Precision background predictions with well-defined uncertainty estimates are important for interpreting collider-physics measurements and for planning future high-energy collider experiments. It is especially important to estimate the perturbative uncertainties in predictions of inclusive measurements of jet observables, that are designed to be largely insensitive to non-perturbative effects such as the structure of beam-remnants, multi-parton scattering or hadronization. In this study, we discuss possible pit-falls in defining the perturbative uncertainty of unitarized next-to-leading order multi-jet merged predictions, using the PYTHIA event generator as our vehicle. For this purpose, we consider different choices of unitarized NLO merging schemes as well as consistent variations of renormalization scales in different parts of the calculation. Such a combined discussion allows to rank the contribution of scale variations to the error budget in comparison to other contributions due to algorithmic choices that are often assumed fixed. The scale uncertainty bands of different merging schemes largely overlap, but differences between the "central" predictions in different schemes can remain comparable to scale uncertainties even for very well-separated jets, or be larger than scale uncertainties in transition regions between calculations of different jet multiplicity. The availability of these variations within PYTHIA will enable more systematic studies of perturbative uncertainties in precision background calculations in the future.
We present results of the simulation of electroweak Higgs boson production at the Large Hadron Collider using both the NLO multijet merging and NLO matching frameworks provided by the general purpose event generator Herwig 7. For the simulation of the hard scattering processes, we use the HJets library for the full calculation and VBFNLO for the approximate calculation to compute the $2\to h+n$ amplitudes at tree-level with $n=2,3,4$ and at one-loop with $n=2,3$.
The next-to-leading order accuracy for MC@NLO results exclusive in J light jets is achieved if the computation is based on matrix elements that feature J and J+1 QCD partons. The simultaneous prediction of observables which are exclusive in different light-jet multiplicities cannot simply be obtained by summing the above results over the relevant range in J; rather, a suitable merging procedure must be defined. We address the problem of such a merging, and propose a solution that can be easily incorporated into existing MC@NLO implementations. We use the automated aMC@NLO framework to illustra…
In this talk the application of the recently introduced methods to merge NLO calculations of successive jet multiplicities to the production of top pairs in association with jets will be discussed, in particular a fresh look is taken at the top quark forward-backward asymmetries. Emphasis will be put on the achieved theoretical accuracy and the associated perturbative and non-perturbative error estimates.
We present an algorithm to combine multiple matrix elements at LO and NLO with a parton shower. We build on the unitarized merging paradigm. The inclusion of higher orders and multiplicities reduce the scale uncertainties for observables sensitive to hard emissions, while preserving the features of inclusive quantities. The combination allows further soft and collinear emissions to be predicted by the all-order parton shower approximation. We inspect the impact of terms that are formally but not parametrically negligible. We present results for a number of collider observables where multiple j…
The merging of matrix elements and parton showers is an established calculational tool for the description of multi-jet final states at hadron colliders. These methods have recently been promoted to next-to-leading order accuracy in the description of hard well separated jets. This talk introduces such a method and discusses its application to phenomenologically relevant signal and background processes. The systematic assessment of its theoretical uncertainty is a prime focus.
We discuss extensions the CKKW-L and UMEPS tree-level matrix element and parton shower merging approaches to next-to-leading order accuracy. The generalisation of CKKW-L is based on the NL3 scheme previously developed for e+e- -annihilation, which is extended to also handle hadronic collisions by a careful treatment of parton densities. NL3 is further augmented to allow for more readily accessible NLO input. To allow for a more careful handling of merging scale dependencies we introduce an extension of the UMEPS method. This approach, dubbed UNLOPS, does not inherit problematic features of CKK…
We propose an extension of matrix element plus parton shower merging at tree level to preserve inclusive cross sections obtained from the merged and showered sample. Implementing this constraint generates approximate next-to-leading order (NLO) contributions similar to the LoopSim approach. We then show how full NLO, or in principle even higher order, corrections can be added consistently, including constraints on inclusive cross sections to account for yet missing parton shower accuracy at higher logarithmic order. We also show how NLO accuracy below the merging scale can be obtained.
Higher order calculations are necessary to predict and describe measurements in high energy collider physics. In recent years multiple approaches to combine multiple next-to-leading (NLO) order corrections with parton showers had been presented. We present on recent developments and future perspective. We highlight similarities and ambiguities in the procedure of achieving a multijet merging at NLO.
