REVIEW 1 major objections 6 minor 54 references
Theoretical Summary: Moriond QCD and High-Energy Interactions 2025
T0 review · 1 major / 6 minor · reviewed 2026-08-15 · deepseek-v4-flash
Pith's one-line read This paper presents a compact theory status of QCD in 2025, centered on first NNLL parton showers, restored factorization, and a $0.9\sigma$ muon $g-2$ gap.
desk verdict Skands's Moriond 2025 theory summary is exactly what it claims to be: a faithful, well-organised index to the talks, with no new results and no red flags. read the letter →
The pith
A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.
The reading
What carries the argument
The carrying device is the sectioned summary format: each talk is reduced to a single takeaway and pinned to a numbered source. Within that format, the load-bearing elements are the reported benchmark numbers, such as the $1\%$ validation level, the specific $\alpha_s$ values, the first ten Mellin moments, and the $0.9\sigma$ $g-2$ difference, because they allow a reader to assess the state of the field without reading each contribution, while the references supply the proofs and details.
What would settle it
Pick any attributed claim, such as the $1\%$ validation of the non-global-log Monte Carlo resummation or the $0.9\sigma$ $g-2$ difference, and check it against the cited original talk or paper; a single misquoted number or misattributed result would show the summary is not fully faithful.
Extended reading notes
Core claim
On its own terms, the paper establishes a snapshot of the theory programme at the 2025 Moriond QCD meeting. It organizes the contributions into eight thematic sections and assigns each talk at least one concrete takeaway: a first NNLL-accurate parton shower, a Monte Carlo resummation of non-global logarithms validated at the $1\%$ level, the first resummation of super-leading logarithms, an explicit three-loop proof that collinear factorization is restored below the veto scale, the last missing piece for N$^3$LO PDF evolution, and a muon $g-2$ prediction whose remaining difference from experiment is $0.9\sigma$. The paper's claim is that these condensations, together with their references, represent the main points of the field as presented at the meeting.
Load-bearing premise
The paper's worth rests on the assumption that each one-paragraph summary faithfully reproduces what the speaker actually presented, and that the quoted numbers and validations are correct as reported.
Editorial extensions
If this is right
- First NNLL-accurate parton showers imply that $e^+e^-$ event-shape predictions and Monte Carlo fragmentation tunes can be upgraded from NLL to NNLL accuracy.
- If factorization is restored below the veto scale, conventional PDF factorization remains valid up to three loops for scales below $Q_0$, and jet-gap observables require combining super-leading and non-global logarithms above that scale.
- A $0.9\sigma$ $g-2$ difference means that, under the paper's hybrid lattice-plus-data treatment of hadronic vacuum polarization, the muon anomaly no longer points clearly to new physics.
- With the four-loop $g\to gg$ splitting moments in hand, N$^3$LO PDF evolution is practically complete; PDF fits can move to N$^3$LO, where QED corrections reduce Higgs cross sections by about $1\%$.
- In heavy-ion collisions, adding a careful hydrodynamic background to in-medium jet simulation reproduces the jet $p_T$ spectrum but still leaves the nonzero high-$p_T$ $v_2$ unexplained.
Reading between the lines
- Editorial inference: the summary's overall arc suggests that the precision-QCD frontier is shifting from fixed-order matrix elements to subleading-logarithmic and non-global structures; a test would be whether LHC jet-gap data prefer the super-leading-plus-non-global combination over standard showers.
- Editorial inference: the $0.9\sigma$ $g-2$ conclusion is conditional on the stated hybrid of lattice for small distances and data-driven input for large distances; including alternative $e^+e^-$ data sets noted in the paper could move the significance, so the number should be read as scheme-dependent.
- Editorial inference: if the $1\%$-level validation of the non-global-log Monte Carlo resummation holds up when the code is released, non-global log resummation could become a routine correction in jet and event-shape codes; a direct check is to compare the public code against LHC rapidity-gap measurements.
Signed reviews
Editorial analysis
A structured set of objections, weighed in public.
Referee Report
Summary. This paper is the written version of the theoretical summary talk at Moriond QCD and High-Energy Interactions 2025. It surveys theory talks across eight topic areas: hard processes, resummation/factorisation/PDFs, quark flavour physics, strong coupling, nonperturbative and lattice QCD, heavy-ion physics, BSM physics, and methodology. The paper attributes each summarized result to the original speaker and provides references to the corresponding publications or preprints. The central claim, as stated in the abstract, is that the paper accurately summarises the main points of most of the theory contributions presented at the conference.
