Abstract
We identify a property of renormalizable SU(N)/U(1) gauge theories, intrinsic conformality (iCF), which underlies the scale invariance of physical observables and leads to a remarkably efficient method to solve the conventional renormalization scale ambiguity at every order in perturbative QCD (pQCD): the . This new method reflects the underlying conformal properties displayed by pQCD at next-to-next-to-leading order, eliminates the scheme dependence of pQCD predictions, and is consistent with the general properties of the principle of maximum conformality (PMC). We introduce a new method to identify conformal and -terms which can be applied from either a numerical or an analytical calculations. We illustrate the for the thrust and C-parameter distributions in annihilation and then show how to apply this new method to general observables in QCD. We point out how the implementation of the can significantly improve the precision of pQCD predictions; its implementation in a multiloop analysis also simplifies the calculation of higher order corrections in a general renormalizable gauge theory.
- Received 5 February 2020
- Accepted 23 June 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.014015
Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.
Published by the American Physical Society