Engineering topics
Maitre, D
Publications and source records attributed to Maitre, D.
Four-Jet Production at the Large Hadron Collider at Next-to-Leading Order in QCD
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NLO Vector Boson Production With Light Jets
In this contribution we present recent progress in the computation of next-to-leading order (NLO) QCD corrections for the production of an electroweak vector boson in association with jets at hadron colliders. We focus on results obtained using the virtual matrix element library BlackHat in conjunction with SHERPA, focusing on results relevant to understanding the background to top production. The production of a vector boson in association with several jets at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is an important background for other Standard Model processes as well as new physics signals. In particular, the production of a W boson in association with many jets is an important background for processes involving one or more top quarks. Precise predictions for the backgrounds are crucial to measurement of top-quark processes. Vector boson production in association with multiple jets is also a very important background for many SUSY searches, as it mimics the signatures of many typical decay chains. Here we will discuss how polarization information can be used as an additional handle to differentiate top pair production from 'prompt' W-boson production. More generally, ratios of observables, for example for events containing a W boson versus those containing a Z boson, are expected to be better-behaved as many uncertainties cancel in such ratios. Precise calculation of ratios, along with measurement of one of the two processes in the ratio, can be used in data-driven techniques for estimating backgrounds.
Precise Predictions for Z + 4 Jets at Hadron Colliders
We present the cross section for production of a Z boson in association with four jets at the Large Hadron Collider, at next-to-leading order in the QCD coupling. When the Z decays to neutrinos, this process is a key irreducible background to many searches for new physics. Its computation has been made feasible through the development of the on-shell approach to perturbative quantum field theory. We present the total cross section for pp collisions at {radical}s = 7 TeV, after folding in the decay of the Z boson, or virtual photon, to a charged-lepton pair. We also provide distributions of the transverse momenta of the four jets, and we compare cross sections and distributions to the corresponding ones for the production of a W boson with accompanying jets.
A Proposal for a Standard Interface Between Monte Carlo Tools And One-Loop Programs
Many highly developed Monte Carlo tools for the evaluation of cross sections based on tree matrix elements exist and are used by experimental collaborations in high energy physics. As the evaluation of one-loop matrix elements has recently been undergoing enormous progress, the combination of one-loop matrix elements with existing Monte Carlo tools is on the horizon. This would lead to phenomenological predictions at the next-to-leading order level. This note summarises the discussion of the next-to-leading order multi-leg (NLM) working group on this issue which has been taking place during the workshop on Physics at TeV Colliders at Les Houches, France, in June 2009. The result is a proposal for a standard interface between Monte Carlo tools and one-loop matrix element programs.