Generalized Threshold Factorization with Full Collinear Dynamics

Abstract

Soft threshold factorization has been used extensively to study hadronic collisions. It is derived in the limit where the momentum fractions $x_{a,b}$ of both incoming partons approach $x_{a,b}\to 1$. We present a generalized threshold factorization theorem for color-singlet processes, which holds in the weaker limit of only $x_a \to 1$ for generic $x_b$ (or vice versa), corresponding to the limit of large rapidity but generic invariant mass of the produced color singlet. It encodes the complete soft and/or collinear singular structure in the partonic momentum fractions to all orders in perturbation theory, including in particular flavor-nondiagonal partonic channels at leading power. It provides a more powerful approximation than the classic soft threshold limit, capturing a much larger set of contributions. We demonstrate this explicitly for the Z and Higgs rapidity spectrum to NNLO, and we use it to predict a nontrivial set of its N3LO contributions. Our factorization theorem provides the relevant resummation of large-$x$ logarithms in the rapidity spectrum required for resummation-improved PDF fits. One of our factorization ingredients is a new beam function closely related to the N-jettiness beam function. As a byproduct, we identify the correct soft threshold factorization for rapidity spectra among the differing results in the literature.