We present a next-to-leading order calculation of single-top production interfaced to Shower Monte Carlo programs, implemented according to the POWHEG method. A detailed comparison with MC@NLO and PYTHIA is carried out for several observables, for the Tevatron and LHC colliders.
We describe the \POWHEGBOX{} package, a general computer code framework for implementing NLO calculations in Shower Monte Carlo programs according to the \POWHEG{} method.
We present a next-to-leading-order calculation of W/Z production interfaced to shower Monte Carlo, implemented according to the POWHEG method. Finite width effects, Z/gamma interference and angular correlations of decay products are included. A detailed comparison with MC@NLO and PYTHIA is carried out.
We present a next-to-leading order calculation of Higgs boson production in vector-boson fusion processes interfaced to shower Monte Carlo programs, implemented according to the POWHEG method.
In this work we illustrate the POWHEG BOX, a general computer code framework for implementing NLO calculations in shower Monte Carlo programs according to the POWHEG method. Aim of this work is to provide an illustration of the needed theoretical ingredients, a view of how the code is organized and a description of what a user should provide in order to use it.
We present results for the next-to-leading order calculation of single-top Wt-channel production interfaced to Shower Monte Carlo programs, implemented according to the POWHEG method. A comparison with MC@NLO is carried out. Results obtained using the PYTHIA shower are also shown and the effect of typical cuts is briefly discussed.
We present results for the QCD next-to-leading order (NLO) calculation of single-top t-channel production in the 4-flavour scheme, interfaced to Parton Shower (PS) Monte Carlo programs according to the POWHEG and MC@NLO methods. Comparisons between the two methods, as well as with the corresponding process in the 5-flavour scheme are presented. For the first time results for typical kinematic distributions of the spectator-b jet are presented in an NLO+PS approach.
We present an implementation of the calculation of the production of W^+W^+ plus two jets at hadron colliders, at next-to-leading order (NLO) in QCD, in the POWHEG framework, which is a method that allows the interfacing of NLO calculations to shower Monte Carlo programs. This is the first 2 -> 4 process to be described to NLO accuracy within a shower Monte Carlo framework. The implementation was built within the POWHEGBOX package. We discuss a few technical improvements that were needed in the POWHEGBOX to deal with the computer intensive nature of the NLO calculation, and argue that further …
The aim of this work is to describe in detail the POWHEG method, first suggested by one of the authors, for interfacing parton-shower generators with NLO QCD computations. We describe the method in its full generality, and then specify its features in two subtraction frameworks for NLO calculations: the Catani-Seymour and the Frixione-Kunszt-Signer approach. Two examples are discussed in detail in both approaches: the production of hadrons in e+e- collisions, and the Drell-Yan vector-boson production in hadronic collisions.
In this paper we present a framework for developing POWHEG BOX generators using MadGraph5_aMC@NLO for the computation of the matrix elements. Within this framework, all the flexibility of MadGraph5_aMC@NLO for the generation of matrix elements for Standard Model processes and for several of its extensions can be exploited, as well as all features of the POWHEG BOX framework, including the possibility of multijet merging without a merging scale (using the so called MiNLO approach). As a proof of concept, we develop a generator for the production of a spin-0 Higgs-like boson in association with …
We present results for the QCD production of Z/γ + 2 jets matched with parton showers using the POWHEG method. Some technicalities relevant for the merging of NLO corrections for this process with parton showers are discussed, and results for typical distributions are shown, in presence of different sets of cuts. A comparison with ATLAS data is also presented, and good agreement is found.
I review recent developments in POWHEG, a method for interfacing parton-shower generators with NLO QCD computations. I illustrate recent progress in understanding several features of the method, and in clarifying similarity and differences with respect to MC@NLO. Furthermore, I briefly describe a recently introduced framework, the POWHEG BOX, that allows the automatic POWHEG implementation of any given NLO calculation, and has been recently applied to Z+jet production and to Higgs production via vector-boson fusion.
Building on the new automatic subtraction of NLO amplitudes in WHIZARD, we present our implementation of the POWHEG scheme to match radiative corrections consistently with the parton shower. We apply this general framework to two linear collider processes, $e^+e^-\,\to\,t\bar{t}$ and $e^+e^-\,\to\,t\bar{t}H$.
