PT Journal
AU Pich, A
TI Precision physics with inclusive QCD processes
SO Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics
JI Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys.
PY 2021
BP 103846
EP 41pp
VL 117
DI 10.1016/j.ppnp.2020.103846
LA English
DE QCD; Standard Model; Precision physics
AB The inclusive production of hadrons through electroweak currents can be rigorously analysed with short-distance theoretical tools. The associated observables are insensitive to the involved infrared behaviour of the strong interaction, allowing for very precise tests of Quantum Chromodynamics. The theoretical predictions for sigma(e(+)e(-) -> hadrons) and the hadronic decay widths of the tau lepton and the Z, W and Higgs bosons have reached an impressive accuracy of O(alpha(4)(s)). Precise experimental measurements of the Z and tau hadronic widths have made possible the accurate determination of the strong coupling at two very different energy scales, providing a highly significant experimental verification of asymptotic freedom. A detailed discussion of the theoretical description of these processes and their current phenomenological status is presented. The most precise determinations of alpha(s) from other sources are also briefly reviewed and compared with the fully-inclusive results.
ER