Monte Carlo Event Generators are important tools for the understanding of physics at particle colliders like the LHC. In order to best predict a wide variety of observables, the optimization of parameters in the Event Generators based on precision data is crucial. However, the simultaneous optimization of many parameters is computationally challenging. We present an algorithm that allows to tune Monte Carlo Event Generators for high dimensional parameter spaces. To achieve this we first split the parameter space algorithmically in subspaces and perform a Professor tuning on the subspaces with bin wise weights to enhance the influence of relevant observables. We test the algorithm in ideal conditions and in real life examples including tuning of the event generators Herwig 7 and Pythia 8 for LEP observables. Further, we tune parts of the Herwig 7 event generator with the Lund string model.
The parameters tuning of event generators is a research topic characterized by complex choices: the generator response to parameter variations is difficult to obtain on a theoretical basis, and numerical methods are hardly tractable due to the long computational times required by generators. Event generator tuning has been tackled by parametrisation-based techniques, with the most successful one being a polynomial parametrisation. In this work, an implementation of tuning procedures based on artificial neural networks is proposed. The implementation was tested with closure testing and experime…
Apprentice is a tool developed for event generator tuning. It contains a range of conceptual improvements and extensions over the tuning tool Professor. Its core functionality remains the construction of a multivariate analytic surrogate model to computationally expensive Monte-Carlo event generator predictions. The surrogate model is used for numerical optimization in chi-square minimization and likelihood evaluation. Apprentice also introduces algorithms to automate the selection of observable weights to minimize the effect of mis-modeling in the event generators. We illustrate our improveme…
The Monte Carlo event generator GGRESRC is described. The generator is developed for simulation of events of the two-photon process e^+e^- --> e^+e^- R, where R is a pseudoscalar resonance, π^0, η, η', η_c, or η_b. The program is optimized for generation of two-photon events in the single-tag mode. For single-tag events, radiative correction simulation is implemented in the generator including photon emission from the initial and final states.
A neutrino event generator developed by the Wroclaw Neutrino Group is described. The physical models included in the generator are discussed and illustrated with the results of simulations. The considered processes are quasi-elastic scattering and pion production modelled by combining the $Δ$ resonance excitation and deep inelastic scattering.
Results from the Wroclaw Monte Carlo neutrino generator of events are reported. Predictions for charged hadron multiplicities, neutral pion and strange particle production are presented and compared with available data.
In this proceedings I discuss the general strategy and impact of tuning Monte-Carlo event generators for physics processes involving top quarks. Special emphasis is put on disinguishing the different usages of event generators in the experiments and the subsequent implications on the tuning process. The current status of determining tune uncertainties is also discussed.
In this article we present an event generator based on the Monte Carlo program Powheg in combination with the matrix-element generator Recola. We apply it to compute NLO electroweak corrections to same-sign W-boson scattering, which have been shown to be large at the LHC. The event generator allows for the generation of unweighted events including the effect of the NLO electroweak corrections matched to a QED parton shower and interfaced to a QCD parton shower. In view of the expected experimental precision of future measurements, the use of such a tool will be indispensable.
I describe the current status of MCnet tools for validating the performance of event generator simulations against data, and for tuning their phenomenological free parameters. For validation, the Rivet toolkit is now a mature and complete system, with a large library of prominent benchmark analyses. For tuning, the Professor system has recently completed its first tunes of Pythia 6, with substantial improvements on the existing default tune and potential to greatly aid the setup of new generators for LHC studies.
The EtabFDC is a matrix-element event generator package for $η_b$ hadroproduction at LHC. It generates $pp\toη_b X$ events for all possible parton-level $2\to2$ leading-order processes with three commonly used $η_b$ decay channels being implemented. The \pythia interface is used for parton-shower and hadronization to obtain the hadronic events. The FORTRAN codes of this package are generated by FDC (Feynman Diagram Calculation) system automatically.
We describe the Monte Carlo event generator WOPPER for four fermion production through W-pairs including resummed leading logarithmic QED radiative corrections.
We present the Monte Carlo generator tuning strategy followed, and the tools developed, by the MCnet CEDAR project. We also present new tuning results for the Pythia 6.4 event generator which are based on event shape and hadronisation observables from e+e- experiments, and on underlying event and minimum bias data from the Tevatron. Our new tunes are compared to existing tunes and to Peter Skands' new "Perugia" tunes.