Significance. If accurate, the paper is a useful and compact status report of the current theory landscape in QCD, flavour, heavy-ion, and BSM physics, with clear pointers to the primary literature. Its value lies in faithful reporting and in the completeness of the reference list. The manuscript makes no new technical claims and contains no derivations or data to check. The attributions I checked are internally consistent, and the explicit note that some experimental/theory talks are only covered in the experimental summary is a transparent scope limitation. The main caveat is that the summary's accuracy cannot be independently verified from the text alone; it rests on the author's good-faith reporting of each talk.
major comments (1)
- [Section 2 (Resummation, Factorisation, PDFs), paragraph on M. Neubert and following Figure 1] The manuscript contains a large block of extraneous text from an ERC grant proposal, beginning with 'Moriond QCD & High Energy Interactions — April 4, 2025Matthias Neubert — 8' and continuing through the passage with its own references [1]–[18] and the second 'Figure 1: Diagrammatic representation of two Glauber-gluon exchanges...'. This material is not part of the conference summary, uses reference numbering that conflicts with the paper's own numbered reference list, and visually interrupts the summary of Neubert's talk. The authors should remove this inserted block entirely and ensure that the genuine figure caption ('Figure 1 – Illustration (adapted from the talk by M. Neubert) of factorisation restoration in gaps-between-jets') is attached to the actual figure accompanying the summary.
minor comments (6)
- [Section 5] Typo: 'an 0-2.8 fm window' should read 'a 0-2.8 fm window'.
- [Section 3] Typo: 'a a heavy-quark expansion was used' should read 'a heavy-quark expansion was used'.
- [Section 4] Formatting: 'αs(mc) = 0 .445' and 'αs(mc) = 0 .400' contain an erroneous space before the decimal point.
- [Section 2] Formatting: 'the gap-fractionQ0 value' should be 'the gap-fraction Q0 value'.
- [General] The styling of αs(mZ) is inconsistent (with and without a space before the parenthesis) across Sections 4 and 5; please make it uniform.
- [Overview] The paper states that it summarises 'most' contributions but does not explain how the selection was made; a brief sentence on criteria for inclusion (or explicit referral to the experimental summary) would improve transparency.
Circularity Check
No significant circularity: the paper is a conference summary whose claims are attributed to external talks and literature, with no derivation reducing to its own inputs.
full rationale
The paper is a theoretical summary of Moriond QCD 2025 talks, explicitly aiming to 'summarise main points of most of these contributions.' It contains no derivation chain, no fitted parameters, and no prediction that is constructed from its own output. Every technical claim is presented as a report of someone else's presented result and is backed by a citation to the relevant external paper or preprint. The two references to the author's own work (ref. 19, used for the contextual remark that full-fledged shower Monte Carlos give similar conclusions about intrinsic transverse momentum, and ref. 38, used as a pointer to related coalescence/reconnection studies) are background remarks, not load-bearing assumptions for any derived claim. The self-citations do not support a uniqueness theorem, do not define a quantity in terms of the claimed result, and do not substitute for an independent derivation. The manuscript's limitation that some experimental/theory talks appear only in the experimental summary is a stated scope choice, not a circular step. Faithful reporting of external results is inherently not independently verifiable from the summary alone, but that is a verification limitation, not circularity, and this analysis found no internal evidence of misattribution or self-referential reduction. Accordingly, the appropriate score is 0.
Assumptions & free parameters
assumptions (2)
- domain assumption The conference talks summarized by the author took place and are represented accurately.
- domain assumption Standard QCD and particle-physics background is accepted without derivation.
Cite this review
Pith. "Pith review of Theoretical Summary: Moriond QCD and High-Energy Interactions 2025." pith.science (2026). https://pith.science/paper/JWKIUY24
@misc{pith2026250613338,
author = {Pith},
title = {Pith review of: Theoretical Summary: Moriond QCD and High-Energy Interactions 2025},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://pith.science/paper/JWKIUY24}},
note = {Machine review of arXiv:2506.13338}
}
read the original abstract
The theory talks at Moriond QCD and High-Energy Interactions 2025 covered the full range of scales from BSM, top, Higgs, EW, and hard QCD physics, through resummation, factorisation, and PDFs, to hadronic, heavy-ion, nonperturbative, and lattice QCD. A few talks also touched on methodologies. We here summarise main points of most of these contributions.
