto Lorentz structures followed by numerical checks. No load-bearing steps reduce by definition, by fitting, or by self-citation chain to the target result itself. The derivation is a standard Feynman-diagram evaluation whose validity rests on external perturbative QCD methods rather than internal redefinition or renaming of inputs. The central claim therefore remains independent of the patterns that would trigger a positive circularity finding.
Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger
Reference graph
Works this paper leans on
-
[1]
P. W. Higgs,Broken symmetries, massless particles and gauge fields,Phys. Lett.12(1964) 132
1964
-
[2]
P. W. Higgs,Broken symmetries and the masses of gauge bosons,Phys. Rev. Lett.13(1964) 508
1964
-
[3]
P. W. Higgs,Spontaneous Symmetry Breakdown without Massless Bosons,Phys. Rev.145 (1966) 1156
1966
-
[4]
Englert and R
F. Englert and R. Brout,Broken Symmetry and the Mass of Gauge Vector Mesons,Phys. Rev. Lett.13(1964) 321
1964
-
[5]
G. S. Guralnik, C. R. Hagen and T. W. B. Kibble,Global Conservation Laws and Massless Particles,Phys. Rev. Lett.13(1964) 585. [8]CMScollaboration, V. Khachatryan et al.,Constraints on the spin-parity and anomalous HVV couplings of the Higgs boson in proton collisions at 7 and 8 TeV,Phys. Rev. D92 (2015) 012004 [1411.3441]. [9]ATLAScollaboration, G. Aad et...
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 1964
-
[6]
Dawson,Radiative corrections to Higgs boson production,Nucl
S. Dawson,Radiative corrections to Higgs boson production,Nucl. Phys. B359(1991) 283
1991
-
[7]
D. L. Rainwater and D. Zeppenfeld,Searching forH→γγin weak boson fusion at the LHC, JHEP12(1997) 005 [hep-ph/9712271]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 1997
-
[8]
vh@nnlo - Higgs Strahlung at hadron colliders
O. Brein, R. V. Harlander and T. J. E. Zirke,vh@nnlo - Higgs Strahlung at hadron colliders, Comput. Phys. Commun.184(2013) 998 [1210.5347]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2013
- [9]
- [10]
-
[11]
B. Agarwal, G. Heinrich, S. P. Jones, M. Kerner, S. Y. Klein, J. Lang et al.,Two-loop amplitudes fort tHproduction: the quark-initiated N f -part,JHEP05(2024) 013 [2402.03301]
-
[12]
L. Buonocore, M. Grazzini, S. Kallweit, J. M. Lindert and C. Savoini,Towards NNLO QCD predictions for off-shell top-quark pair production and decays,JHEP10(2025) 195 [2507.11410]
-
[13]
Djouadi, M
A. Djouadi, M. Spira and P. M. Zerwas,Production of Higgs bosons in proton colliders: QCD corrections,Phys. Lett. B264(1991) 440
1991
-
[14]
Graudenz, M
D. Graudenz, M. Spira and P. M. Zerwas,QCD corrections to Higgs boson production at proton proton colliders,Phys. Rev. Lett.70(1993) 1372
1993
-
[15]
HIGGS BOSON PRODUCTION AT THE LHC
M. Spira, A. Djouadi, D. Graudenz and P. M. Zerwas,Higgs boson production at the LHC, Nucl. Phys. B453(1995) 17 [hep-ph/9504378]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 1995
-
[16]
R. V. Harlander and W. B. Kilgore,Soft and virtual corrections to proton proton —>H + x at NNLO,Phys. Rev. D64(2001) 013015 [hep-ph/0102241]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2001
-
[17]
Higgs boson production at hadron colliders in NNLO QCD
C. Anastasiou and K. Melnikov,Higgs boson production at hadron colliders in NNLO QCD, Nucl. Phys. B646(2002) 220 [hep-ph/0207004]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2002
-
[18]
R. V. Harlander and W. B. Kilgore,Next-to-next-to-leading order Higgs production at hadron colliders,Phys. Rev. Lett.88(2002) 201801 [hep-ph/0201206]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2002
-
[19]
Soft-gluon resummation for Higgs boson production at hadron colliders
