(MS)over-bar vs. pole masses of gauge bosons: electroweak bosonic two-loop corrections

The relationship between (MH) over bar and pole masses of the vector bosons Z and W is calculated at the two-loop level in the Standard Model. We only consider the purely bosonic contributions which represent a gauge invariant subclass of diagrams. All calculations were performed in the linear R gauge with three arbitrary gauge parameters utilizing the method of asymptotic expansions. The results are presented in analytic form as series in the small parameters sin(2) theta(W) and the mass ratio m(Z)(2)/m(H)(2). We also present the corresponding on-shell mass counter-terms for the massive gauge bosons, which will be needed for the calculation of observables at two-loops in the on-shell renormalization scheme. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.