Search

In scenarios beyond the Standard Model (BSM) characterised by charged (W′) or neutral (Z′) massive gauge bosons with large width, resonant mass searches are not very effective, so that one has to exploit the tails of the mass distributions measured at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In this case, the LHC sensitivity to new physics signals is influenced significantly by systematic uncertainties associated with the Parton Distribution Functions (PDF), particularly in the valence quark sector relevant for the multi-TeV mass region. As a BSM framework featuring such conditions, we consider the 4-Dimensional Composite Higgs Model (4DCHM), in which multiple W′ and Z′ broad resonances are present, with strongly correlated properties. By using the QCD tool xFitter, we study the implications on W′ and Z′ searches in Drell-Yan (DY) lepton decay channels that follow from the reduction of PDF uncertainties obtained through combining high-statistics precision measurements of DY lepton-charge and forward-backward asymmetries. We find that the sensitivity to the BSM states is greatly increased with respect to the case of base PDF sets, thereby enabling one to set more stringent limits on (or indeed discover) such new particles, both independently and in correlated searches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Charged lepton pairs are produced copiously in high-energy hadron collisions via electroweak gauge boson exchange, and are one of the most precisely measured final states in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We propose that measurements of lepton angular distributions can be used to improve the accuracy of theoretical predictions for Higgs boson production cross sections at the LHC. To this end, we exploit the sensitivity of the lepton angular coefficient associated with the longitudinal Z -boson polarization to the parton density function (PDF) for gluons resolved from the incoming protons, in order to constrain the Higgs boson cross section from gluon fusion processes. By a detailed numerical analysis using the open-source platform xFitter, we find that high-statistics determinations of the longitudinally polarized angular coefficient at the LHC Run III and high-luminosity HL-LHC improve the PDF systematic uncertainties of the Higgs boson cross section predictions by 50% over a broad range of Higgs boson rapidities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precision determinations of Standard Model (SM) Electro-Weak (EW) parameters at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are dominated by uncertainties due to Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs). Reweighting and profiling techniques are routinely employed to treat this. We explore approaches based on combining measurements of charged current and neutral current Drell-Yan (DY) asymmetries to improve PDF uncertainties. We present the results of a numerical analysis performed with the open-source platform xFitter. PDF uncertainties are examined for lepton-charge and forward-backward asymmetries in regions of transverse and invariant masses near the vector-boson peak, based on LHC Run III and HL-LHC luminosity scenarios. We discuss the complementarity of the asymmetries in reducing PDF uncertainties in observables relevant to both SM and Beyond the SM (BSM) physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurements of the forward-backward asymmetry in neutral-current Drell-Yan di-lepton production have primarily been used for determinations of the weak mixing angle θW. We observe that, unlike the case of Run-I of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC Run-I), for the first time at the LHC Run-II the reconstructed forward-backward asymmetry has the capability of placing useful constraints on the determination of the parton distribution functions (PDFs). By examining the statistical and the PDF uncertainties on the reconstructed forward-backward asymmetry, we investigate its potential for disentangling the flavour content of quark and antiquark PDFs. Access to the valence/sea u-quark and to the sea up-type antiquark PDFs, in particular, may be gained by the appropriate use of selection cuts in the rapidity of the emerging lepton pair in regions both near the Z-boson peak and away from it, in a manner complementary, though more indirect, to the case of the charged-current asymmetry. We study the extension of these results for the planned high-luminosity (HL) LHC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Di-lepton searches for Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) Z ′ bosons that rely on the analysis of the Breit-Wigner (BW) line shape are appropriate in the case of narrow resonances, but likely not sufficient in scenarios featuring Z ′ states with large widths. Conversely, alternative experimental strategies applicable to wide Z ′ resonances are much more dependent than the default bump search analyses on the modelling of QCD higher-order corrections to the production processes, for both signal and background. For heavy Z ′ boson searches in the di-lepton channel at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the transverse momentum q T of the di-lepton system peaks at q T ≲ 10 − 2 M l l , where M l l is the di-lepton invariant mass. We exploit this to treat the QCD corrections by using the logarithmic resummation methods in M l l / q T to all orders in the strong coupling constant α s. We carry out studies of Z ′ states with large width at the LHC by employing the program reSolve, which performs QCD transverse momentum resummation up to Next-to-Next-to-Leading Logarithmic (NNLL) accuracy. We consider two benchmark BSM scenarios, based on the Sequential Standard Model (SSM) and dubbed 'SSM wide' and 'SSM enhanced'. We present results for the shape and size of Z ′ boson signals at the differential level, mapped in both cross section (σ) and Forward-Backward Asymmetry (A FB), and perform numerical investigations of the experimental sensitivity at the LHC Run 3 and High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]