Search

In these proceedings we study various sources of theoretical uncertainty in the Drell-Yan $p_T^{{\ell\ell}}$ spectrum focussing on the $p_T^{{\ell\ell}} \lesssim 100\, {\rm GeV}$ region. We consider several perturbative aspects related to the choice of the scale setting adopted in resummed calculations, and we assess their impact on the theoretical prediction both for the differential $p_T^{{\ell\ell}}$ spectrum and for the $\rm{N}^3\rm{LO}$ fiducial cross section. For both quantities, we find the results obtained with the different setups to be compatible with each other within the quoted uncertainty, highlighting the robustness of the theoretical prediction. In all cases, the experimental LHC data for the $p_T^{{\ell\ell}}$ spectrum is well described by our calculation., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Moriond proceedings presenting studies of scale uncertainty in fiducial Drell-Yan production

We present a NNLO QCD accurate event generator for direct photon pair production at hadron colliders, based on the MiNNLOPS formalism, within the POWHEG BOX RES framework. Despite the presence of the photons requires the use of isolation criteria, our generator is built such that no technical cuts are needed at any stage of the event generation. Therefore, our predictions can be used to simulate kinematic distributions with arbitrary fiducial cuts. Furthermore, we describe a few modifications of the MiNNLOPS formalism in order to allow for a setting of the renormalization and factorization scales more similar to that of a fixed-order computation, thus reducing the numerical impact of higher-order terms beyond the nominal accuracy. Finally, we show several phenomenological distributions of physical interest obtained by showering the generated events with Pythia8, and we compare them with the 13 TeV data from the ATLAS Collaboration., Comment: 36 pages, 11 figures

We summarize the current status and near future prospects for next-to-next-to-leading order calculations matched to parton shower based on the MiNNLO$_{\rm PS}$ method. We give a theoretical overview, illustrate selected results for $ZZ\to 4\ell$ and top-pair production processes at the LHC, and provide an outlook of the future challenges., Comment: Contribution to Snowmass 2022

We consider the production of a pair of heavy quarks and illustrate the derivation of the MiNNLO method to match next-to-next-to-leading order calculations with parton showers (NNLO+PS) for this class of processes. As a first application, we construct an event generator for the fully differential simulation of hadronic top-quark pair production at NNLO+PS and discuss all details of its implementation in a parton shower Monte Carlo framework. We present new phenomenological results for the Large Hadron Collider obtained by including the tree-level decays of the top quarks, while accounting for spin-correlation effects. A comprehensive comparison to LHC measurements shows an excellent description of experimental data across multiple hadronic and leptonic particle-level observables. The computer code is available for download within the POWHEG-BOX., Comment: 55 pages, 12 figures

We consider the Higgsstrahlung process in hadronic collisions and present the computation of next-to-next-to-leading order predictions matched to parton showers for both production and $H\to b\bar{b}$ decay employing the MiNNLO$_{\rm PS}$ method. We present predictions for $ZH$ and $W^{\pm}H$ production including spin correlations and off-shell effects by calculating the full processes $pp \to \ell^+\ell^-H \to \ell^+\ell^-b\bar{b}$, $pp \to \nu_\ell\bar\nu_\ell H \to \nu_\ell\bar\nu_\ell b\bar{b}$ and $pp \to \ell^\pm \nu_\ell H \to \ell^\pm \nu_\ell b\bar{b}$ in the narrow-width approximation for the Higgs boson. For the $W^{\pm}H$ process, NNLO+PS accuracy in production and decay is achieved for the first time. Our calculations are validated against earlier simulations in the NNLOPS approach that includes NNLO corrections via multi-differential reweighting. The new MiNNLO$_{\rm PS}$ generators for these processes, which evaluate NNLO corrections on-the-fly in the event generation, will supersede those earlier calculations. Our predictions are in good agreement with recent measurements of the Higgsstrahlung cross sections., Comment: 37 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables

I give an overview of the recent progress on the matching of fixed-order calculations and parton showers. The focus is on the matching with NNLO QCD corrections as well as with NLO EW ones., Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to the proceedings of the 9th annual Large Hadron Collider Physics conference, LHCP2021, 7-12 June, 2021

This paper has been prepared by the HEP Software Foundation (HSF) Physics Event Generator Working Group (WG), as an input to the second phase of the LHCC review of High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) computing, which is due to take place in November 2021. It complements previous documents prepared by the WG in the context of the first phase of the LHCC review in 2020, including in particular the WG paper on the specific challenges in Monte Carlo event generator software for HL-LHC, which has since been updated and published, and which we are also submitting to the November 2021 review as an integral part of our contribution., Comment: 34 pages; editors Efe Yazgan, Josh McFayden and Andrea Valassi

