Virtual corrections to gg → H to two loops in the heavy top limit

The virtual corrections to the production cross section of a Standard Model Higgs boson are computed up to order alpha (4)(s). Using an effective Lagrangian for the limit M-t --> infinity, we evaluate the relevant massless two-loop vertex diagrams by mapping them onto three-loop two-point functions, following a method recently introduced by Baikov and Smirnov [1]. As a result, we find a gauge-invariant contribution to the total Higgs production cross section at NNLO. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.