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Precise QCD Predictions for Hadron-in-Jet Production in e+e− Collisions

Leonardo Bonino1, Aude Gehrmann-De Ridder1,2, Thomas Gehrmann1, Alexander Huss3, Francesco Merlotti2, and Giovanni Stagnitto4

  • 1Physik-Institut, Universität Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
  • 2Institute for Theoretical Physics, ETH, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland
  • 3Theoretical Physics Department, CERN, 1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland
  • 4Università di Genova and INFN, Via Dodecaneso 33, I-16146 Genova, Italy

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 251903 – Published 23 June, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/l14v-1r2c

Abstract

The production of identified hadrons inside jets in e+e− annihilation allows for detailed studies of parton-to-hadron fragmentation functions in a clean environment. We compute hadron-in-jets production cross sections for e+e−→2  jets and e+e−→3  jets to next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in perturbative QCD. By comparing with data from the ALEPH experiment, we demonstrate the implications of the newly computed theory predictions for precision phenomenology.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 251903– Published 23 June, 2026
  • Received 19 February 2026
  • Revised 17 April 2026
  • Accepted 14 May 2026
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