We present the implementation of Higgs boson pair production in gluon fusion within a non-linear Effective Field Theory framework containing five anomalous couplings for this process. The code, available within the POWHEG-BOX-V2, includes full NLO QCD corrections with massive top quarks. All five couplings can be modified by the user. We show $m_{hh}$ distributions at seven benchmark points provided by an $m_{hh}$ shape analysis at NLO and showered $p_T^{hh}$ distributions resulting from an interface to Pythia-8 and Herwig-7.2.
We present a next-to-leading order calculation of Higgs boson production via gluon fusion interfaced to shower Monte Carlo programs, implemented according to the POWHEG method. A detailed comparison with MC@NLO and PYTHIA is carried out for several observables, for the Tevatron and LHC colliders. Comparisons with next-to-next-to-leading order results and with resummed ones are also presented.
In this paper we deal with radiation from heavy quarks in the context of next-to-leading order calculations matched to parton shower generators. A new algorithm for radiation from massive quarks is presented that has considerable advantages over the one previously employed. We implement the algorithm in the framework of the ${\tt POWHEG-BOX}$, and compare it with the previous one in the case of the ${\tt hvq}$ generator for bottom production in hadronic collisions, and in the case of the ${\tt bb4l}$ generator for top production and decay.
One of the most important developments in Monte Carlo simulation of collider events for the LHC has been the arrival of schemes and codes for matching of parton showers to matrix elements calculated at next-to-leading order in the QCD coupling. The POWHEG scheme, and particularly its implementation in the POWHEG-BOX code, has attracted most attention due to ease of use and effective portability between parton shower algorithms. But formal accuracy to NLO does not guarantee predictivity, and the beyond-fixed-order corrections associated with the shower may be large. Further, there are open ques…
We present the matching of the next-to-leading order QCD calculation for W+W+jj production via vector-boson fusion in hadronic collisions to parton-shower Monte-Carlo programs according to the POWHEG method. Our implementation complements existing code for QCD-induced W+W+jj production in the POWHEGBOX package, thereby providing a platform for the complete Standard Model production of W+W+jj events via QCD and electroweak interactions. The impact of parton-shower effects is discussed for various distributions and found to be small in most cases. However, few observables, that are relevant for …
This note documents the use of the POWHEG-hvq package, a generator for heavy flavour hadroproduction at next-to-leading order in QCD, that can be easily interfaced to shower Monte Carlo programs, in such a way that NLO and shower accuracy are both maintained.
We give a status report on the automation of next-to-leading order processes within the Monte Carlo event generator WHIZARD, using GoSam and OpenLoops as provider for one-loop matrix elements. To deal with divergences, WHIZARD uses automated FKS subtraction, and the phase space for singular regions is generated automatically. NLO examples for both scattering and decay processes with a focus on e+e- processes are shown. Also, first NLO-studies of observables for collisions of polarized leptons beams, e.g. at the ILC, will be presented. Furthermore, the automatic matching of the fixed-order NLO …
We use the POWHEG method to perform parton-shower matching for Drell-Yan production of W and Z bosons at the LHC at NLO QCD and NLO electroweak accuracy. In particular, we investigate an improved treatment of the vector-boson resonances within the POWHEG method. We employ an independent implementation of the POWHEG method and compare to earlier results within the POWHEGBOX. On the technical side, we provide the FKS formalism for photon-radiation off fermions within mass regularization.
We present an implementation of the next-to-leading order hadronic production of a W boson in association with a pair of massive bottom quarks in the framework of POWHEG, a method to consistently interface NLO QCD calculations with shower Monte Carlo generators. The process has been implemented using the POWHEG BOX, an automated computer code that sistematically applies the POWHEG method to NLO QCD calculations. Spin correlations in the decay of the W boson into leptons have been taken into account using standard approximated techniques. We present phenomenological results for W b bbar-> l nu …
We present an implementation of the next-to-leading order vector boson plus one jet production process in hadronic collision in the framework of POWHEG, which is a method to implement NLO calculations within a Shower Monte Carlo context. All spin correlations in the vector boson decay products have been taken into account. The process has been implemented in the framework of the POWHEG-BOX, an automated computer code for turning a NLO calculation into a shower Monte Carlo program. We present phenomenological results for the case of the Z/gamma plus one jet production process, obtained by match…
In this short note we discuss the origin of spikes in physical distributions in dijet production, originating after the Monte Carlo shower of POWHEG Les Houches events. We introduce a refinement of the way in which the POWHEG BOX separates the singular regions that reduces the appearance of spikes in the computed distributions. We also study the sensitivity of the results due to a modification of the way the POWHEG events are passed to the shower Monte Carlo program. We recommend that the new features should be used always in dijet production.