Figures
Reference graph
Works this paper leans on
-
[1]
S. Jaskiewicz, S. Jones, R. Szafron, and Y. Ulrich. The structure of quark mass corrections in the gg→HH amplitude at high-energy. 12 2024. arXiv:2501.00587
arXiv 2024
-
[18]
W. Zhan, S. Yang, M. Liu, L. Han, and F. Hautmann. A pT -ratio observable for studies of intrinsic transverse momentum of partons from Drell-Yan pT spectra. In 59th Ren- contres de Moriond on QCD and High Energy Interactions: Moriond QCD 2025 , 5 2025. arXiv:2505.06973
arXiv 2025
-
[2]
B. Campillo Aveleira, G. Heinrich, M. Kerner, and L. Kunz. Probing anomalous Higgs boson couplings in Higgs plus jet production at NLO QCD with full mt-dependence. JHEP, 04:060, 2025
work page 2025
-
[3]
F. Buccioni, X. Chen, W.-J. Feng, T. Gehrmann, A. Huss, and M. Marcoli. Precise Predictions for Event Shapes in Diphoton Production at the LHC. Phys. Rev. Lett. , 134(17):171901, 2025
work page 2025
-
[4]
A. Huss et al. NNLOJET: a parton-level event generator for jet cross sections at NNLO QCD accuracy. 3 2025. arXiv:2503.22804
arXiv 2025
-
[5]
S. Ferrario Ravasio. Building Next-to-Next Leading Logarithmic parton showers: the PanScales recipe. In 59th Rencontres de Moriond on QCD and High Energy Interactions: Moriond QCD 2025 , 5 2025. arXiv:2505.13395
arXiv 2025
-
[6]
M. van Beekveld et al. Introduction to the PanScales framework, version 0.1. SciPost Phys. Codeb. , 2024:31, 2024
work page 2024
- [7]
Show all 54 references
-
[8]
N. Schalch. Resummation of Next-to-Leading Non-Global Logarithms . PhD thesis, Bern U., 2024
2024
-
[9]
Banfi, F
A. Banfi, F. A. Dreyer, and P. Monni. Higher-order non-global logarithms from jet calculus. JHEP, 03:135, 2022
2022
-
[10]
Becher, M
T. Becher, M. Neubert, D. Y. Shao, and M. Stillger. Factorization of non-global LHC observables and resummation of super-leading logarithms. JHEP, 12:116, 2023
2023
-
[11]
Becher, P
T. Becher, P. Hager, G. Martinelli, M. Neubert, D. Schwienbacher, and M. Stillger. Super- leading logarithms in pp → 2 jets. JHEP, 01:171, 2025
2025
-
[12]
Becher, P
T. Becher, P. Hager, S. Jaskiewicz, M. Neubert, and D. Schwienbacher. Factorization Restoration through Glauber Gluons. Phys. Rev. Lett. , 134(6):061901, 2025
2025
-
[13]
Falcioni, F
G. Falcioni, F. Herzog, S. Moch, A. Pelloni, and A. Vogt. Four-loop splitting functions in QCD – the gluon-gluon case –. Phys. Lett. B , 860:139194, 2025
2025
-
[14]
Combination of aN 3LO PDFs and implications for Higgs production cross-sections at the LHC
Thomas Cridge et al. Combination of aN 3LO PDFs and implications for Higgs production cross-sections at the LHC. 11 2024. arXiv:2411.05373
2024 arXiv
-
[15]
Towards N 3LO PDFs and their implications for Higgs production cross- sections
Felix Hekhorn. Towards N 3LO PDFs and their implications for Higgs production cross- sections. In 59th Rencontres de Moriond on QCD and High Energy Interactions: Moriond QCD 2025 , 5 2025
2025
-
[16]
Piloneta and A
S. Piloneta and A. Vladimirov. Angular distributions of Drell-Yan leptons in the TMD factorization approach. JHEP, 12:059, 2024
2024
-
[17]
Vladimirov
A. Vladimirov. Angular structure of Drell-Yan reaction in the TMD factorization ap- proach. In 59th Rencontres de Moriond on QCD and High Energy Interactions: Moriond QCD 2025 , 5 2025. arXiv:2505.11064
