Assessing (H)EFT theory errors by pitting EoM against Field Redefinitions
arXiv:2511.15609 · doi:10.1007/JHEP03(2026)199
Abstract
Truncations of effective field theory expansions are technically necessary but inherently intertwined with the redundancies of general field redefinitions. This can be viewed as a juxtaposition of power-counting and theoretical uncertainties, which seek to estimate neglected higher-dimensional interactions through approaches based on community consensus. One can then understand the invariance of physics under field redefinitions as a data-informed validation of different power-counting schemes, or as a means of assigning theoretical errors in comparison with algebraic, equation of motion-based replacements. Such an approach generalises widely accepted procedures for estimating theoretical uncertainties within the SM to non-renormalisable interactions. We perform a case study for a representative example in Higgs Effective Field theory, focusing on universal Higgs properties tensioned against process-dependent sensitivity expectations.
27 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, author final version published at JHEP