Do we need N${}^3$LO Parton Distributions?

Abstract

We discuss the uncertainty on processes computed using next-to-next-to leading (NNLO) parton distributions (PDFs) due to the neglect of higher order perturbative corrections in the PDF determination, in the specific case of Higgs production in gluon fusion. By studying the behaviour of the perturbative series for this process, we show that this uncertainty is negligible in comparison to the theoretical uncertainty on the matrix element. We then take this as a case study for the use of the Cacciari-Houdeau method for the estimate of theoretical uncertainties, and show that the method provides an effective way of treating theoretical uncertainties on the matrtix element and the PDF on the same footing.

10 pages 5 figures. Final version, to be published in Phys. Lett. B. Comparison with top production (figs 4-5) added. Several typos corrected and references updated. Grant info added

References in corpus (3)

• The PDF4LHC Working Group Interim Report
• Scalar Particle Contribution to Higgs Production via Gluon Fusion at NLO
• One-Loop Single-Real-Emission Contributions to $pp\to H+X$ at Next-to-Next-to-Next-to-Leading Order

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