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We present the first calculation of the two-loop electroweak fermionic correction to the flavour-dependent effective weak-mixing angle for bottom quarks, sin^2 theta_{eff}^{b anti-b}. For the evaluation of the missing two-loop vertex diagrams, two methods are employed, one based on a semi-numerical Bernstein-Tkachov algorithm and the second on asymptotic expansions in the large top-quark mass. A third method based on dispersion relations is used for checking the basic loop integrals. We find that for small Higgs-boson mass values, M_H ~ 100 GeV, the correction is sizable, of order O(10^{-4})., Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures, references added, accepted for publication in Nucl. Phys. B

Recently exact results for the complete electroweak two-loop contributions to the effective weak mixing angle were published. This paper illustrates the techniques used for this computation, in particular the methods for evaluating the loop diagrams and the proper definition of Z-pole observables at next-to-next-to-leading order. Numerical results are presented in terms of simple parametrization formulae and compared in detail with a previous result of an expansion up to next-to-leading order in the top-quark mass. Finally, an estimate of the remaining theoretical uncertainties from unknown higher-order corrections is given., Comment: 28 pages; added numerical formulae for form factors Delta-r and Delta-kappa, and few minor corrections, version to appear in JHEP

We present the complete bosonic contributions to the effective weak mixing angle, $\seff$, at the two-loop level in the electroweak interactions. We find their size to be about three times smaller than inferred from simple estimates from lower orders. In particular, for a Higgs boson mass, $M_H$, of 100 GeV they amount to $4 \times 10^{-6}$, and drop down by about an order of magnitude for $M_H = 200$ GeV. We estimate the intrinsic error of the theory prediction of $\seff$ to be $4.7 \times 10^{-5}$., Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure

Details of the recent calculation of the two-loop bosonic corrections to the effective leptonic weak mixing angle are presented. In particular, the expansion in the difference of the W and Z boson masses is studied and some of the master integrals needed are given in analytic form., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Radiative Corrections (RADCOR05), Shonan Village, Japan, 2005

Electroweak precision observables allow stringent tests of the Standard Model at the quantum level and imply interesting bounds on the mass of the Higgs boson through higher-order loop effects. Very significant constraints come especially from the determination of the mass of the W boson and from the effective leptonic weak mixing angle. After shortly reviewing the status of theoretical computations of the W mass, the new calculation of two-loop corrections with closed fermion loops to the effective leptonic weak mixing angle is discussed in detail. The phenomenological implications of the new result are analyzed including an estimate of remaining uncertainties., Comment: to appear in Proc. of the International Linear Collider Workshop (LCWS 05), Stanford, California, USA, 18-22 Mar 2005

ZFITTER is a Fortran program for the calculation of fermion pair production and radiative corrections at high energy e+e- colliders; it is also suitable for other applications where electroweak radiative corrections appear. ZFITTER is based on a semi-analytical approach to the calculation of radiative corrections in the Standard Model. We present a summary of new features of the ZFITTER program version 6.42 compared to version 6.21. The most important additions are: (i) some higher-order QED corrections to fermion pair production, (ii) electroweak one-loop corrections to atomic parity violation, (iii) electroweak one-loop corrections to nu-e nu-e-bar production, (iv) electroweak two-loop corrections to the W boson mass and the effective weak mixing angle., Comment: 60 pages, latex, 3 tables

The complete two-loop electroweak fermionic corrections to the effective leptonic weak mixing angle, sin^2(theta_eff), are now available. Here we shortly present the methods applied and illustrate the implications on indirect prediction for the Higgs boson mass within the standard model., Comment: talk given at International Conference on Linear Colliders LCWS04

We give some details of the recently completed calculation of the full two-loop fermionic corrections to the effective leptonic weak mixing angle. Among others, we describe the C++ library DiaGen/IdSolver, which was used to reduce the two-loop light fermion vertex diagrams to linear combinations of master integrals with rational function coefficients., Comment: Talk presented at the 7th DESY Workshop on Elementary Particle Theory: Loops and Legs in Quantum Field Theory, Zinnowitz, Germany, 25-30 Apr 2004

