Arithmetic and geometry of a K3 surface emerging from virtual corrections to Drell–Yan scattering

Abstract

We study a K3 surface, which appears in the two-loop mixed electroweak-quantum chromodynamic virtual corrections to Drell--Yan scattering. A detailed analysis of the geometric Picard lattice is presented, computing its rank and discriminant in two independent ways: first using explicit divisors on the surface and then using an explicit elliptic fibration. We also study in detail the elliptic fibrations of the surface and use them to provide an explicit Shioda--Inose structure. Moreover, we point out the physical relevance of our results.