Determination of |Vcb| using Bayesian analysis of the B → D* ν ̄_ semileptonic decay width with four-loop QCD corrections

The Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa matrix element |Vcb| | V cb | is an important Standard Model parameter, whose value can be determined by using the semi-leptonic decay B→ D* ν ̄_ B → D ∗ ℓ ν ¯ ℓ . The perturbative QCD (pQCD) corrections to the B → D* B → D ∗ transform form factor F(w) F ( w ) has been known up to the N³ N 3 LO level, whose magnitude remains sensitive to the choice of renormalization scale μ ᵣ μ r . To improve the precision of F(w) F ( w ) and hence |Vcb| | V cb | , we first apply the single-scale approach of Principle of Maximum Conformality (PMC) to eliminate the conventional (Conv.) renormalization scale dependence of the short-distance parameter η A η A and then predict the contribution of its unknown N⁴ N 4 LO term via Bayesian analysis. In this paper, we adopt two probabilistic models for Bayesian analysis: the Cacciari–Houdeau model (CH model) and the geometric behavior model (GB model). It is shown that by using the PMC series in combination with Bayesian analysis, one can achieve high degree of reliability in estimating unknown higher-order terms. A more convergent behavior is achieved by applying the PMC, confirmed by the predicted N⁴ N 4 LO contributions: for the CH model, η A|Conv.^N⁴LO=\-\,0.0032,+\,0.0052\ η A | Conv . N 4 LO = { - 0.0032 , + 0.0052 } and η A|PMC^N⁴LO=\-\,0.0004,+\,0.0004\ η A | PMC N 4 LO = { - 0.0004 , + 0.0004 } ; for the GB model, η A|Conv.^N⁴LO=\-\,0.0049,+\,0.0075\ η A | Conv . N 4 LO = { - 0.0049 , + 0.0075 } and η A|PMC^N⁴LO= \-\,0.0007,+\,0.0007\ η A | PMC N 4 LO = { - 0.0007 , + 0.0007 } . Comparing with the latest experimental measurements, we obtain |Vcb||PMC=(40.58+0.53-0.57)× 10⁻³ | V cb | | PMC = ( 40 . 58 - 0.57 + 0.53 ) × 10 - 3 , which is consistent for both CH and GB models and in good agreement with the PDG world average, |Vcb|PDG=(41.1± 1.2)× 10⁻³ | V cb | PDG = ( 41.1 ± 1.2 ) × 10 - 3 within errors.