S. Catani, D. de Florian, M. Grazzini and P. Nason,Soft gluon resummation for Higgs boson production at hadron colliders,JHEP07(2003) 028 [hep-ph/0306211]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2003
-
[20]
NNLO corrections to the total cross section for Higgs boson production in hadron-hadron collisions
V. Ravindran, J. Smith and W. L. van Neerven,NNLO corrections to the total cross-section for Higgs boson production in hadron hadron collisions,Nucl. Phys. B665(2003) 325 [hep-ph/0302135]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2003
-
[21]
C. Anastasiou, K. Melnikov and F. Petriello,Higgs boson production at hadron colliders: Differential cross sections through next-to-next-to-leading order,Phys. Rev. Lett.93(2004) 262002 [hep-ph/0409088]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2004
-
[22]
Two-loop corrections to Higgs boson production
V. Ravindran, J. Smith and W. L. van Neerven,Two-loop corrections to Higgs boson production,Nucl. Phys. B704(2005) 332 [hep-ph/0408315]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2005
-
[23]
Higgs production and decay: Analytic results at next-to-leading order QCD
R. Harlander and P. Kant,Higgs production and decay: Analytic results at next-to-leading order QCD,JHEP12(2005) 015 [hep-ph/0509189]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2005
-
[24]
C. Anastasiou, K. Melnikov and F. Petriello,Fully differential Higgs boson production and the di-photon signal through next-to-next-to-leading order,Nucl. Phys. B724(2005) 197 [hep-ph/0501130]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2005
-
[25]
Analytic Results for Virtual QCD Corrections to Higgs Production and Decay
U. Aglietti, R. Bonciani, G. Degrassi and A. Vicini,Analytic Results for Virtual QCD Corrections to Higgs Production and Decay,JHEP01(2007) 021 [hep-ph/0611266]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2007
-
[26]
C. Anastasiou, S. Beerli, S. Bucherer, A. Daleo and Z. Kunszt,Two-loop amplitudes and master integrals for the production of a Higgs boson via a massive quark and a scalar-quark loop,JHEP01(2007) 082 [hep-ph/0611236]. – 11 –
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2007
-
[27]
QCD threshold corrections to di-lepton and Higgs rapidity distributions beyond N${}^2$LO
V. Ravindran, J. Smith and W. L. van Neerven,QCD threshold corrections to di-lepton and Higgs rapidity distributions beyondN 2 LO,Nucl. Phys. B767(2007) 100 [hep-ph/0608308]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2007
-
[28]
Scalar Particle Contribution to Higgs Production via Gluon Fusion at NLO
R. Bonciani, G. Degrassi and A. Vicini,Scalar particle contribution to Higgs production via gluon fusion at NLO,JHEP11(2007) 095 [0709.4227]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2007
-
[29]
HPro: A NLO Monte-Carlo for Higgs production via gluon fusion with finite heavy quark masses
C. Anastasiou, S. Bucherer and Z. Kunszt,HPro: A NLO Monte-Carlo for Higgs production via gluon fusion with finite heavy quark masses,JHEP10(2009) 068 [0907.2362]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2009
-
[30]
Higgs boson gluon-fusion production in N3LO QCD
C. Anastasiou, C. Duhr, F. Dulat, F. Herzog and B. Mistlberger,Higgs Boson Gluon-Fusion Production in QCD at Three Loops,Phys. Rev. Lett.114(2015) 212001 [1503.06056]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2015
-
[31]
High precision determination of the gluon fusion Higgs boson cross-section at the LHC
C. Anastasiou, C. Duhr, F. Dulat, E. Furlan, T. Gehrmann, F. Herzog et al.,High precision determination of the gluon fusion Higgs boson cross-section at the LHC,JHEP05(2016) 058 [1602.00695]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2016