2025 arXiv
-
[19]
Skands, S
P. Skands, S. Carrazza, and J. Rojo. Tuning PYTHIA 8.1: the Monash 2013 Tune. Eur. Phys. J. C , 74(8):3024, 2014
2013
-
[20]
Gopal and N
A. Gopal and N. Gubernari. Unitarity bounds with subthreshold and anomalous cuts for b-hadron decays. Phys. Rev. D , 111(3):L031501, 2025
2025
-
[21]
D. Mishra. LCSR predictions for B → K Hadronic Matrix Elements. In 59th Ren- contres de Moriond on QCD and High Energy Interactions: Moriond QCD 2025 , 5 2025. arXiv:2505.16426
2025 arXiv
-
[22]
Huber, T
T. Huber, T. Hurth, J. Jenkins, and E. Lunghi. Inclusive B→Xsℓ+ℓ− with a hadronic mass cut. JHEP, 12:117, 2023
2023
-
[23]
Huber, T
T. Huber, T. Hurth, J. Jenkins, E. Lunghi, Q. Qin, and K. K. Vos. Inclusive B→Xsℓ+ℓ− at the LHC: theory predictions and new-physics reach. JHEP, 11:130, 2024. [Erratum: JHEP 05, 099 (2025)]
2025
-
[24]
Dey and S
U. Dey and S. Nandi. Correlated study on some Bc→P and Bc→S wave channels in light of new inputs. 3 2025. arXiv:2503.01693
2025 arXiv
-
[25]
D’Ambrosio and M
G. D’Ambrosio and M. Knecht. Predictions for the Rare Kaon Decays KS,L → π0ℓ+ℓ− from QCD in the Limit of a Large Number of Colours. Universe, 10(12):457, 2024
2024
-
[26]
M. A. Benitez, A. Bhattacharya, A. H. Hoang, V. Mateu, M. D. Schwartz, I. W. Stewart, and X. Zhang. A Precise Determination of αs from the Heavy Jet Mass Distribution. 2
-
[27]
M. A. Benitez. Determining αs(mZ) from the Heavy Jet Mass distribution. 6 2025. arXiv:2506.07723
2025 arXiv
-
[28]
Ahmadova et al
F. Ahmadova et al. Precise Determination of the Strong Coupling Constant from Dijet Cross Sections up to the Multi-TeV Range. 12 2024. arXiv:2412.21165
2024 arXiv
- [29]
-
[30]
Y. Che, L. Chen, J. Wu, X. Lou, X. Chen, X. Guan, Y.-Q. Ma, and M. Ruan. Determi- nation of the Strong Coupling Constant αs from Inclusive Semi-leptonicB Meson Decays. 12 2024. arXiv:2412.02480
2024
-
[31]
J. Wu, X. Lou, Y. Che, G. Li, Y. Huang, M. Ruan, and J. Ye. Strong coupling from inclusive semileptonic decay of charmed mesons*. Chin. Phys. C , 49(2):023001, 2025
2025
-
[32]
Aoyama et al
T. Aoyama et al. The anomalous magnetic moment of the muon in the Standard Model. Phys. Rept. , 887:1–166, 2020
2020
-
[33]
Boccaletti et al
A. Boccaletti et al. High precision calculation of the hadronic vacuum polarisation con- tribution to the muon anomaly. 7 2024. arXiv:2407.10913
2024 arXiv
-
[34]
X. Ji. Parton Physics on a Euclidean Lattice. Phys. Rev. Lett. , 110:262002, 2013
2013
-
[35]
Jo´ o, J
B. Jo´ o, J. Karpie, K. Orginos, A. V. Radyushkin, D. G. Richards, and S. Zafeiropoulos. Parton Distribution Functions from Ioffe Time Pseudodistributions from Lattice Calcula- tions: Approaching the Physical Point. Phys. Rev. Lett. , 125(23):232003, 2020
2020
-
[36]
Khan et al
T. Khan et al. Unpolarized gluon distribution in the nucleon from lattice quantum chromodynamics. Phys. Rev. D , 104(9):094516, 2021
2021
-
[37]
Jiang, H
C. Jiang, H. Li, S.-Y. Li, S. Liu, and X. Yin. D∗jet fragmentation function paradox and combination mechanism. Commun. Theor. Phys. , 75(2):025201, 2023
2023
-
[38]
Altmann, A
