Small-momentum expansion of heavy-quark correlators in the large-$β_0$ limit and $α_s$ extractions

Abstract

We calculate the small-momentum expansion of vector, axial-vector, scalar, and pseudo-scalar heavy-quark current correlators in the large-β 0 limit of QCD, extending the analysis of Grozin and Sturm beyond the vector current. Our results are used to study the higher-order behaviour of dimensionless ratios of vector and pseudo-scalar moments used for the precise extraction of the strong coupling, α s , from relativistic quarkonium sum rules and lattice data, respectively. We show that these ratios benefit from a partial cancellation of the leading renormalon singularities. Our results can guide the design of combinations of moments with improved perturbative behaviour.