I describe MiNNLO$_{\rm PS}$, a novel method to match NNLO QCD computations with Parton Showers, and present a selection of results for color-singlet production at the LHC., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Contribution to the proceedings of the 55th Rencontres de Moriond on QCD and High Energy Interactions, 27 March-3 April 2021

We present state-of-the-art predictions for transverse observables relevant to colour-singlet production at the LHC, in particular the transverse momentum of the colour singlet in gluon-fusion Higgs production and in neutral Drell-Yan lepton-pair production, as well as the $\phi^*_\eta$ observable in Drell Yan. We perform a next-to-next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (N$^3$LL) resummation of such observables in momentum space according to the RadISH formalism, consistently including in our prediction all constant terms of relative order $\alpha_s^3$ with respect to the Born, thereby achieving N$^3$LL$^\prime$ accuracy. The calculation is fully exclusive with respect to the Born kinematics, which allows the application of arbitrary fiducial selection cuts on the decay products of the colour singlet. We supplement our results with a transverse-recoil prescription, accounting for dominant classes of subleading-power corrections in a fiducial setup. The resummed predictions are matched with fixed-order differential spectra at next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) accuracy. A phenomenological comparison is carried out with 13 TeV LHC data relevant to the Higgs to di-photon channel, as well as to neutral Drell-Yan lepton-pair production. Overall, the inclusion of ${\cal O}(\alpha_s^3)$ constant terms, and to a lesser extent of transverse-recoil effects, proves beneficial for the comparison of theoretical predictions to data, leaving a residual theoretical uncertainty in the resummation region at the 2-5% level for Drell-Yan observables, and 5-7% in Higgs production., Comment: 35 pages, 9 figures. Journal version

The production of top-quark pairs in hadronic collisions is among the most important reactions in modern particle physics phenomenology and constitutes an instrumental avenue to study the properties of the heaviest quark observed in nature. The analysis of this process at the Large Hadron Collider relies heavily on Monte Carlo simulations of the final state events, whose accuracy is challenged by the outstanding precision of experimental measurements. In this letter we present the first matched computation of top-quark pair production at next-to-next-to-leading order in QCD with all-order radiative corrections as implemented via parton-shower simulations. Besides its intrinsic relevance for LHC phenomenology, this work also establishes an important step towards the simulation of other hadronic processes with colour charges in the final state., Comment: Journal version

We consider the MiNNLO$_{\rm PS}$ method to consistently combine next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) QCD calculations with parton-shower simulations. We identify the main sources of differences between MiNNLO$_{\rm PS}$ and fixed-order NNLO predictions for inclusive observables due to corrections beyond NNLO accuracy and present simple prescriptions to either reduce or remove them. Refined predictions are presented for Higgs, charged- and neutral-current Drell Yan production. The agreement with fixed-order NNLO calculations is considerably improved for inclusive observables and scale uncertainties are reduced. The codes are released within the POWHEG-BOX., Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables

We present the matching of NLO QCD and NLO EW corrections to parton showers for vector-boson pair production at the LHC. We consider leptonic final states, including resonant and non-resonant diagrams, spin correlations and off-shell effects. Our results are obtained interfacing the Recola2-Collier one-loop provider with the POWHEG-BOX-RES framework. We discuss our implementation, we validate it at fixed order, and we show our final results matched to parton shower. A by-product of our work is also a general interface between Recola2-Collier and POWHEG-BOX-RES. This is the first time that EW and QCD corrections to diboson production are consistently matched to parton showers., Comment: Added figs.6-7. Extended discussion in sect.5. Matches version published on epjc

We present the combination of fully differential cross sections for colour-singlet production processes at next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) QCD obtained with MATRIX and all-order resummation through RadISH. This interface allows us to achieve unprecedented accuracy for various transverse observables in $2 \rightarrow 2$ production processes. As an important application we consider $W^+ W^-$ production at the LHC, more precisely the full leptonic process $pp\to \ell^+\ell^{\prime\, -}\nu_{\ell}{\bar\nu}_{\ell^\prime}+X$ with $\ell'\neq\ell$, and we present resummed predictions for differential distributions in presence of fiducial selection cuts. In particular, we resum the transverse-momentum spectrum of the $W^+ W^-$ pair at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (N$^3$LL) accuracy and match it to the integrated NNLO cross section. The transverse-momentum spectrum of the leading jet in $W^+ W^-$ production is calculated at NNLO+NNLL accuracy. Finally, the joint resummation for the transverse-momentum spectrum of the $W^+ W^-$ pair in the presence of a jet veto is performed at NNLO+NNLL. Our phenomenological study highlights the importance of higher-order perturbative and logarithmic corrections for precision phenomenology at the LHC., Comment: 47 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables; corresponds to the version published on JHEP