We describe the physics and computational power of GRANIITTI Monte Carlo event generator, a new fully multithreaded engine designed for high energy diffraction, written in modern C++. The emphasis is especially on the low-mass domain of central exclusive processes of the S-matrix, where exotic QCD phenomena such as glueballs are expected and holographic dualities with gravity may be tested. The generator includes photon-photon, photon-pomeron, pomeron-pomeron, Durham QCD model and Tensor pomeron model type scattering amplitudes and advanced spin analysis tools. The generator combines a full pa…
In this article we describe Professor, a new program for tuning model parameters of Monte Carlo event generators to experimental data by parameterising the per-bin generator response to parameter variations and numerically optimising the parameterised behaviour. Simulated experimental analysis data is obtained using the Rivet analysis toolkit. This paper presents the Professor procedure and implementation, illustrated with the application of the method to tunes of the Pythia 6 event generator to data from the LEP/SLD and Tevatron experiments. These tunes are substantial improvements on existin…
To measure the $R$ value in an energy scan experiment with $\ee$ collisions, precise calculation of initial state radiation is required in event generators. We present an event generator for this consideration, which incorporates initial state radiation effects up to the second order accuracy, and the radiative correction factor is calculated using the totally hadronic Born cross section. The measured exclusive processes are generated according to their cross sections, while the unknown processes are generated using the LUND Area Law model, and its parameters are tuned with data collected at $…
General-purpose Monte Carlo event generators have become important tools in particle physics, allowing the simulation of exclusive hadronic final states. In this article we examine the Pythia 8 generator, in particular focusing on its parton-shower algorithms. Some relevant new additions to the code are introduced, that should allow for a better description of data. We also implement and compare with 2 to 3 real-emission QCD matrix elements, to check how well the shower algorithm fills the phase space away from the soft and collinear regions. A tuning of the generator to Tevatron data is perfo…
I describe the work of the CEDAR collaboration in developing tools for tuning and validating Monte Carlo event generator programs. The core CEDAR task is to interface the Durham HepData database of experimental measurements to event generator validation tools such as the UCL JetWeb system - this has necessitated the migration of HepData to a new relational database system and a Java-based interaction model. The "number crunching" part of JetWeb is also being upgraded, from the Fortran HZTool library to the new C++ Rivet system and a generator interfacing layer named RivetGun. Finally, I descri…
A neutrino community workshop was held at Fermilab in Jan 2020, with the aim of developing an implementation plan for a set of common interfaces to Neutrino Event Generators. This white paper summarizes discussions at the workshop and the resulting plan.
I describe the optimizing matrix element generator O'Mega and Wolfgang Kilian's event generator generator WHIZARD. These tools cooperate in the automated production of efficient unweighted event generators for linear collider physics.
It is demonstrated that event generators LEPTO and PYTHIA can be modified to describe some azimuthal modulations. The comparisons of results obtained with modified LEPTO with existing data in the current fragmentation region of SIDIS are presented for Cahn and Sivers effects as well as the predictions for the target fragmentation region. The predictions for Sivers effect in the Drell--Yan process obtained with modified PYTHIA are also presented. The concept of hadronization function is discussed.
We present a new Monte Carlo generator for Direct top and Single top production via flavour-changing neutral currents (FCNC). This new tool calculates the cross section and generates events with Next-to-Leading order precision for the Direct top process and Leading-Order precision for all other FCNC single top processes. A set of independent dimension six FCNC operators has been implemented - including four-fermion operators - where at least one top-quark is present in the interaction.
We describe the new version of the Monte Carlo event generator WOPPER for four fermion production through W-pairs including resummed leading logarithmic QED radiative corrections. Among the new features included are singly resonant background diagrams and anomalous triple gauge boson couplings.
