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Precise Determination of the Strong Coupling Constant from Dijet Cross Sections up to the Multi-TeV Range

Fazila Ahmadova1,2, Daniel Britzger1, Xuan Chen3, Johannes Gäßler4, Aude Gehrmann-De Ridder5,2, Thomas Gehrmann2, Nigel Glover6, Claire Gwenlan7, Gudrun Heinrich8 et al.

Alexander Huss9, Lucas Kunz8, João Pires10,11, Klaus Rabbertz4, and Mark Sutton12

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 031903 – Published 17 July, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/knrv-2r3t

Abstract

We determine the value of the strong coupling αs and study its running over a wide range of scales as probed by the dijet production process at hadron colliders, based on a next-to-next-to-leading-order QCD analysis of LHC dijet data. From a large subset of these data a value of αs(mZ)=0.1178±0.0022 is obtained for the strong coupling at the scale of the Z-boson mass mZ, using the invariant mass of the dijet system to select the scale where αs is probed. The combination of different datasets enhances the reach and precision of the analysis in the multi-TeV range and allows for the first determination of αs up to scales of 7  TeV. Complementing the LHC data with dijet cross sections measured at the HERA electron–proton collider, the kinematic range is extended to test the running of the strong coupling toward smaller scales. Our results exhibit excellent agreement with predictions based on the renormalization group equation of QCD, and represent a comprehensive test of the asymptotic behavior of QCD, spanning more than three orders of magnitude in energy scale.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 031903– Published 17 July, 2025
  • Received 5 January 2025
  • Revised 7 May 2025
  • Accepted 22 May 2025
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