Search

The Type II Seesaw model remains a popular and viable explanation of neutrino masses and mixing angles. By hypothesizing the existence of a scalar that is a triplet under the weak gauge interaction, the model predicts strong correlations among neutrino oscillation parameters, signals at lepton flavor experiments, and collider observables at high energies. We investigate reports that the Type II Seesaw can naturally accommodate recent measurements by the CDF collaboration, which finds the mass of the $W$ boson to be significantly larger than allowed by electroweak precision data, while simultaneously evading constraints from direct searches. Experimental scrutiny of this parameter space in the Type II Seesaw has long been evaded since it is not characterized by ``golden channels'' at colliders but instead by cascade decays, moderate mass splittings, and many soft final states. In this work, we test this parameter space against publicly released measurements made at the Large Hadron Collider. By employing a newly developed tool chain combining MadGraph5\_aMC@NLO and Contur, we find that most of the favored space for this discrepancy is already excluded by measurements of Standard Model final states. We give suggestions for further exploration at Run III of the LHC, which is now underway., Comment: 8 pages (incl. refs.), 3 figures; minor clarifications, matches published version

In this paper, we present an extension of MadGraph5_aMC@NLO which is able to evaluate tree-level QCD matrix-elements up to $2\to 6$ (one more particle than before). To achieve this, we implemented Berends-Giele-like recursion, and re-implemented the way colour is computed such that we can now expand the colour matrix in powers of 1/Nc and truncate this expansion to a chosen order. For high multiplicity samples, even without truncating the colour matrix, the new implementation offers a speed gain compared to the previous MadGraph5_aMC@NLO code., Published version in EPJC. Minor changes to v1. 18 pages, 18 figures

Due to the inclination for forward gauge radiation, lepton colliders beyond a few TeV are effectively electroweak (EW) boson colliders, suggesting the treatment of EW bosons as constituents of high-energy leptons. In the context of a muon collider, we revisit the validity of $W$ and $Z$ parton distribution functions (PDFs) at leading order in $2\to n$ process. We systematically investigate universal and quasi-universal power-law and logarithmic corrections that arise when deriving (polarized) weak boson PDFs in the collinear limit. We go on to survey a multitude of $2\to n$ processes at $\sqrt{s}=2-30$ TeV via polarized and unpolarized EW boson fusion/scattering. To conduct this study, we report a public implementation of the Effective $W/Z$ and Weizs\"acker-Williams Approximations, which we collectively call the Effective Vector Boson Approximation, into the Monte Carlo event generator \texttt{MadGraph5\_aMC@NLO}. This implementation lays the groundwork for developing matrix-element matching prescriptions involving EW parton showers and renormalized EW PDFs. To further with this agenda, we give recommendations on using $W/Z$ PDFs., Comment: Journal version + appendix. 66 pages (total), 11 figures, 10 tables. Support for W/Z PDFs available starting from MG5aMC@NLO version 3.3.0. Results unchanged

In this paper we will describe two new optimisations implemented in MadGraph5_aMC@NLO, both of which are designed to speed-up the computation of leading-order processes (for any model). First we implement a new method to evaluate the squared matrix element, dubbed helicity recycling, which results in factor of two speed-up. Second, we have modified the multi-channel handling of the phase-space integrator providing tremendous speed-up for VBF-like processes (up to thousands times faster)., Comment: Submitted to European Physical Journal C

Physics event generators are essential components of the data analysis software chain of high energy physics experiments, and important consumers of their CPU resources. Improving the software performance of these packages on modern hardware architectures, such as those deployed at HPC centers, is essential in view of the upcoming HL-LHC physics programme. In this paper, we describe an ongoing activity to reengineer the Madgraph5_aMC@NLO physics event generator, primarily to port it and allow its efficient execution on GPUs, but also to modernize it and optimize its performance on vector CPUs. We describe the motivation, engineering process and software architecture design of our developments, as well as the current challenges and future directions for this project. This paper is based on our submission to vCHEP2021 in March 2021,complemented with a few preliminary results that we presented during the conference. Further details and updated results will be given in later publications., 17 pages, 6 figures, submitted to vCHEP2021 proceedings in EPJ Web of Conferences; minor changes to address comments from the EPJWOC reviewer

