Taming forward scattering singularities in partial waves

Abstract

Perturbative partial-wave amplitudes diverge in cases with a massless exchanged particle in the $t$-channel. We argue that the divergence is an artifact of perturbation theory and give a prescription for the all-orders correction factor that renders the partial waves finite. As an example, we apply this to longitudinal $W^+W^-$ elastic scattering, for which there is a photon exchange $t$-channel contribution, and derive improved quasi-perturbative unitarity bounds on the mass of the Higgs. The method is also useful for $t$-channel exchange of very light particles.