Recent progress in calculating lepton density functions inside the proton and simulating lepton showers laid the foundations for precision studies of resonant leptoquark production at hadron colliders. Direct quark-lepton fusion into a leptoquark is a novel production channel at the LHC that has the potential to probe a unique parameter space for large masses and couplings. In this work, we build the first Monte Carlo event generator for a full-fledged simulation of this process at NLO for production, followed by a subsequent decay using the POWHEG method and matching to the parton showers uti…
We present the status of the automation of NLO processes within the event generator WHIZARD. The program provides an automated FKS subtraction and phase space integration over the FKS regions, while the (QCD) NLO matrix element is accessed via the Binoth Les Houches Interface from an externally linked one-loop program. Massless and massive test cases and validation are shown for several e+e- processes. Furthermore, we discuss work in progress and future plans. The second part covers the matching of the NRQCD prediction with NLL threshold resummation to the NLO continuum top pair production at …
We present a next-to-leading order (NLO) treatment of the production of a new charged heavy vector boson, generically called W', at hadron colliders via the Drell-Yan process. We fully consider the interference effects with the Standard Model W boson and allow for arbitrary chiral couplings to quarks and leptons. We present results at both leading order (LO) and NLO in QCD using the MC@NLO/Herwig++ and POWHEG methods. We derive theoretical observation curves on the mass-width plane for both the LO and NLO cases at different collider luminosities. The event generator used, Wpnlo, is fully custo…
We consider the gluon fusion production cross section of a scalar Higgs boson at NLO QCD in the SM and in the MSSM. We implement the calculation in the POWHEG approach, and match the NLO-QCD results with the PYTHIA and HERWIG QCD parton showers. We discuss a few representative scenarios in the SM and MSSM parameter spaces, with emphasis on the fermion and squark mass effects on the Higgs boson distributions.
We present a next-to-leading order calculation of Higgs boson production plus one and two jets via gluon fusion interfaced to shower Monte Carlo programs, implemented according to the POWHEG method. For this implementation we have used a new interface of the POWHEG BOX with MadGraph4, that generates the codes for generic Born and real processes automatically. The virtual corrections have been taken from the MCFM code. We carry out a simple phenomenological study of our generators, comparing them among each other and with fixed next-to-leading order results.
We present an implementation of the next-to-leading order dijet production process in hadronic collisions in the framework of POWHEG, which is a method to implement NLO calculations within a shower Monte Carlo context. In constructing the simulation, we have made use of the POWHEG BOX toolkit, which makes light of many of the most technical steps. The majority of this article is concerned with the study of the predictions of the Monte Carlo simulation. In so doing, we validate our program for use in experimental analyses, elaborating on some of the more subtle features which arise from the int…
Following recent work on the combination of electroweak and strong radiative corrections to single W-boson hadroproduction in the POWHEG BOX framework, we generalize the above treatment to cover the neutral current Drell-Yan process. According to the POWHEG method, we combine both the next-to-leading order (NLO) electroweak and QED multiple photon corrections with the native NLO and Parton Shower QCD contributions. We show comparisons with the predictions of the electroweak generator HORACE, to validate the reliability and accuracy of the approach. We also present phenomenological results obta…
We propose a new approach for combining next-to-leading order (NLO) and parton shower (PS) calculations so as to obtain three core features: (a) applicability to general showers, as with the MCatNLO and POWHEG methods; (b) positive-weight events, as with the KrkNLO and POWHEG methods; and (c) all showering attributed to the parton shower code, as with the MCatNLO and KrkNLO methods. This is achieved by using multiplicative matching in phase space regions where the shower overestimates the matrix element and accumulative (additive) matching in regions where the shower underestimates the matrix …
We present results from the analytic calculation of top+antitop+Higgs hadronic production at Next-to-Leading Order in QCD interfaced with parton-shower Monte Carlo event generators in the POWHEG BOX framework. We consider kinematic distributions of the top quark and Higgs boson at the 8 TeV Large Hadron Collider and study the theoretical uncertainties due to specific choices of renormalization/factorization scales and parton-showering algorithms, namely PYTHIA and HERWIG. The importance of spin-correlations in the production and decay stages of a top/antitop quark is discussed on the example o…
We review the key features of POWHEG, a method for interfacing parton-shower Monte Carlo generators to fixed next-to-leading order QCD computations. We describe a recently introduced framework, the POWHEG-BOX, that allows the automatic POWHEG implementation of any given NLO calculation. We present a few results for Higgs boson production via vector boson fusion and Z + 1 jet production, both processes available in the POWHEG-BOX.