This work received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme as part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network MCnetITN3 (grant agreement no. 722104)., Valassi, A., Yazgan, E., McFayden, J., Amoroso, S., Bendavid, J., Buckley, A., Cacciari, M., Childers, T., Ciulli, V., Frederix, R., Frixione, S., Giuli, F., Grohsjean, A., Gütschow, C., Höche, S., Hopkins, W., Ilten, P., Konstantinov, D., Krauss, F., Li, Q., Lönnblad, L., Maltoni, F., Mangano, M., Marshall, Z., Mattelaer, O., Fernandez Menendez, J., Mrenna, S., Muralidharan, S., Neumann, T., Plätzer, S., Prestel, S., Roiser, S., Schönherr, M., Schulz, H., Schulz, M., Sexton-Kennedy, E., Siegert, F., Siódmok, A., Stewart, G.A., The HSF Physics Event Generator WG

High-energy lepton colliders with a centre-of-mass energy in the multi-TeV range are currently considered among the most challenging and far-reaching future accelerator projects. Studies performed so far have mostly focused on the reach for new phenomena in lepton-antilepton annihilation channels. In this work we observe that starting from collider energies of a few TeV, electroweak (EW) vector boson fusion/scattering (VBF) at lepton colliders becomes the dominant production mode for all Standard Model processes relevant to studying the EW sector. In many cases we find that this also holds for new physics. We quantify the size and the growth of VBF cross sections with collider energy for a number of SM and new physics processes. By considering luminosity scenarios achievable at a muon collider, we conclude that such a machine would effectively be a "high-luminosity weak boson collider," and subsequently offer a wide range of opportunities to precisely measure EW and Higgs coupling as well as to discover new particles., Comment: 58 pages, 17 figures, 9 tables. A contribution to Snowmass 2021

The automation of one-loop amplitudes plays a key role in addressing several computational challenges for hadron collider phenomenology: They are needed for simulations including next-to-leading-order corrections, which can be large at hadron colliders. They also allow the exact computation of loop-induced processes. A high degree of automation has now been achieved in public codes that do not require expert knowledge and can be widely used in the high-energy physics community. In this article, we review many of the methods and tools used for the different steps of automated one-loop amplitude calculations: renormalization of the Lagrangian, derivation and evaluation of the amplitude, its decomposition onto a basis of scalar integrals and their subsequent evaluation, as well as computation of the rational terms.

A wealth of new physics models which are motivated by questions such as the nature of dark matter, the origin of the neutrino masses and the baryon asymmetry in the universe, predict the existence of hidden sectors featuring new particles. Among the possibilities are heavy neutral leptons, vectors and scalars, that feebly interact with the Standard Model (SM) sector and are typically light and long lived. Such new states could be produced in high-intensity facilities, the so-called beam dump experiments, either directly in the hard interaction or as a decay product of heavier mesons. They could then decay back to the SM or to hidden sector particles, giving rise to peculiar decay or interaction signatures in a far-placed detector. Simulating such kind of events presents a challenge, as not only short-distance new physics (hard production, hadron decays, and interaction with the detector) and usual SM phenomena need to be described but also the travel has to be accounted for as determined by the geometry of the detector. In this work, we describe a new plugin to the {\sc MadGraph5\_aMC@NLO} platform, which allows the complete simulation of new physics processes relevant for beam dump experiments, including the various mechanisms for the production of hidden particles, namely their decays or scattering off SM particles, as well as their far detection, keeping into account spatial correlations and the geometry of the experiment., LaTeX, 42 pages, 14 figures

