Smooth Threshold Effects from Dimensional Regularization

Abstract

We suggest a non-minimal renormalization scheme based on dimensional regularization that naturally incorporates threshold effects of heavy particles. By renormalizing couplings and masses to subtract all poles in $d\ge 4$, the resulting scheme is mass-dependent and circumvents shortcomings of mass-independent schemes like minimal subtraction. At the same time, many advantages of minimal subtraction such as gauge independence are retained. Through explicit one-loop computations in QCD, we demonstrate that this scheme reduces to minimal subtraction at high energies while providing smooth transitions at particle thresholds and implementing the Appelquist-Carazzone theorem. Potential future applications and extensions are discussed.

6 pages, 4 figures