# NNLO QCD corrections to associated $WH$ production and $H\to b\overline{b}$ decay

Caola, Fabrizio (Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom) ; Luisoni, Gionata (Max Planck Institute for Physics, Föhringer Ring 6, 80805 München, Germany) ; Melnikov, Kirill (Institute for Theoretical Particle Physics, KIT, Karlsruhe D-76128, Germany) ; Röntsch, Raoul (Institute for Theoretical Particle Physics, KIT, Karlsruhe D-76128, Germany)

24 April 2018

Abstract: We present a computation of the next-to-next-to-leading-order (NNLO) QCD corrections to the production of a Higgs boson in association with a $W$ boson at the LHC and the subsequent decay of the Higgs boson into a $b\overline{b}$ pair, treating the $b$ quarks as massless. We consider various kinematic distributions and find significant corrections to observables that resolve the Higgs decay products. We also find that a cut on the transverse momentum of the $W$ boson, important for experimental analyses, may have a significant impact on kinematic distributions and radiative corrections. We show that some of these effects can be adequately described by simulating QCD radiation in Higgs boson decays to $b$ quarks using parton showers. We also describe contributions to Higgs decay to a $b\overline{b}$ pair that first appear at NNLO and that were not considered in previous fully differential computations. The calculation of NNLO QCD corrections to production and decay sub-processes is carried out within the nested soft-collinear subtraction scheme presented by some of us earlier this year. We demonstrate that this subtraction scheme performs very well, allowing a computation of the coefficient of the second-order QCD corrections at the level of a few per mill.

Published in: Physical Review D 97 (2018)