The anticipated experimental resolution and data cache of the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider will enable precision investigations of polarization in multiboson processes. This includes, for the first time, vector boson scattering. To facilitate such studies, we report the automation of polarized matrix element computations in the publicly available Monte Carlo tool suite, MadGraph5_aMC@NLO. This enables scattering and decay simulations involving helicity-polarized asymptotic or intermediate states, preserving both spin-correlation and off-shell effects. As demonstrations of the method, we investigate the leading order production and decay of polarized weak gauge bosons in the process $pp \to j j W^+_\lambda W^-_{\lambda'}$, with helicity eigenstates $(\lambda,\lambda')$ defined in various reference frames. We consider the Standard Model at both $\mathcal{O}(\alpha^4)$ and $\mathcal{O}(\alpha^2 \alpha_s^2)$ as well as a benchmark composite Higgs scenario. We report good agreement with polarization studies based on the On-Shell Projection (OSP) technique. Future capabilities are discussed., Comment: 47 pages, 10 figures (36 pdf files). Published in the JHEP

We propose a fully flexible method to discriminate between signal and background using a matrix element-based method in the presence of multiple invisible particles. The proposed method performs a mapping of the measured final state onto an observable which improves the separation between signal and background using their matrix elements. To show how performant this generic method is in separating signal from background, we apply it to the prominent partly invisible decay of a Higgs boson into a muon–antimuon pair and two muon-neutrinos via two W bosons.

We present MadDM v.3.0, a numerical tool to compute particle dark matter observables in generic new physics models. The new version features a comprehensive and automated framework for dark matter searches at the interface of collider physics, astrophysics and cosmology and is deployed as a plugin of the MadGraph5_aMC@NLO platform, inheriting most of its features. With respect to the previous version, MadDM v.3.0 can now provide predictions for indirect dark matter signatures in astrophysical environments, such as the annihilation cross section at present time and the energy spectra of prompt photons, cosmic rays and neutrinos resulting from dark matter annihilation. MadDM indirect detection features support both $2\to2$ and $2 \to n$ dark matter annihilation processes. In addition, the ability to compare theoretical predictions with experimental constraints is extended by including the Fermi-LAT likelihood for gamma-ray constraints from dwarf spheroidal galaxies and by providing an interface with the nested sampling algorithm PyMultinNest to perform high dimensional parameter scans efficiently. We validate the code for a wide set of dark matter models by comparing the results from MadDM v.3.0 to existing tools and results in the literature., 42 pages + references, 13 figures, 2 tables. Revised version matches the published version, minor changes

This document summarises the talks and discussions happened during the VBSCan Split17 workshop, the first general meeting of the VBSCan COST Action network. This collaboration is aiming at a consistent and coordinated study of vector-boson scattering from the phenomenological and experimental point of view, for the best exploitation of the data that will be delivered by existing and future particle colliders., Comment: 41 pages including references, 11 figures, summary of the talks and discussions happened during the first VBSCan workshop: https://indico.cern.ch/event/629638/. Note that in v2 the original title "VBSCan Split 2017 Workshop Summary" has been modified according to the published version

The study of anomalous electromagnetic emission in the sky is the basis of indirect searches for dark matter. It is also a powerful tool to constrain the radiative decay of active neutrinos. Until now, quantitative analyses have focused on the flux and energy spectrum of such an emission; polarisation has never been considered. Here we show that we could be missing out on an essential piece of information. The radiative decay of neutrinos, as well as the interactions of dark matter and neutrinos with Standard Model particles can generate a circular polarisation signal in X-rays or \gamma-rays. If observed, this could reveal important information about their spatial distribution and particle-antiparticle ratio, and could even reveal the nature of the high-energy particle physics processes taking place in astrophysical sites. The question of the observability of these polarised signatures and their separation from background astrophysical sources is left for future work., Comment: 12 pages, published in JCAP

Accurate Monte Carlo simulations for high-energy events at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, are very expensive, both from the computing and storage points of view. We describe a method that allows to consistently re-use parton-level samples accurate up to NLO in QCD under different theoretical hypotheses. We implement it in MadGraph5_aMC@NLO and show its validation by applying it to several cases of practical interest for the search of new physics at the LHC., 10 pages

We carry out a detailed study of multi-Higgs production processes in the gluon fusion channel in the high-energy regime relevant to future circular hadron colliders and in the high-Higgs-multiplicity limit (≥20). Our results are based on the computation of the leading polygons—the triangles, boxes, pentagons and hexagons—to the scattering processes, further combined with the subsequent branchings to reach high final-state multiplicities. The factorial growth of the number of diagrams leads to an exponential enhancement of such large-multiplicity cross sections and, ultimately, to the breaking of perturbativity. We find that the characteristic energy and multiplicity scales where these perturbative rates become highly enhanced and grow with increasing energy are within the 100 TeV regime, on the order of 130 Higgses (or more) in the final state. We also show that already for a 50 TeV hadron collider, the perturbative cross sections for 140 bosons are at the picobarn level.