In the algorithm presented here, the ME+PS approach to merge samples of tree-level matrix elements into inclusive event samples is combined with the POWHEG method, which includes exact next-to-leading order matrix elements in the parton shower. The advantages of the method are discussed and the quality of its implementation in Sherpa is exemplified by results for e+e- annihilation into hadrons at LEP, for deep-inelastic lepton-nucleon scattering at HERA, for Drell-Yan lepton-pair production at the Tevatron and for W+W- production at LHC energies.
The virtual corrections to $gg\to HH$ and $gg\to ZH$ are analytically evaluated combining an expansion in the small transverse momentum of the final particles with an expansion valid at high energies. The two expansion methods describe complementary regions of the phase space and we merge their results, extending the range of validity of both expansions using Padé approximants. We show that this approach can reproduce the available numerical results retaining the exact top quark mass dependence with an accuracy well below the 1% level. Our results allow a fast and flexible evaluation of the vi…
We analyse the production of a Higgs boson in association with a Z boson at hadron colliders in the Standard Model and some simple extensions. We show how multi-jet merging algorithms at leading and next-to-leading order for the loop-induced gluon fusion and the Drell-Yan like quark-induced processes, respectively, improve the descriptions for various differential distributions, in particular those that involve the production of additional jets. The phenomenological studies focus on two relevant channels of Higgs boson decays, namely $H\rightarrow invisible$ and $H\rightarrow b\bar{b}$. We fin…
Triple gauge boson hadroproduction, in particular the production of three $W$-bosons at the LHC, is considered at next-to leading order accuracy in QCD. The NLO matrix elements are combined with parton showers. Multijet merging is invoked such that NLO matrix elements with one additional jet are also included. The studies here incorporate both the signal and all relevant backgrounds for $VH$ production with the subsequent decay of the Higgs boson into $W$-- or $τ$--\-pairs. They have been performed using \SherpaOpenLoops in combination with Collier.
In this proceedings we compare phenomenological predictions for differential distributions in top-quark pair production at the LHC. In particular we consider NNLO QCD fixed-order predictions and parton-level predictions based on NLO QCD multi-jet merging following the MEPS@NLO scheme. In both predictions NLO electroweak (EW) corrections are incorporated in different approximations. We focus on several transverse-momentum distributions and on the top-quark invariant mass distribution, both highly relevant for the ongoing physics program at the LHC. We discuss comparisons between the different c…
We present precise predictions for four-lepton plus jets production at the LHC obtained within the fully automated Sherpa+OpenLoops framework. Off-shell intermediate vector bosons and related interferences are consistently included using the complex-mass scheme. Four-lepton plus 0- and 1-jet final states are described at NLO accuracy, and the precision of the simulation is further increased by squared quark-loop NNLO contributions in the gg -> 4l, gg -> 4l+g, gq -> 4l+q, and qq -> 4l+g channels. These NLO and NNLO contributions are matched to the Sherpa parton shower, and the 0- and 1-jet fina…
We introduce an improvement to the FxFx matrix element merging procedure for $pp\to t \bar t W$ production at NLO in QCD with one and/or two additional jets. The main modification is an improved treatment of jets that are not logarithmically enhanced in the low transverse-momentum regime. We provide predictions for the inclusive cross section and the $t \bar t W$ differential distributions including parton-shower effects. Taking also the NLO EW corrections into account, this results in the most-accurate predictions for this process to date. We further proceed to include the on-shell LO decays …
We consider the POWHEG generator for a H/W/Z boson plus one jet, augmented with the recently proposed MiNLO method for the choice of scales and the inclusion of Sudakov form factors. Within this framework, the generator covers all the transverse-momentum region of the H/W/Z boson, i.e. no generation cuts are needed to obtain a finite result. By construction, the generator achieves NLO accuracy for distributions involving a finite (and relatively large) transverse momentum of the boson. We examine the conditions under which also the totally inclusive distributions (e.g. the boson rapidity distr…
In recent times the algorithms for the simulation of hadronic collisions have been subject to two substantial improvements: the inclusion, within parton showering, of exact higher order tree level matrix elements (MEPS) and, separately, next-to-leading order corrections (NLOPS). In this work we examine the key criteria to be met in merging the two approaches in such a way that the accuracy of both is preserved, in the framework of the POWHEG approach to NLOPS. We then ask to what extent these requirements may be fulfilled using existing simulations, without modifications. The result of this st…
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 next-to-leading order (NLO) predictions including QCD and electroweak (EW) corrections for the production and decay of off-shell electroweak vector bosons in association with up to two jets at the 13 TeV LHC. All possible dilepton final states with zero, one or two charged leptons that can arise from off-shell W and Z bosons or photons are considered. All predictions are obtained using the automated implementation of NLO QCD+EW corrections in the OpenLoops matrix-element generator combined with the Munich and Sherpa Monte Carlo frameworks. Electroweak corrections play an especially …
Merging the benefits of an NLO calculation with event generators is a topic of current interest. Among other things, it is advantageous to be able to generate unweighted events according to NLO matrix elements. I report on an algorithm which generates a sequence of unweighted momentum configurations, each configuration containing either n or n+1 four-vectors, such that for any infrared safe observable the average over these configurations coincides with the NLO calculation up to errors of a resolution variable.