Hadron cascade model is an essential part of Monte Carlo neutrino event generators that governs final state interactions of knocked-out nucleons and produced pions. It is shown that such model enriched with physically motivated modifications of nucleon-nucleon cross section and incorporation of nuclear correlation effects is able to reproduce experimental nuclear transparency data. Uncertainty of nucleon final state interactions effects is estimated and applied to recent neutrino-nucleus cross section measurements that include an outgoing proton in the experimental signal. Conclusions are draw…
This is the user's manual of MC@NLO 2.0. This package is a practical implementation, based upon the HERWIG event generator, of the MC@NLO formalism, which allows one to incorporate NLO QCD matrix elements consistently into a parton shower framework. The processes available in this version are those of vector boson pair and heavy quark pair production in hadron collisions. This document is self-contained, but we emphasise the main differences with respect to version 1.0.
This paper is a long write-up of ERATO. ERATO is a Monte Carlo event generator describing four fermion production at LEP2 and beyond. All tree-order processes leading to four fermions are included, taking into account all relevant QCD contributions. QED higher order corrections are introduced via a structure function approach, whereas weak corrections related to fermion loops are also included. Special attention has been paid in studying the trilinear gauge couplings, and all possible contributions, including the CP-violating ones, have been implemented.
Next generation neutrino oscillation experiments utilize details of hadronic final states to improve the precision of neutrino interaction measurements. The hadronic system was often neglected or poorly modeled in the past, but they have significant effects on high precision neutrino oscillation and cross-section measurements. Among the physics of hadronic systems in neutrino interactions, the hadronization model controls multiplicities and kinematics of final state hadrons from the primary interaction vertex. For relatively high invariant mass events, many neutrino experiments rely on the PYT…
We introduce DarkNews, a lightweight Python-based Monte-Carlo generator for beyond-the-Standard-Model neutrino-nucleus scattering. The generator handles the production and decay of heavy neutral leptons via additional vector or scalar mediators, as well as through transition magnetic moments. DarkNews samples pre-computed neutrino-nucleus upscattering cross sections and heavy neutrino decay rates to produce dilepton and single-photon events in accelerator neutrino experiments. We present two case studies with differential distributions for models that can explain the MiniBooNE excess. The aim …
MC models of multiple partonic scattering inevitably introduce many free parameters, either fundamental to the models or from their integration with MC treatments of primary-scattering evolution. This non-perturbative and non-factorisable physics in particular cannot currently be constrained from theoretical principles, and hence parameter optimisation against experimental data is required. This process is commonly referred to as MC tuning. We summarise the principles, problems and history of MC tuning, and the still-evolving modern approach to both model optimisation and estimation of modelli…
We review the physics basis, main features and use of general-purpose Monte Carlo event generators for the simulation of proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider. Topics included are: the generation of hard-scattering matrix elements for processes of interest, at both leading and next-to-leading QCD perturbative order; their matching to approximate treatments of higher orders based on the showering approximation; the parton and dipole shower formulations; parton distribution functions for event generators; non-perturbative aspects such as soft QCD collisions, the underlying event …
The leading-order accurate description of top quark pair production, as usually employed in standard Monte Carlo event generators, gives no rise to the generation of a forward--backward asymmetry. Yet, non-negligible -- differential as well as inclusive -- asymmetries may be produced if coherent parton showering is used in the hadroproduction of top quark pairs. In this contribution we summarize the outcome of our study of this effect. We present a short comparison of different parton shower implementations and briefly comment on the phenomenology of the colour coherence effect at the Tevatron…
The Monte Carlo (MC) setups used by ATLAS to model boson$+\mathrm{jets}$ and multi-boson processes at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV in proton-proton collisions are described. Comparisons between data and several event generators are provided for key kinematic distributions. Issues associated with the evaluation of systematic uncertainties are also discussed. This proceeding is a summary of the results collected in two recent ATLAS PUB notes published for the MC workshop jointly-organised by the the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations and held at CERN in May 2017.
We summarise the motivation for, and the status of, the tools developed by CEDAR/MCnet for validating and tuning Monte Carlo event generators for the LHC against data from previous colliders. We then present selected preliminary results from studies of event shapes and hadronisation observables from e+e- colliders, and of minimum bias and underlying event observables from the Tevatron, and comment on the approach needed with early LHC data to best exploit the potential for new physics discoveries at the LHC in the next few years.
DJpsiFDC is an event generator package for the process $gg\to J/ψJ/ψ$. It generates events for primary leading-order $2\to 2$ processes. The package could generate a LHE document and this document could easily be embedded into detector simulation software frameworks. The package is produced in Fortran codes.
