{
  "abstract": "We study $B_c^{(*)}$ production in $Z$-boson decays at next-to-leading order (NLO) in QCD within the color-singlet nonrelativistic QCD framework. The analysis covers both the $1S$ and $2S$ pseudoscalar and vector states, extending the phenomenological study to radially excited $B_c$ mesons. We calculate direct production widths and energy-fraction and invariant-mass distributions, including both charm- and bottom-quark production topologies. For the central inputs and $μ_R=2m_b$, the $K$ factors are $1.52$ for $B_c$ and $1.33$ for $B_c^*$. We examine uncertainties from the renormalization scale, heavy-quark masses, and wave functions at the origin, and apply the principle of maximum conformality to fix the renormalization scale from the $β_0$-dependent NLO contribution. The NLO corrections enhance the small- and intermediate-energy-fraction regions and modify the invariant-mass spectra. We discuss these features in relation to heavy-quark fragmentation. The results provide production-rate and kinematic inputs for studies of ground-state and radially excited $B_c$ mesons at high-statistics $Z$ factories.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.21485",
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Qi-Wei Ke"
    },
    {
      "name": "Lei Guo"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jun Zeng"
    },
    {
      "name": "Xu-Chang Zheng"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/14tb38jh681vr.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.21485",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "14tb38jh681vr",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.21485",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-ex"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-ph"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3106|Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7222510870",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.21485",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-15",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/14tb38jh681vr.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:29:50Z",
      "native_id": "2610.21485",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.21485"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:hep-ex",
      "subfield": "high-energy"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Revisiting $B_c^{(*)}$ production in $Z$-boson decays at NLO in QCD",
  "title_text": "Revisiting B_c^(*) production in Z-boson decays at NLO in QCD",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:29:50Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/14tb38jh681vr",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}