Higher-order behaviour of two-point current correlators

Estimates of higher-order contributions for perturbative series in QCD, in view of their asymptotic nature, are delicate, though indispensable for a reliable error assessment in phenomenological applications. In this work, the Adler function and the scalar correlator are investigated, and models for Borel transforms of their perturbative series are constructed, which respect general constraints from the operator product expansion and the renormalisation group. As a novel ingredient, the QCD coupling is employed in the so-called C-scheme, which has certain advantages. For the Adler function, previous results obtained directly in the $$\overline{\mathrm{MS}}$$ scheme are supported. Corresponding results for the scalar correlation function are new. It turns out that the substantially larger perturbative corrections for the scalar correlator in $$\overline{\mathrm{MS}}$$ are dominantly due to this scheme choice, and can be largely reduced through more appropriate renormalisation schemes, which are easy to realise in the C-scheme