Pole mass renormalon and its ramifications

Abstract

Abstract I review the structure of the leading infrared renormalon divergence of the relation between the pole mass and the $$\overline{\mathrm{MS}}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mover> <mml:mi>MS</mml:mi> <mml:mo>¯</mml:mo> </mml:mover> </mml:math> mass of a heavy quark, with applications to the top, bottom and charm quark. That the pole quark mass definition must be abandoned in precision computations is a well-known consequence of the rapidly diverging series. The definitions and physics motivations of several leading renormalon-free, short-distance mass definitions suitable for processes involving nearly on-shell heavy quarks are discussed.

Topics & Concepts