First order electroweak radiative corrections to the decay of the polarised $W$ boson

Abstract

Analytic results for the next-to-leading order electroweak radiative corrections to the decay of the polarised $W$ boson into a pair of heavy quarks are presented. Finite fermion masses are taken into account throughout this calculation, and in performing the collinear limit for the final quark states and all light fermions taking part in this process, the importance of mass effects is demonstrated. This gives hints for the deviation of the total decay rate and the branching ratios into massive fermions between experimental measurements and theoretical predictions.