Theoretical physicists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have developed a new method of ordering Feynman integrals. This critical step in making theoretical predictions for high-energy precision measurements has posed a major computational bottleneck until now.

Scientists in the research group of Professor Stefan Weinzierl from the PRISMA⁺⁺ Cluster of Excellence propose a solution to this longstanding challenge in new articles published in Physical Review Letters and Physical Review D. By ordering the integrals according to their intrinsic geometric properties, they can speed computation times by a factor of about 1,000.

“Feynman integrals are mathematical expressions that researchers must evaluate to make precise predictions,” said Weinzierl. “These are the first pillars for precise predictions for measurements at facilities like the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.” The number of these integrals varies from process to process, with some processes needing up to one million.