Effective vector-boson approximation applied to hadron-hadron collisions

An improved effective vector-boson approximation is applied to hadron-hadron collisions. The effective vector-boson approximation in this form is accurate enough to reproduce the result of a complete perturbative calculation for the specific example of $\mathrm{ZZ}$ production within 10%. This is true even far away from a possible Higgs boson resonance and thus in a region where the transverse intermediate vector bosons give the dominant contribution. Simple approximate formulas which greatly reduce the calculational effort are derived. The full information about the kinematics is, however, lost in these approximations. A comparison between the improved, the approximate, and existing formulations is presented.