We present a new model format for automatized matrix-element generators, the so- called Universal FeynRules Output (UFO). The format is universal in the sense that it features compatibility with more than one single generator and is designed to be flexible, modular and agnostic of any assumption such as the number of particles or the color and Lorentz structures appearing in the interaction vertices. Unlike other model formats where text files need to be parsed, the information on the model is encoded into a Python module that can easily be linked to other computer codes. We then describe an interface for the Mathematica package FeynRules that allows for an automatic output of models in the UFO format., 30 pages, 2 figures, version accepted by CPC

We present the first fully automated implementation of cross-section computation and event generation for loop-induced processes. This work is integrated in the MadGraph5_aMC@NLO framework. We describe the optimisations implemented at the level of the matrix element evaluation, phase space integration and event generation allowing for the simulation of large multiplicity loop-induced processes. Along with some selected differential observables, we illustrate our results with a table showing inclusive cross-sections for all loop-induced hadronic scattering processes with up to three final states in the SM as well as for some relevant two to four processes. Many of these are computed here for the first time., Comment: to be published in JHEP

This document is the final report of the ATLAS-CMS Dark Matter Forum, a forum organized by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations with the participation of experts on theories of Dark Matter, to select a minimal basis set of dark matter simplified models that should support the design of the early LHC Run-2 searches. A prioritized, compact set of benchmark models is proposed, accompanied by studies of the parameter space of these models and a repository of generator implementations. This report also addresses how to apply the Effective Field Theory formalism for collider searches and present the results of such interpretations., The authors would like to thank Daniel Whiteson for helping in the review of this document. This research was supported by the Munich Institute for Astro- and Particle Physics (MIAPP) of the DFG cluster of excellence "Origin and Structure of the Universe''. The authors would like to express a special thanks to the Mainz Institute for Theoretical Physics (MITP) for its hospitality and support. P. Pani wishes to thank the support of the Computing Infrastructure of Nikhef. In addition we thank CERN and acknowledge the support of: DOE and NSF (USA), including grant DE-SC0011726 for the preparation of this manuscript; SER, SNSF and Cantons of Bern and Geneva, Switzerland; MINECO, Spain; European Union, where the preparation of this manuscript is part of a project that has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement 679305); IN2P3-CNRS, CEA-DSM/IRFU, France; NSERC, NRC, and CFI, Canada; INFN, Italy; FNRS and FWO, Belgium; STFC, United Kingdom; ARC, Australia; GRICES and FCT, Portugal; SRC, Sweden; BMBF, DFG, HGF, MPG and AvH Foundation, Germany; Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria; MOE and UM, Malaysia; National Research Foundation and Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Korea; MEXT and JSPS, Japan; FOM and NWO, Netherlands; CNPq and FAPESP, Brazil; Atomic Energy Commission, Pakistan; DNRF, DNSRC and Lundbeck Foundation, Denmark; Thailand Center of Excellence in Physics, Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology, Special Task Force for Activating Research and National Science and Technology Development Agency, Thailand; MOST, Taiwan., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

We present the updated version of MadDM, a new dark matter tool based on MadGraph5_aMC@NLO framework. New version includes direct detection capability in addition to relic abundance computation. In this article, we provide short description of the implementation of relevant effective operators and validations against existing results in literature., Comment: 4 pages. Submitted to the proceedings of PPC 2015

We show how studies relevant for mono-X searches at the LHC in simplified models featuring a dark matter candidate and an $s$-channel mediator can be performed within the MadGraph5_aMC@NLO framework. We focus on gluon-initiated loop-induced processes, mostly relevant to the case where the mediator couples preferentially to third generation quarks and in particular to the top quark. Our implementation allows us to study signatures at hadron colliders involving missing transverse energy plus jets or plus neutral bosons ($\gamma,Z,H$), possibly including the effects of extra radiation by multi-parton merging and matching to the parton shower., Comment: 12 pages, 22 figures