We present a complete calculation of the contributions to the effective leptonic weak mixing angle, sin^2theta_eff, generated by closed fermion loops at the two-loop level of the electroweak interactions. This quantity is the source of the most stringent bound on the mass, M_H, of the only undiscovered particle of the Standard Model, the Higgs boson. The size of the corrections with respect to known partial results varies between -4*10^-5 and -8*10^-5 for a realistic range of M_H from 100 to 300 GeV. This translates into a shift of the predicted (from sin^2theta_eff alone) central value of M_H by +19 GeV, to be compared with the shift induced by a recent change in the measured top quark mass which amounts to +36 GeV. Our result, together with all other known corrections is given in the form of a precise fitting formula to be used in the global fit to the electroweak data., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures

The presently most accurate prediction for the W-boson mass in the Standard Model is obtained by combining the complete two-loop result with the known higher-order QCD and electroweak corrections. The numerical impact of the different contributions is analysed in detail. A simple parametrisation of the full result is presented, which approximates the full result for M_W to better than 0.5 MeV for 10 GeV < M_H < 1 TeV if the other parameters are varied within their combined 2 sigma region around their experimental central values. The different sources of remaining theoretical uncertainties are investigated. Their effect on the prediction of M_W is estimated to be about 4 MeV for M_H < 300 GeV., Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure; v2: update including 4-loop corrections to the rho parameter and new value for the Fermi constant; v3: typo in Tab.1 corrected (for 4-loop rho parameter value)

An independent result for the two loop fermionic contributions to the muon lifetime in the Standard Model is obtained. Deviations are found with respect to \cite{Freitas:2000gg}, which result in a shift of the W boson mass by approximately -1.3 MeV over the range of Higgs boson masses from 100 GeV to 1 TeV. Supplied with the bosonic contributions from \cite{Awramik:2002wn,Onishchenko:2002ve,Awramik:2002vu}, this shift, due to the complete electroweak contributions, varies from -2.4 MeV to -0.6 MeV. Additionally, a new test of the matching procedure defining the Fermi constant is presented, which uses fermion masses as infrared regulators., Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, Tab. 3 corrected, reference added

A review of the calculation of the two loop bosonic corrections to $\Delta r$ is presented. Factorization and matching onto the Fermi model are discussed. An approximate formula, describing the quantity over the interesting range of Higgs boson mass values from 100 GeV to 1 TeV is given., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, minor corrections, to appear in the proceedings of the RADCOR 2002/Loops and Legs in Quantum Field Theory workshop, Kloster Banz, Germany, 8-13 Sep 2002

The details of the recent calculation of the two-loop bosonic corrections to the muon lifetime in the Standard Model are presented. The matching on the Fermi theory is discussed. Renormalisation in the on-shell and in the MS scheme is studied and transition between the schemes is shown to lead to identical results. High precision numerical methods are compared with mass difference and large mass expansions., Comment: 26 pp, 13 figs

The last missing correction to the muon lifetime in the Standard Model at O(alpha^2) coming from gauge and Higgs boson loops is presented. The associated contribution to the parameter Delta r in the on-shell scheme ranges from 6 times 10^{-5} to -4 times 10^{-5} for Higgs boson masses from 100 GeV to 1 TeV. This result translates into a shift of the W boson mass which does not exceed +/- 1 MeV in the same range and amounts in particular to approximately -0.8 MeV for a 115 GeV Higgs boson., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, references added, final version to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett

Longitudinal polarization of the top quark, averaged over the production angle, is discussed for the top quark produced in e+e- annihilation near its production threshold. It is demonstrated that Coulomb type corrections and rescattering corrections are important. They change considerably measurable quantities and should be taken into account in phenomenological analysis., Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures; to appear in Acta Phys.Polon. B