We compute the two-loop QCD corrections to the neutral Higgs-boson masses in the MSSM, including the effect of non-vanishing external momenta in the self-energies. We obtain corrections of O(alpha_t*alpha_s) and O(alpha*alpha_s), i.e., all two-loop c
orrections that involve the strong gauge coupling when the only non-vanishing Yukawa coupling is the top one. We adopt either the DRbar renormalization scheme or a mixed OS-DRbar scheme where the top/stop parameters are renormalized on-shell. We compare our results with those of earlier calculations, pointing out an inconsistency in a recent result obtained in the mixed OS-DRbar scheme. The numerical impact of the new corrections on the prediction for the lightest-scalar mass is moderate, but already comparable to the accuracy of the Higgs-mass measurement at the LHC.
We present a calculation of the two-loop top-stop-gluino contributions to Higgs production via gluon fusion in the MSSM. By means of an asymptotic expansion in the heavy particle masses, we obtain explicit and compact analytic formulae that are valid
when the Higgs and the top quark are lighter than stops and gluino, without assuming a specific hierarchy between the Higgs mass and the top mass. Being applicable to the heaviest Higgs scalar in a significant region of the MSSM parameter space, our results complement earlier ones obtained with a Taylor expansion in the Higgs mass, and can be easily implemented in computer codes to provide an efficient and accurate determination of the Higgs production cross section.
We present lattice results for the vector and scalar form factors of the semileptonic decays D -> pi ell u_ell and D -> K ell u_ell in the physical range of values of squared four momentum transfer q^2, obtained with N_f=2 maximally twisted Wilson
fermions simulated at three different lattice spacings (a ~ 0.102 fm, 0.086 fm, 0.068 fm) with pion masses as light as 270 MeV and m_pi L gtrsim 4. The form factors are extracted using a double ratios strategy, which allows a good statistical accuracy and is independent of the vector current renormalization constant. The chiral/continuum extrapolation is performed through a simultaneous fit in the three variables (m_pi, q^2, a) using HMChPT formulae with additional O(a^2) terms that parametrically account for the lattice spacing dependence. Our results are in very good agreement with the experimental data in the full q^2 range for both D -> pi ell u_ell and D -> K ell u_ell. At zero momentum transfer we obtain f^{D->pi}(0) = 0.65(6)_{stat}(6)_{syst} and f^{D->K}(0) = 0.76(5)_{stat}(5)_{syst}, where the systematic error does not include the effects of quenching the strange and the charm quarks. Our findings are in good agreement with recent lattice calculations at N_f = 2+1.
We present lattice results for the form factors relevant in the K -> pion and D -> pion semileptonic decays, obtained from simulations with two flavors of dynamical twisted-mass fermions and pion masses as light as 260 MeV. For K -> pion decays we di
scuss the estimates of the main sources of systematic uncertainties, including the quenching of the strange quark, leading to our final result f+(0) = 0.9560 (57) (62). Combined with the latest experimental data, our value of f+(0) implies for the CKM matrix element |Vus| the value 0.2267 (5) (20) consistent with the first-row CKM unitarity. For D -> pion decays the application of Heavy Meson Chiral Perturbation Theory allows to extrapolate our results for both the scalar and the vector form factors at the physical point with quite good accuracy, obtaining a nice agreement with the experimental data. In particular at zero-momentum transfer we obtain f+(0) = 0.64 (5).
