Precise Predictions for the W-Boson Mass

Abstract

Recent results for higher-order corrections to the relation between the vector-boson masses in the Standard Model and Supersymmetry are summarized. In the Standard Model, the Higgs-mass dependence of the two-loop contributions to Delta r is studied. Exact results are given for the Higgs-dependent two-loop corrections associated with the fermions, i.e. no expansion in the top-quark and the Higgs-boson mass is made. The results for the top quark are compared with results of an expansion up to next-to-leading order in the top-quark mass. Agreement is found within 30 % of the two-loop result. In Supersymmetry, the two-loop QCD corrections to the stop- and sbottom-loop contributions to the rho parameter are presented. The two-loop corrections modify the one-loop contribution by up to 30 %; the gluino decouples for large masses. Contrary to the SM case where the QCD corrections are negative and screen the one-loop value, the corresponding corrections in the supersymmetric case are in general positive, increasing the sensitivity in the search for scalar quarks through their virtual effects in high-precision electroweak observables.

14 pages, LaTeX, 4 Postscript figures; talk given at the Cracow Epiphany Conference on W Boson, Cracow, January 1997; the paper is also available via www at http://www-itp.physik.uni-karlsruhe.de/prep/prep97/preplist97.html