Data analyses in hadron collider physics depend on background simulations performed by Monte Carlo (MC) event generators. However, calculational limitations and non-perturbative effects require approximate models with adjustable parameters. In fact, we need to simultaneously tune many phenomenological parameters in a high-dimensional parameter-space in order to make the MC generator predictions fit the data. It is desirable to achieve this goal without spending too much time or computing resources iterating parameter settings and comparing the same set of plots over and over again. We present …
Generic Fortran common blocks are presented for use by High Energy Physics event generators for the transfer of event configurations from parton level generators to showering and hadronization event generators.
I describe a five-dimensional, polarised, Bethe-Heitler event generator of $γ$-ray conversions to $μ^+μ^-$, based on a generator for conversion to $e^+e^-$ developed in the past. Verifications are performed from close-to-threshold to high energies.
I review the array of event generators which have been written to provide simulations of high-energy e+e- reactions. (Session summary talk presented at the 1999 International Workshop on Linear Colliders, Sitges, Barcelona, Spain.)
Evaluating parton density systematic uncertainties in Monte~Carlo event generator predictions has long been achieved by reweighting between the original and systematic PDFs for the initial state configurations of the individual simulated events. This weighting is now pre-emptively performed in many generators, providing convenient weight factors for PDF and scale systematics -- including for NLO calculations where counterterms make the weight calculation complex. This note attempts a pedagogical discussion and empirical study of the consequences of neglecting the effects of PDF variations on t…
An event generation framework is presented that enables the automatic simulation of events for next-generation neutrino experiments in the Standard Model or extensions thereof. The new generator combines the calculation of the leptonic current based on an automated matrix element generator, and the computation of the hadronic current based on a state-of-the-art nuclear physics model. The approach is validated in Standard-Model simulations for electron scattering and neutrino scattering. Furthermore, the first fully-differential neutrino trident production results are shown in the quasielastic …
After a short presentation of the event generator EPOS, we discuss the production of heavy quarks and prompt photons which has been recently implemented. Whereas we have satisfying results for the charm, work on photons is still in progress.
I describe an new event generator, pandora, which uses the C++ class structure to allow a modular treatment of beams and particle production and decay. (Talk presented at the 1999 International Workshop on Linear Colliders, Sitges, Barcelona, Spain.)
We present a novel lepton-nucleus event generator: ACHILLES, A CHIcagoLand Lepton Event Simulator. The generator factorizes the primary interaction from the propagation of hadrons in the nucleus, which allows for a great deal of modularity, facilitating further improvements and interfaces with existing codes. We validate our generator against high quality electron-carbon scattering data in the quasielastic regime, including the recent CLAS/e4v reanalysis of existing data. We find good agreement in both inclusive and exclusive distributions. By varying the assumptions on the propagation of knoc…
We illustrate a study based on a veto technique to match parton showers and matrix elements in the Cascade Monte Carlo event generator, and present a numerical application to gluon matrix elements for jet production.
EDDE is a Monte Carlo event generator, under construction, for different Exclusive Double Diffractive Events. The program is based on the extended Regge-eikonal approach for "soft" processes. Standard Model and its extensions are used for "hard" fusion processes. An interface to PYTHIA, CMSJET and CMKIN is provided.
A method for tuning parameters in Monte Carlo generators is described and applied to a specific case. The method works in the following way: each observable is generated several times using different values of the parameters to be tuned. The output is then approximated by some analytic form to describe the dependence of the observables on the parameters. This approximation is used to find the values of the parameter that give the best description of the experimental data. This results in significantly faster fitting compared to an approach in which the generator is called iteratively. As an ap…
We present results obtained with the new Monte Carlo event generator Herwig++. In its first version (1.0), Herwig++ is capable of simulating e+e- Annihilation events. We compare results for different distributions with a vast amount of available data from e+e- annihilation.
We have written the Exclusive Hadronic Monte Carlo Event (ExHuME) generator. ExHuME implements the perturbative QCD calculation of Khoze, Martin and Ryskin of the process pp-> p+X+p, where X is a centrally produced colour singlet system.
ISAJET is a Monte Carlo event generator for $pp$, $\bar pp$, and $e^+e^-$ interactions at high energies. This document summarizes the physics underlying the program and describes how to use it.