We present new features of the FeynRules and MadGraph5/aMC@NLO programs for the automatic computation of decay widths that consistently include channels of arbitrary final-state multiplicity. The implementations are generic enough so that they can be used in the framework of any quantum field theory, possibly including higher-dimensional operators. We extend at the same time the conventions of the Universal FeynRules Output (or UFO) format to include decay tables and information on the total widths. We finally provide a set of representative examples of the usage of the new functions of the different codes in the framework of the Standard Model, the Higgs Effective Field Theory, the Strongly Interacting Light Higgs model and the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model and compare the results to available literature and programs for validation purposes., Comment: 32 pages, 2 figures. Published version

We present MadDM v.2.0, a numerical tool for dark matter physics in a generic model. This version is the next step towards the development of a fully automated framework for dark matter searches at the interface of collider physics, astro-physics and cosmology. It extends the capabilities of v.1.0 to perform calculations relevant to the direct detection of dark matter. These include calculations of spin-independent/spin-dependent nucleon scattering cross sections and nuclear recoil rates (as a function of both energy and angle), as well as a simplified functionality to compare the model points with existing constraints. The functionality of MadDM v.2.0 incorporates a large selection of dark matter detector materials and sizes, and simulates detector effects on the nuclear recoil signals. We validate the code in a wide range of dark matter models by comparing results from MadDM v.2.0 to the existing tools and literature., Comment: 38 pages, 8 figures, 5 tables; v2. Matches the version accepted for publication in Physics of the Dark Universe. We have improved table IV by validating the other sps points of the MSSM

We discuss the theoretical bases that underpin the automation of the computations of tree-level and next-to-leading order cross sections, of their matching to parton shower simulations, and of the merging of matched samples that differ by light-parton multiplicities. We present a computer program, MadGraph5_aMC@NLO, capable of handling all these computations -- parton-level fixed order, shower-matched, merged -- in a unified framework whose defining features are flexibility, high level of parallelisation, and human intervention limited to input physics quantities. We demonstrate the potential of the program by presenting selected phenomenological applications relevant to the LHC and to a 1-TeV $e^+e^-$ collider. While next-to-leading order results are restricted to QCD corrections to SM processes in the first public version, we show that from the user viewpoint no changes have to be expected in the case of corrections due to any given renormalisable Lagrangian, and that the implementation of these are well under way., 158 pages, 27 figures; a few references have been added

We present predictions for the SM-Higgs-pair production channels of relevance at the LHC: gluon-gluon fusion, VBF, and top-pair, W, Z and single-top associated production. All these results are at the NLO accuracy in QCD, and matched to parton showers by means of the MC@NLO method; hence, they are fully differential. With the exception of the gluon-gluon fusion process, for which a special treatment is needed in order to improve upon the infinite-top-mass limit, our predictions are obtained in a fully automatic way within the publicly available MadGraph5_aMC@NLO framework. We show that for all channels in general, and for gluon-gluon fusion and top-pair associated production in particular, NLO corrections reduce the theoretical uncertainties, and are needed in order to arrive at reliable predictions for total rates as well as for distributions., 11 pages, 7 figures, version accepted for publication on PLB

Support for interactions of spin-3/2 particles is implemented in the FeynRules and ALOHA packages and tested with the MadGraph 5 and CalcHEP event generators in the context of three phenomenological applications. In the first, we implement a spin-3/2 Majorana gravitino field, as in local supersymmetric models, and study gravitino and gluino pair-production. In the second, a spin-3/2 Dirac top-quark excitation, inspired from compositness models, is implemented. We then investigate both top-quark excitation and top-quark pair-production. In the third, a general effective operator for a spin-3/2 Dirac quark excitation is implemented, followed by a calculation of the angular distribution of the s-channel production mechanism. Support for interactions of spin-3/2 particles is implemented in the FeynRules and ALOHA packages and tested with the MadGraph 5 and CalcHEP event generators in the context of three phenomenological applications. In the first, we implement a spin-3/2 Majorana gravitino field, as in local supersymmetric models, and study gravitino and gluino pair-production. In the second, a spin-3/2 Dirac top-quark excitation, inspired from compositness models, is implemented. We then investigate both top-quark excitation and top-quark pair-production. In the third, a general effective operator for a spin-3/2 Dirac quark excitation is implemented, followed by a calculation of the angular distribution of the s-channel production mechanism.

