NLO QCD corrections to t(t)over-bar-H production in hadron collisions

The Higgs boson H of the Standard Model can be searched for in the channels p(p) over bar/pp --> t(t) over bar H + X at the Tevatron and the LHC. The cross sections for these processes and the final-state distributions of the Higgs boson and top quarks are presented at next-to-leading order QCD. To calculate these QCD corrections, a special calculational technique for pentagon diagrams has been developed and the dipole subtraction formalism has been adopted for massive particles. The impact of the corrections on the total cross sections is characterized by K factors, the ratios of the cross sections in next-to-leading order over leading order QCD. At the central value mu(0) = (2m(t) + M-H)12 of the renormalization and factorization scales, the K factors are found to be slightly below unity for the Tevatron (K similar to 0.8) and slightly above unity for the LHC (K similar to 1.2). Including the corrections significantly stabilizes the theoretical predictions for the total cross sections and for the distributions in rapidity and transverse momentum of the Higgs boson and the top quarks. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.