Probability-based estimates of the uncalculated N5LO QCD contribution to the hadronic W-boson decay width
- 1Chongqing University
- 2Chinese Academy of Sciences
Abstract
The perturbative QCD corrections to the hadronic decay width of the W boson are currently known up to next-to-next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (N4LO), whereas the exact N5LO correction remains unavailable owing to its formidable computational complexity. In this work, we estimate the N5LO contributions by adopting Bayesian analysis (BA). Before performing the estimation, the principle of maximum conformality (PMC) is employed to improve the precision of the initial scale-dependent perturbative series. Through recursive application of the renormalization group equation, non-conformal terms are absorbed into the strong running coupling, yielding a scheme-independent, scale-invariant perturbative series with improved convergence. The PMC procedure determines an effective coupling α s(Q*), with the PMC scale fixed as Q* = 100.102 GeV at next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy. Based on the improved and more precise series, the 95.5% BA credible interval yields an uncertainty of Δ δ QCD|PMC, BAN5LO = ± 1.0× 10−5. The resulting hadronic branching ratio is ℬ(W→ hadrons)|PMC = (65.84± 1.54)%, which is consistent with experimental data within reasonable errors.
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BibTeX
@article{yang2026probabilitybased,
title = {{Probability-based estimates of the uncalculated N5LO QCD contribution to the hadronic W-boson decay width}},
author = {Shu-Heng Yang and Jiang Yan and Xing-Gang Wu and Zhi-Fei Wu},
journal = {The European Physical Journal C},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1140/epjc/s10052-026-16573-4},
url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjc/s10052-026-16573-4},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Probability-based estimates of the uncalculated N5LO QCD contribution to the hadronic W-boson decay width
AU - Shu-Heng Yang
AU - Jiang Yan
AU - Xing-Gang Wu
AU - Zhi-Fei Wu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/05
JO - The European Physical Journal C
DO - 10.1140/epjc/s10052-026-16573-4
UR - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjc/s10052-026-16573-4
AB - The perturbative QCD corrections to the hadronic decay width of the W boson are currently known up to next-to-next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (N^4LO), whereas the exact N^5LO correction remains unavailable owing to its formidable computational complexity. In this work, we estimate the N^5LO contributions by adopting Bayesian analysis (BA). Before performing the estimation, the principle of maximum conformality (PMC) is employed to improve the precision of the initial scale-dependent perturbative series. Through recursive application of the renormalization group equation, non-conformal terms are absorbed into the strong running coupling, yielding a scheme-independent, scale-invariant perturbative series with improved convergence. The PMC procedure determines an effective coupling α _s(Q_*), with the PMC scale fixed as Q_* = 100.102 GeV at next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy. Based on the improved and more precise series, the 95.5% BA credible interval yields an uncertainty of Δ δ _QCD|_PMC, BA^N^5LO = ± 1.0× 10^−5. The resulting hadronic branching ratio is ℬ(W→ hadrons)|_PMC = (65.84± 1.54)%, which is consistent with experimental data within reasonable errors.
SN - 1434-6052
ER -