Associated production of the Higgs boson with a top-antitop pair is a key channel to gather further information on the nature of the newly discovered boson at the LHC. Experimentally, however, its observation is very challenging due to the combination of small rates, difficult multijet final states, and overwhelming backgrounds. In the standard model, the largest number of events is expected when h→bb̄, giving rise to a W+W -bb̄bb̄ signature, deluged in tt̄+jets. A promising strategy to improve the sensitivity is to maximally exploit the theoretical information on the signal and background processes by means of the matrix element method. We show how, despite the complexity of the final state, the method can be efficiently applied to discriminate the signal against combinatorial and tt̄+jets backgrounds. Remarkably, we find that a moderate integrated luminosity in the next LHC run will be enough to make the signature involving both W's decaying leptonically as sensitive as the single-lepton one. © 2013 American Physical Society.

We advocate an effective field theory approach to anomalous couplings. The effective field theory approach is the natural way to extend the standard model such that the gauge symmetries are respected. It is general enough to capture any physics beyond the standard model, yet also provides guidance as to the most likely place to see the effects of new physics. The effective field theory approach also clarifies that one need not be concerned with the violation of unitarity in scattering processes at high energy. We apply these ideas to pair production of electroweak vector bosons., Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure

We present an application that automatically writes the Helas library corresponding to the Feynman rules of any Lagrangian, renormalizable or not, in quantum field theory. The code, written in Python, takes the Universal FeynRules Output as an input and produces the complete set of routines (wave-functions and amplitudes) that are needed for the computation of Feynman diagrams at leading as well as at higher orders. The representation is language independent and outputs in Fortran, C++, Python are currently available. A few key sample applications implemented in the MadGraph5 framework are presented., Comment: 20 pages

Matrix element reweighting is a powerful experimental technique widely employed to maximize the amount of information that can be extracted from a collider data set. We present a procedure that allows to automatically evaluate the weights for any process of interest in the standard model and beyond. Given the initial, intermediate and final state particles, and the transfer functions for the final physics objects, such as leptons, jets, missing transverse energy, our algorithm creates a phase-space mapping designed to efficiently perform the integration of the squared matrix element and the transfer functions. The implementation builds up on MadGraph, it is completely automatized and publicly available. A few sample applications are presented that show the capabilities of the code and illustrate the possibilities for new studies that such an approach opens up., Comment: 41 pages, 21 figures

We present MadWeight, a new phase space generator aimed at efficiently computing the weights needed in the matrix element method. Given an arbitrary decay chain and a user-defined transfer function, the algorithm creates an optimized phase-space mapping to integrate the product of the square matrix element and the transfer function. We illu strate the code with some applications, such as the use of these weights to discriminate signa l from background in charged Higgs production analyses.

We apply the Matrix Element Method (MEM) to mass determination of squark pair production with direct decay to quarks and LSP at the LHC, showing that simultaneous mass determination of squarks and LSP is possible. We furthermore propose methods for inclusion of QCD radiation effects in the MEM., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the proceedings of SUSY09, the 17th International Conference on Supersymmetry and the Unification of Fundamental Interactions. Figures replaced (corrected y axis labels)

The canonical operator quantisation formulation corresponding to the Klauder-Daubechies construction of the phase space path integral is considered. This formulation is explicitly applied and solved in the case of the harmonic oscillator, thereby illustrating in a manner complementary to Klauder and Daubechies' original work some of the promising features offered by their construction of a quantum dynamics. The Klauder-Daubechies functional integral involves a regularisation parameter eventually taken to vanish, which defines a new physical time scale. When extrapolated to the field theory context, besides providing a new regularisation of short distance divergences, keeping a finite value for that time scale offers some tantalising prospects when it comes to strong gravitational quantum systems., 18 pages