We discuss the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SM-EFT) contributions to neutral- and charge-current Drell-Yan production, associated production of the Higgs and a vector boson, and Higgs boson production via vector boson fusion. We consider all the dimension-six SM-EFT operators that contribute to these processes at leading order, include next-to-leading order QCD corrections, and interface them with parton showering and hadronization in Pythia8 according to the POWHEG method. We discuss existing constraints on the coefficients of dimension-six operators and identify differential and an…
We present an implementation for slepton pair production at hadron colliders in the POWHEG BOX, a framework for combining next-to-leading order QCD calculations with parton-shower Monte-Carlo programs. Our code provides a SUSY Les Houches Accord interface for setting the supersymmetric input parameters. Decays of the sleptons and parton-shower effects are simulated with PYTHIA. Focussing on a representative point in the supersymmetric parameter space we show results for kinematic distributions that can be observed experimentally. While next-to-leading order QCD corrections are sizable for all …
We present an implementation of the production of three jets at NLO plus parton-shower effects in the POWHEG BOX. Using the recently introduced MiNLO procedure for setting the renormalization and factorization scales, we are able to obtain a generator that is also well behaved when the third jet becomes unresolved. We compare key distributions computed at the NLO level, at the level of the POWHEG hard emission and after full shower by PYTHIA, Pythia8 and HERWIG6. We also compare our three-jet generator with the already available dijet POWHEG generator.
We present an implementation of electroweak W+W-jj production at hadron colliders in the POWHEG framework, a method that allows the interfacing of a next-to-leading order QCD calculation with parton shower Monte Carlo programs. We provide results for both, fully and semi-leptonic decay modes of the weak bosons, taking resonant and non-resonant contributions and spin correlations of the final-state particles into account. To illustrate the versatility of our implementation, we provide phenomenological results for two representative scenarios with a light and with a heavy Higgs boson, respective…
Measurements of $t\bar{t} H$ production in the $H\to b\bar{b}$ channel depend in a critical way on the theoretical uncertainty associated with the irreducible QCD $t\bar{t}+b$-jet background. We introduce a new $pp\to t\bar{t}b\bar{b}$ POWHEG generator in the 4F scheme based on POWHEG-BOX-RES and on OpenLoops for fast evaluation of the scattering amplitudes. We present predictions and uncertainties for $t\bar{t}+b$-jet observables at the 13 TeV LHC. We also consider theoretical uncertainties related to the POWHEG matching method and to the parton shower (PS) modelling, with emphasis on $g\to b…
We present the calculation of the NLO QCD corrections to the electroweak production of top-antitop pairs at the CERN LHC in the presence of a new neutral gauge boson. The corrections are implemented in the parton shower Monte Carlo program POWHEG. Standard Model (SM) and new physics interference effects are properly taken into account. QED singularities, first appearing at this order, are consistently subtracted. Numerical results are presented for SM and $Z'$ total cross sections and distributions in invariant mass, transverse momentum, azimuthal angle and rapidity of the top-quark pair. The …
We present a generator for the production of a Higgs boson H in association with a vector boson V=W or Z (including subsequent V decay) plus zero and one jet, that can be used in conjunction with general-purpose shower Monte Carlo generators, according to the POWHEG method, as implemented within the POWHEG BOX framework. We have computed the virtual corrections using GoSam, a program for the automatic construction of virtual amplitudes. In order to do so, we have built a general interface of the POWHEG BOX to the GoSam package. With this addition, the construction of a POWHEG generator within …
