The production rate of right-handed neutrinos from a Standard Model plasma at a temperature above a hundred GeV has previously been evaluated up to NLO in Standard Model couplings (g ∼ 2/3) in relativistic (M ∼ πT ) and non-relativistic regimes (M ≫ πT ), and up to LO in an ultrarelativistic regime (M < ∼ gT ). The last result necessitates an all-orders resummation of the loop expansion, accounting for multiple soft scatterings of the nearly light-like particles participating in 1 ↔ 2 reactions. In this paper we suggest how the regimes can be interpolated into a result applicable for any right-handed neutrino mass and at all temperatures above 160 GeV. The results can also be used for determining the lepton number washout rate in models containing right-handed neutrinos. Numerical results are given in a tabulated form permitting for their incorporation into leptogenesis codes. We note that due to effects from soft Higgs bosons there is a narrow intermediate regime around M ∼ g

Strict next-to-leading order (NLO) results for the dilepton production rate from a QCD plasma at temperatures above a few hundred MeV suffer from a breakdown of the loop expansion in the regime of soft invariant masses M 2 ≪ (πT ) 2 . In this regime an LPM resummation is needed for obtaining the correct leading-order result. We show how to construct an interpolation between the hard NLO and the leading-order LPM expression, which is theoretically consistent in both regimes and free from double counting. The final numerical results are presented in a tabulated form, suitable for insertion into hydrodynamical codes.

We discuss the prospects of performing high-order perturbative calculations in systems characterized by a vanishing temperature but finite density. In particular, we show that the determination of generic Feynman integrals containing fermionic chemical potentials can be reduced to the evaluation of three-dimensional phase space integrals over vacuum on-shell amplitudes - a result reminiscent of a previously proposed "naive real-time formalism" for vacuum diagrams. Applications of these rules are discussed in the context of the thermodynamics of cold and dense QCD, where it is argued that they facilitate an extension of the Equation of State of cold quark matter to higher perturbative orders.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures; v2: discussion extended and references adde