The Two-Loop Master Integrals for qqˉ→VVq \bar{q} \to V V

We compute the full set of two-loop Feynman integrals appearing in massless two-loop four-point functions with two off-shell legs with the same invariant mass. These integrals allow to determine the two-loop corrections to the amplitudes for vector boson pair production at hadron colliders, $q \bar{q} \to V V$, and thus to compute this process to next-to-next-to-leading order accuracy in QCD. The master integrals are derived using the method of differential equations, employing a canonical basis for the integrals. We obtain analytical results for all integrals, expressed in terms of multiple polylogarithms. We optimize our results for numerical evaluation by employing functions which are real valued for physical scattering kinematics and allow for an immediate power series expansion.Comment: 26 pages, results included as ancillary files. v2: minor typos corrected, references added, published on JHE

Numerical Multi-Loop Calculations via Finite Integrals and One-Mass EW-QCD Drell-Yan Master Integrals

We study a recently-proposed approach to the numerical evaluation of multi-loop Feynman integrals using available sector decomposition programs. As our main example, we consider the two-loop integrals for the $\alpha \alpha_s$ corrections to Drell-Yan lepton production with up to one massive vector boson in physical kinematics. As a reference, we evaluate these planar and non-planar integrals by the method of differential equations through to weight five. Choosing a basis of finite integrals for the numerical evaluation with SecDec3 leads to tremendous performance improvements and renders the otherwise problematic seven-line topologies numerically accessible. As another example, basis integrals for massless QCD three loop form factors are evaluated with FIESTA4. Here, employing a basis of finite integrals results in an overall speedup of more than an order of magnitude.Comment: 24 pages, 1 figure, 4 tables, 2 ancillary files with analytical results; in v2: minor improvements in the text with additional references added. v2 is the version published in JHE

Laws of large numbers and Langevin approximations for stochastic neural field equations

In this study we consider limit theorems for microscopic stochastic models of neural fields. We show that the Wilson-Cowan equation can be obtained as the limit in probability on compacts for a sequence of microscopic models when the number of neuron populations distributed in space and the number of neurons per population tend to infinity. Though the latter divergence is not necessary. This result also allows to obtain limits for qualitatively different stochastic convergence concepts, e.g., convergence in the mean. Further, we present a central limit theorem for the martingale part of the microscopic models which, suitably rescaled, converges to a centered Gaussian process with independent increments. These two results provide the basis for presenting the neural field Langevin equation, a stochastic differential equation taking values in a Hilbert space, which is the infinite-dimensional analogue of the Chemical Langevin Equation in the present setting. On a technical level we apply recently developed law of large numbers and central limit theorems for piecewise deterministic processes taking values in Hilbert spaces to a master equation formulation of stochastic neuronal network models. These theorems are valid for processes taking values in Hilbert spaces and by this are able to incorporate spatial structures of the underlying model.Comment: 38 page