A method to determine the running of alpha from a measurement of small-angle Bhabha scattering is proposed and worked out. The method is suited to high statistics experiments at e+e- colliders, which are equipped with luminometers in the appropriate angular region. A new simulation code predicting small-angle Bhabha scattering is also presented
We present the calculation of the elastic and inelastic high--energy small--angle electron--positron scattering with a {it per mille} accuracy. PACS numbers 12.15.Lk, 12.20.--m, 12.20.Ds, 13.40.--f
As present and future experiments, on both the energy and precision frontiers, look to identify new physics beyond the Standard Model, we require more precise determinations of fundamental quantities, like the QED and electroweak couplings at various momenta. These can be obtained either entirely from experimental measurements, or from one such measurement at a particular virtuality combined with the couplings virtuality dependence computed within the SM. Thus, a precise, entirely theoretical determination of the running couplings is highly desirable, even more since the preliminary results of the E989 experiment in Fermilab were published. We give results for the hadronic contribution to the QED running coupling $alpha(Q^2)$ and weak mixing angle $sin^2theta_W(Q^2)$ in the space-like energy region $(0, 7]~text{GeV}^2$ with a total relative uncertainty of $2%$ at energies $Q^2 ll 1~text{GeV}^2$, and $1%$ at $Q^2 > 1~text{GeV}^2$.
The electromagnetic coupling $alpha$ and the electroweak mixing angle $theta_{mathrm{W}}$ are parameters of the Standard Model (SM) that enter precision SM tests and play a fundamental r^ole in beyond SM physics searches. Their values are energy dependent, and non-perturbative hadronic contributions are the main source of uncertainty to the theoretical knowledge of the running with energy. We present a lattice study of the leading hadronic contribution to the running of $alpha$ and $sin^2theta_{mathrm{W}}$. The former is related to the hadronic vacuum polarization (HVP) function of electromagnetic currents, and the latter to the HVP mixing of the electromagnetic current with the vector part of the weak neutral currents. We use the time-momentum representation (TMR) method to compute the HVP on the lattice, estimating both connected and disconnected contributions on $N_{mathrm{f}}=2+1$ non-perturbatively $O(a)$-improved Wilson fermions ensembles from the Coordinated Lattice Simulations (CLS) initiative. The use of different lattice spacings and quark masses allows us to reliably extrapolate the results to the physical point.
A closed expression for the differential cross section of the large-angle Bhabha $e^+ e^-$ scattering which explicitly takes into account the leading and next-to-leading contributions due to the emission of two hard photons is presented. Both collinear and semi-collinear kinematical regions are considered. The results are illustrated by numerical calculations.
Starting from the dipole representation of small-$x$ evolution we implement the running of the coupling in a self-consistent way. This results in an evolution equation for the dipole density in Borel $(b)$ space. We show that the Borel image of the dipole density is analytic in the neighbourhood of $b=0$ and that it is equal to the BFKL solution at $b=0$. We study the Borel singularity structure of the dipole cascade emanating from a virtual photon at small $x$ and find a branch cut on the positive $b$-semiaxis starting at $b=1/ beta_0$. This indicates the presence of $1/Q^2$ power corrections to the small-$x$ structure functions. Finally we present numerical results in the context of D.I.S.