Fractional analytic perturbation theory in Minkowski space and application to Higgs boson decay into a bb- pair

We work out and discuss the Minkowski version of fractional analytic perturbation theory for QCD observables, recently developed and presented by us for the Euclidean region. The original analytic approach to QCD, initiated by Shirkov and Solovtsov, is summarized and relations to other proposals to achieve an analytic strong coupling are pointed out. The developed framework is applied to the Higgs boson decay into a b (b) over bar pair, using recent results for the massless correlator of two quark scalar currents in the (MS) over bar scheme. We present calculations for the decay width within the Minkowski version of fractional analytic perturbation theory including those non-power-series contributions that correspond to the O(alpha(3)(s))-terms, also taking into account evolution effects of the running coupling and the b-quark-mass renormalization. Comparisons with previous results within standard QCD perturbation theory are performed and the differences are pointed out. The interplay between effects originating from the analyticity requirement and the analytic continuation from the spacelike to the timelike region and those due to the evolution of the heavy-quark mass is addressed, highlighting the differences from the conventional QCD perturbation theory.