Practical algebraic renormalization (Q5931235)

The impressive experimental precision reached at the recent colliders both in electron-position as well as in proton-antiproton collisions compel us to expect specific two or even three-loop contributions to be observable. At this level the inconsistencies of the ``naive-dimensional'' scheme are unavoidable. This paper presents a practical approach, which allows the use of a non-invariant regularization scheme for the computation of quantum correction in perturbative quantum field theory, transferring a theoretical control of algebraic renormalization over non-invariant counterterms into a practical computational method. The powerful tool of the Slavnov-Taylor and Ward-Takahasi identities in the standard model is thoroughly investigated in the conventional and background gauge; explicit examples for their practical derivation are also presented. The conventional algebraic methods allowing the restoration of the functional identities is discussed and optimized in such a way that an impressive reduction of the calculation effort is reached. The main merit of the presented method is that together with the above-mentioned practical simplification the renormalizing counterterms which have to be computed are universal due to their being independent of the regularization scheme. The method is explicitly illustrated in two processes of interest: the decay of the Higgs boson into two photons, and the electroweak two-loop corrections to \(b\to s\gamma\), using the Ward-Takahasi and Slavnov-Taylor identities, having in view a special care in illustrating the proposed subtraction method presented in the paper. This paper is susceptible to valuable and useful extensions, which are promised by the authors.