Determination of the strong coupling alpha_s from the QCD static energy

We obtain a determination of the strong coupling alpha_s in quantum chromodynamics, by comparing perturbative calculations for the short-distance part of the static energy with lattice computations. Our result reads alpha_s(1.5GeV)=0.326\pm0.019, and when evolved to the scale M_Z (the Z-boson mass) it corresponds to alpha_s(M_Z)=0.1156^{+0.0021}_{-0.0022}.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures. Contribution to the proceedings of Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum

Radiative decays and the nature of heavy quarkonia

We argue that the photon spectra in radiative decays of various heavy quarkonium states provide important information on their nature. If two of these states are in the strong coupling regime, we are able to produce a parameter-free model independent formula, which holds at next-to-leading order and includes both direct and fragmentation contributions. When the formula is checked against recent CLEO data it favors Upsilon (2S) and Upsilon (3S) in the strong coupling regime and disfavors Upsilon (1S) in it.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Clarifications introduced, including extra curve in plots. Journal versio

Electroweak Sudakov effects in W, Z and gamma production at large transverse momentum

We study electroweak Sudakov effects in single W, Z and gamma production at large transverse momentum using Soft Collinear Effective Theory. We present a factorized form of the cross section near the partonic threshold with both QCD and electroweak effects included and compute the electroweak corrections arising at different scales. We analyze their size relative to the QCD corrections as well as the impact of strong-electroweak mixing terms. Numerical results for the vector-boson cross sections at the Large Hadron Collider are presented.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures. v2: Minor changes, references added. Journal versio

Semi-inclusive radiative decays of Upsilon 1S

We discuss in detail the photon spectrum of radiative Upsilon 1S decays taking into account a number of results that have recently appeared in the literature. In particular, we show how to consistently combine expressions which are valid in the upper end-point region, where NRQCD factorization breaks down, with those of the central region, where NRQCD factorization holds. An excellent description of data is achieved, but theoretical errors are large.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures. Minor modifications. References added and corrected. Journal versio

Addendum: Electroweak Sudakov effects in W, Z and gamma production at large transverse momentum

In this addendum to Phys. Rev. D 88, no. 1, 013009 (2013), we give results for the electroweak Sudakov corrections in gauge-boson production at large transverse momentum p_T at proton colliders. In order for the results to be easily usable, we provide a simple and accurate parameterization of the corrections as a function of p_T and the center-of-mass energy \sqrt{s}. Additionally, we also discuss the dependence of the electroweak corrections on the rapidity of the produced boson, and comment on the complications that arise in the photon-production case due to isolation requirementsComment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Factorization and resummation for transverse thrust

We analyze transverse thrust in the framework of Soft Collinear Effective Theory and obtain a factorized expression for the cross section that permits resummation of terms enhanced in the dijet limit to arbitrary accuracy. The factorization theorem for this hadron-collider event-shape variable involves collinear emissions at different virtualities and suffers from a collinear anomaly. We compute all its ingredients at the one-loop order, and show that the two-loop input for next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy can be extracted numerically, from existing fixed-order codes.Comment: 47 pages, 12 figures. v2: journal versio