The associated production of charged Higgs bosons and top quarks at hadron colliders is an important discovery channel to establish the existence of a non-minimal Higgs sector. Here, we present details of a next-to-leading order (NLO) calculation of this process using the Catani-Seymour dipole formalism and describe its implementation in POWHEG, which allows to match NLO calculations to parton showers. Numerical predictions are presented using the PYTHIA parton shower and are compared to those obtained previously at fixed order, to a leading order calculation matched to the PYTHIA parton showe…
We study the theoretical uncertainties in the determination of the top-quark mass using next-to-leading-order (NLO) generators, that describe the top-quark decay at different levels of accuracy, interfaced to parton showers (PS). Specifically we consider one generator that implements NLO corrections only in the production dynamics, one that also takes them into account in the top-quark decay in the narrow width approximation (NWA) and one that implements them exactly, including finite-width and interference effects. We aim at assessing the errors in top-mass determinations of purely theoretica…
In this article we generalise POWHEG next-to-leading order parton shower (NLOPS) simulations of vector boson production and vector boson production in association with a single jet, to give matrix element corrected MENLOPS simulations. In so doing we extend and provide, for the first time, an exact and faithful implementation of the MENLOPS formalism in hadronic collisions. We also consider merging the resulting event samples according to a phase space partition defined in terms of an effective jet clustering scale. The merging scale is restricted such that the component generated by the assoc…
We present a calculation of prompt photon and associated photon-jet production at next-to-leading order that is consistently matched to parton showers with POWHEG. Specific issues that appear in photon radiation are discussed. Numerical results are compared to pp collision data at RHIC energies and shown to describe the data better than inclusive next-to-leading order calculations or those with leading order Monte Carlo generators like PYTHIA alone.
We present results for Higgs boson pair production with variations of the trilinear Higgs boson self-coupling at next-to-leading order (NLO) in QCD including the full top quark mass dependence. Differential results at 14 TeV are presented, and we discuss the implications of anomalous trilinear couplings as well as differences between the PYTHIA 8.2 and HERWIG 7.1 parton showers in combination with POWHEG. The implementation of the NLO QCD calculation with variable Higgs boson self-coupling is made publicly available in the POWHEG-BOX-V2 Monte Carlo framework. A simple method for using the new …
We present a study of Higgs hadroproduction through vector-boson fusion at the NLO in QCD matched with parton showers. We discuss the matching systematics affecting this process through a comparison of the aMC@NLO predictions with the POWHEG and the pure-NLO ones.
We extend and improve upon our previous calculation of electroweak top-quark pair hadroproduction in extensions of the Standard Model with extra heavy neutral and charged spin-1 resonances. In particular, we allow for flavour-non-diagonal $Z'$ couplings and take into account non-resonant production in the SM and beyond including the contributions with $t$-channel $W$ and $W'$ bosons. All amplitudes are generated using the Recola2 package. As in our previous work, we include NLO QCD corrections and consistently match to parton showers with the POWHEG method fully taking into account the interfe…
In this study we tried to emphasize the role parton shower plays in event generation, and in the physics of high energy event generation. We achieved this task by comparing the next-to-leading order and next-to-next-to-leading order results from EERAD3 with the next-to-leading order plus parton shower results from Vincia, and comparing both with real data.
We present a next-to-leading order plus parton-shower event generator for the production of a W boson plus two bottom quarks and a jet at hadron colliders, implemented in the POWHEG BOX framework. Bottom-mass effects and spin correlations of the decay products of the W boson are fully taken into account. The code has been automatically generated using the two available interfaces to MadGraph4 and GoSam, the last one updated to a new version. We have applied the MiNLO prescription to our Wbbj calculation, obtaining a finite differential cross section also in the limit of vanishing jet transvers…