-
[32]
F. A. Dreyer and A. Karlberg,Vector-Boson Fusion Higgs Production at Three Loops in QCD,Phys. Rev. Lett.117(2016) 072001 [1606.00840]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2016
- [33]
- [34]
-
[35]
R. V. Harlander and W. B. Kilgore,Higgs boson production in bottom quark fusion at next-to-next-to leading order,Phys. Rev. D68(2003) 013001 [hep-ph/0304035]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2003
-
[36]
Higgs boson production through $b \bar b$ annihilation at threshold in N$^3$LO QCD
T. Ahmed, N. Rana and V. Ravindran,Higgs boson production throughb ¯bannihilation at threshold in N 3LO QCD,JHEP10(2014) 139 [1408.0787]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2014
- [37]
-
[38]
X. Chen, T. Gehrmann, E. W. N. Glover and M. Jaquier,Precise QCD predictions for the production of Higgs + jet final states,Phys. Lett. B740(2015) 147 [1408.5325]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2015
-
[39]
Higgs boson production in association with a jet at next-to-next-to-leading order
R. Boughezal, F. Caola, K. Melnikov, F. Petriello and M. Schulze,Higgs boson production in association with a jet at next-to-next-to-leading order,Phys. Rev. Lett.115(2015) 082003 [1504.07922]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2015
-
[40]
Higgs boson production in association with a jet at NNLO using jettiness subtraction
R. Boughezal, C. Focke, W. Giele, X. Liu and F. Petriello,Higgs boson production in association with a jet at NNLO using jettiness subtraction,Phys. Lett. B748(2015) 5 [1505.03893]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2015
-
[41]
X. Chen, J. Cruz-Martinez, T. Gehrmann, E. W. N. Glover and M. Jaquier,NNLO QCD corrections to Higgs boson production at large transverse momentum,JHEP10(2016) 066 [1607.08817]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2016
-
[42]
X. Chen, T. Gehrmann, E. W. N. Glover, A. Huss, Y. Li, D. Neill et al.,Precise QCD Description of the Higgs Boson Transverse Momentum Spectrum,Phys. Lett. B788(2019) 425 [1805.00736]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2019
- [43]
-
[44]
J. M. Campbell, R. K. Ellis and S. Seth,H + 1 jet production revisited,JHEP10(2019) 136 [1906.01020]. – 12 – [53]ATLAScollaboration, G. Aad et al.,Combined measurements of Higgs boson production and decay using up to80fb −1 of proton-proton collision data at √s=13 TeV collected with the ATLAS experiment,Phys. Rev. D101(2020) 012002 [1909.02845]. [54]CMSco...
-
[45]
Jet-veto efficiencies at all orders in QCD
A. Banfi,Jet-veto efficiencies at all orders in QCD, in20th International Workshop on Deep-Inelastic Scattering and Related Subjects, pp. 675–678, 2012,1209.1817, DOI
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2012
-
[46]
R. Boughezal, F. Caola, K. Melnikov, F. Petriello and M. Schulze,Higgs boson production in association with a jet at next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD,JHEP06(2013) 072 [1302.6216]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2013
-
[47]
R. Mondini and C. Williams,Bottom-induced contributions to Higgs plus jet at next-to-next-to-leading order,JHEP05(2021) 045 [2102.05487]
-
[48]
R. V. Harlander, K. J. Ozeren and M. Wiesemann,Higgs plus jet production in bottom quark annihilation at next-to-leading order,Phys. Lett. B693(2010) 269 [1007.5411]. [59]ATLAScollaboration, G. Aad et al.,Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections for Higgs boson production in the diphoton decay channel at √s= 8TeV with ATLAS,JHEP 09(2014) 1...