We present an analysis of the forward-backward asymmetry in the production of top quark pairs at the Tevatron collider. We use novel Monte Carlo methods for merging matrix elements and parton showers to combine NLO QCD predictions for tt and tt+jet production. Theoretical uncertainties are quantified in detail. We find agreement with experimental data on the transverse momentum dependence of the asymmetry.
We have calculated jet shapes in low $Q^2$ $ep$ and $p\overline{p}$ collisions in perturbation theory at order $α_s^3$ for the hard parton-parton processes. For the $γp$ process resolved and direct contributions are superimposed. The dependence of the jet shapes on transverse energy, rapidity, and inner cone extension is studied. The numerical results of the calculation are compared with recent data from ZEUS at HERA and from CDF and D0 at the TEVATRON. Good agreement is achieved if the problem of merging overlapping jets is taken into account by varying the parameter $R_{sep}$ as a function o…
We present a simulation program for the production of a pair of W bosons in association with a jet, that can be used in conjunction with general-purpose shower Monte Carlo generators, according to the POWHEG method. We have further adapted and implemented the MINLO' method on top of the NLO calculation underlying our WW+jet generator. Thus, the resulting simulation achieves NLO accuracy not only for inclusive distributions in WW+jet production but also WW production, i.e. when the associated jet is not resolved, without the introduction of any unphysical merging scale. This work represents 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 …
Perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics has experienced an impressive progress in the last few years, boosted by the requirements of the LHC experimental program. In this contribution, I briefly review a selection of recent results in QCD and LHC phenomenology, covering progress in parton distribution functions, automation of NLO calculations, merging and matching at NLO, new calculations at NNLO accuracy and their matching to parton showers, and new developments and techniques in jet physics and jet substructure tools.
Resonance-aware electroweak Sudakov reweighting for multijet-merged predictions
Jožef Stefan Institute（约瑟夫·斯特凡研究所）；University of Ljubljana（卢布尔雅那大学）；Lund University（隆德大学）；INFN（意大利国家核物理研究所）；Uppsala University（乌普萨拉大学）；ELTE Eötvös Loránd University（厄特沃什·罗兰大学）；Università degli Studi di Milano（米兰大学）
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 $t\bar{t}+b$-jet background. In this paper, analysing the various topologies that account for $b$-jet production in association with a $t\bar{t}$ pair, we demonstrate that the process at hand is largely driven by final-state $g\to b\bar{b}$ splittings. We also show that in five-flavour simulations based on $t\bar{t}+$multi-jet merging $b$-jet production is mostly driven by the parton shower, while matrix elements play only a marginal rol…
We compare four-- and five--flavour scheme predictions for $b$-associated production of $Z$ and Higgs bosons. The results are obtained with \Sherpa's MC@NLOimplementation for the four--flavour scheme, treating the $b$'s as massive, and with multijet merging at leading and next-to leading order for the five--flavour schemes. Comparison with data for $Z+b(\bar{b})$ production at the $7$ TeV LHC exhibit strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches and are used to validate predictions for $b$-associated Higgs-boson production at the 13 TeV Run II.