J. Altmann, A. Dubla, V. Greco, A. Rossi, and P. Skands. Towards the understanding of heavy quarks hadronization: from leptonic to heavy-ion collisions. Eur. Phys. J. C , 85(1):16, 2025
2025
-
[39]
Baldenegro, M
C. Baldenegro, M. Praszalowicz, C. Royon, and A. M. Stasto. Scaling laws of elastic proton-proton scattering differential cross sections. Phys. Lett. B , 856:138960, 2024
2024
-
[40]
Prasza lowicz
M. Prasza lowicz. Universal properties of elastic pp cross section from the ISR to the LHC. In 59th Rencontres de Moriond on QCD and High Energy Interactions: Moriond QCD 2025 , 5 2025. arXiv:2505.11885
2025 arXiv
-
[41]
Forshaw and R
J. Forshaw and R. Sandapen. Holographic analysis of the pion. Phys. Rev. D , 111(3):034024, 2025
2025
-
[42]
I. Kolb´ e. JEWEL on a (2+1)D background with applications to small systems and substructure. 3 2023. arXiv:2303.14166
2023 arXiv
-
[43]
K. C. Zapp. JEWEL 2.0.0: directions for use. Eur. Phys. J. C , 74(2):2762, 2014
2014
-
[44]
G. Nijs, W. van der Schee, U. G¨ ursoy, and R. Snellings. Bayesian analysis of heavy ion collisions with the heavy ion computational framework Trajectum. Phys. Rev. C , 103(5):054909, 2021
2021
-
[45]
Giacalone and E
G. Giacalone and E. Speranza. Initial-state-driven spin correlations in high-energy nuclear collisions. 2 2025. arXiv:2502.13102
2025 arXiv
-
[46]
Abu-Ajamieh, S
F. Abu-Ajamieh, S. Kumbhakar, R. Sarkar, and S. Vempati. Improved Bounds and Global Fit of Flavor-Violating Charged Lepton Yukawa Couplings post LHC. 5 2025. arXiv:2505.12208
2025 arXiv
-
[47]
Miralles, Y
V. Miralles, Y. Peters, E. Vryonidou, and J. K. Winter. Sensitivity to CP -violating effective couplings in the top-Higgs sector. JHEP, 06:052, 2025
2025
-
[48]
A. N. Rossia and E. Vryonidou. CP-odd effects at NLO in SMEFT WH and ZH production. JHEP, 11:142, 2024
2024
-
[49]
M. O. A. Thomas and E. Vryonidou. CP violation in loop-induced diboson production. JHEP, 03:038, 2025
2025
-
[50]
Baker, Timothy Martonhelyi, Andrea Thamm, and Riccardo Torre
Michael J. Baker, Timothy Martonhelyi, Andrea Thamm, and Riccardo Torre. A Sim- plified Model of Heavy Vector Singlets for the LHC and Future Colliders. 7 2024. arXiv:2407.11117
2024 arXiv
-
[51]
Sub-GeV dark matter and nano-Hertz gravitational waves from a classically conformal dark sector
Sowmiya Balan, Torsten Bringmann, Felix Kahlhoefer, Jonas Matuszak, and Carlo Tasillo. Sub-GeV dark matter and nano-Hertz gravitational waves from a classically conformal dark sector. 2 2025. arXiv:2502.19478
2025
-
[52]
Bernlochner, Marco Fedele, Tim Kretz, Ulrich Nierste, and Markus T
Florian U. Bernlochner, Marco Fedele, Tim Kretz, Ulrich Nierste, and Markus T. Prim. Model independent bounds on heavy sterile neutrinos from the angular distribution of B → D∗ℓν decays. JHEP, 01:040, 2025
2025
-
[53]
M. A. Lim and R. Poncelet. Robust estimates of theoretical uncertainties at fixed-order in perturbation theory. 12 2024. arXiv:2412.14910
2024
-
[54]
Aoude, H
R. Aoude, H. Banks, C. D. White, and M. J. White. Probing new physics in the top sector using quantum information. 5 2025. arXiv:2505.12522
2025 arXiv
Reviewed August 15, 2026 · model on record in the stance chip above.
Discussion (0). Continue with ORCID to comment.