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2010
- [49]
-
[50]
Two-Loop QCD Corrections to Higgs $\rightarrow b + \bar{b} + g$ Amplitude
T. Ahmed, M. Mahakhud, P. Mathews, N. Rana and V. Ravindran,Two-loop QCD corrections to Higgs→b+ b+gamplitude,JHEP08(2014) 075 [1405.2324]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2014
-
[51]
R. Mondini and C. Williams,H→b bjat next-to-next-to-leading order accuracy,JHEP06 (2019) 120 [1904.08961]
- [52]
-
[53]
T. Gehrmann, P. Jakubˇ c´ ık, C. C. Mella, N. Syrrakos and L. Tancredi,Two-loop helicity amplitudes forH+jet production to higher orders in the dimensional regulator,JHEP04 (2023) 016 [2301.10849]
-
[54]
P. Banerjee, P. K. Dhani and V. Ravindran,Two loop QCD corrections for the process Pseudo-scalar Higgs→3partons,JHEP10(2017) 067 [1708.02387]
-
[55]
P. Banerjee, C. Dey, M. C. Kumar and V. Ravindran,Pseudoscalar Higgs boson decay to three parton amplitudes at NNLO to higher orders in the dimensional regulator,Phys. Rev. D 111(2025) 054037 [2411.17611]
-
[56]
Nogueira,Automatic Feynman Graph Generation,J
P. Nogueira,Automatic Feynman Graph Generation,J. Comput. Phys.105(1993) 279
1993
-
[57]
B. Ruijl, T. Ueda and J. Vermaseren,FORM version 4.2,1707.06453
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv
-
[58]
Reduze - Feynman Integral Reduction in C++
C. Studerus,Reduze – Feynman integral reduction in C++,Comput. Phys. Commun.181 (2010) 1293 [0912.2546]. – 13 –
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2010
-
[59]
Reduze 2 - Distributed Feynman Integral Reduction
A. von Manteuffel and C. Studerus,Reduze 2 - Distributed Feynman Integral Reduction, 1201.4330
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv
- [60]
-
[61]
Differential Equations for Two-Loop Four-Point Functions
T. Gehrmann and E. Remiddi,Differential equations for two-loop four-point functions,Nucl. Phys. B580(2000) 485 [hep-ph/9912329]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2000
-
[62]
High-precision calculation of multi-loop Feynman integrals by difference equations
S. Laporta,High-precision calculation of multiloop Feynman integrals by difference equations, Int. J. Mod. Phys. A15(2000) 5087 [hep-ph/0102033]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2000
-
[63]
Two-Loop Master Integrals for $\gamma^* \to 3$ Jets: The non-planar topologies
T. Gehrmann and E. Remiddi,Two loop master integrals for gamma* –>3 jets: The Nonplanar topologies,Nucl. Phys. B601(2001) 287 [hep-ph/0101124]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2001
-
[64]
Two-Loop Master Integrals for $\gamma^* \to 3$ Jets: The planar topologies
T. Gehrmann and E. Remiddi,Two loop master integrals for gamma* —>3 jets: The Planar topologies,Nucl. Phys. B601(2001) 248 [hep-ph/0008287]
work page internal anchor Pith review Pith/arXiv arXiv 2001
-
[65]
M. Heller and A. von Manteuffel,MultivariateApart: Generalized partial fractions,Comput. Phys. Commun.271(2022) 108174 [2101.08283]
-
[66]
Kinoshita,Mass singularities of Feynman amplitudes,J
T. Kinoshita,Mass singularities of Feynman amplitudes,J. Math. Phys.3(1962) 650
1962
-
[67]
T. D. Lee and M. Nauenberg,Degenerate Systems and Mass Singularities,Phys. Rev.133 (1964) B1549
1964
-
[68]
Catani,The singular behaviour of qcd amplitudes at two-loop order,Physics Letters B427 (1998) 161–171
S. Catani,The singular behaviour of qcd amplitudes at two-loop order,Physics Letters B427 (1998) 161–171
1998
-
[69]
C. Duhr and F. Dulat,PolyLogTools — polylogs for the masses,JHEP08(2019) 135 [1904.07279]. – 14 –
discussion (0)
Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.