The QCD coupling from hadronic tau decays in 2026

by Diogo Boito (Universidade de São Paulo,)

Thursday Jan 15, 2026, 12:00 PM → 1:00 PM Europe/Madrid

C7b/058 - Seminar (IFAE Main Building C7b)

The determination of the QCD coupling, \alpha_s, from the
analysis of inclusive hadronic tau decays is one of the most precise
extractions of this fundamental parameter from experiment. I will
discuss recent developments that lead to significant improvements in
this analysis. On the theory side, there was an important reduction in
the error associated with the renormalization scale setting. On the
experimental side, recent results for e+e- to hadrons cross sections
can now be used to provide reliable estimates for tau decay channels
that were not measured previously. This information can be used to
produce a new, more inclusive, and updated spectral function,
combining the information from different experiments, which is now the
basis for a new determination of \alpha_s at the tau-mass scale.