We present an event generator that describes the Higgs boson decay into $b$-quarks at next-to-next-to-leading-order (NNLO) in QCD and allows for a consistent matching to parton shower. For this purpose, we work within the POWHEG framework and employ the MINLO method to produce an NNLO-accurate H$\to\! b\bar{b}$ event sample which can further be interfaced with a generic Higgs boson production mode. The resulting events, that combine Higgs production and decay, can be matched to parton shower by means of a vetoed shower. As an example, we present a short phenomenological study for associated Higgs production (HZ) and vector boson fusion (VBF) processes. We release the source code that was used to obtain these results as an $\text{h_bbg}$ user process in POWHEG-BOX-V2. We also provide tools that enable interfacing the decay events with events for an arbitrary Higgs production mode and subsequent matching of the combined Les Houches (LH) events with a parton shower., Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures. Few changes: improved few sentences throughout the paper, added references, added 1 plot in section 2.1, added 2 plots (1 figure) in section 4.2, removed fixed-order results from HZ plots, added one appendix. Now it matches the version published in JHEP (HZ plots rebinned on arxiv version)

We present a novel method to combine QCD calculations at next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) with parton shower (PS) simulations, that can be applied to the production of heavy systems in hadronic collisions, such as colour singlets or a $t\bar{t}$ pair. The NNLO corrections are included by connecting the MiNLO$^\prime$ method with transverse-momentum resummation, and they are calculated at generation time without any additional reweighting, making the algorithm considerably efficient. Moreover, the combination of different jet multiplicities does not require any unphysical merging scale, and the matching preserves the structure of the leading logarithmic corrections of the Monte Carlo simulation for parton showers ordered in transverse momentum. We present proof-of-concept applications to hadronic Higgs production and the Drell-Yan process at the LHC., Comment: Fixed sign typo in Eq. (4.24)

We present accurate QCD predictions for the transverse momentum pT spectrum of electroweak gauge bosons at the LHC for 13 TeV collisions, based on a consistent combination of a NNLO calculation at large pT and N3LL resummation in the small pT limit. The inclusion of higher order corrections leads to substantial changes in the shape of the differential distributions, and the residual perturbative uncertainties are reduced to the few percent level across the whole transverse momentum spectrum. We examine the ratio of pT distributions in charged- and neutral-current Drell-Yan production, and study different prescriptions for the estimate of perturbative uncertainties that rely on different degrees of correlation between these processes. We observe an excellent stability of the ratios with respect to the perturbative order, indicating a strong correlation between the corresponding QCD corrections., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures. Version accepted for publication in EPJC. Corrected small mistake in plotting routines which lead to a minor misestimate of scale uncertainties in some of the plots. Predictions available in electronic format in the ancillary file data_paper.txt included in the submission

We perform a phenomenological study of $Z$ plus jet, Higgs plus jet and di-jet production at the Large Hadron Collider. We investigate in particular the dependence of the leading jet cross section on the jet radius as a function of the jet transverse momentum. Theoretical predictions are obtained using perturbative QCD calculations at the next-to and next-to-next-to-leading order, using a range of renormalization and factorization scales. The fixed order predictions are compared to results obtained from matching next-to-leading order calculations to parton showers. A study of the scale dependence as a function of the jet radius is used to provide a better estimate of the scale uncertainty for small jet sizes. The non-perturbative corrections as a function of jet radius are estimated from different generators., Comment: 23 pages, 19 figures

Monte Carlo event generators (MCEGs) are the indispensable workhorses of particle physics, bridging the gap between theoretical ideas and first-principles calculations on the one hand, and the complex detector signatures and data of the experimental community on the other hand. All collider physics experiments are dependent on simulated events by MCEG codes such as Herwig, Pythia, Sherpa, POWHEG, and MG5_aMC@NLO to design and tune their detectors and analysis strategies. The development of MCEGs is overwhelmingly driven by a vibrant community of academics at European Universities, who also train the next generations of particle phenomenologists. The new challenges posed by possible future collider-based experiments and the fact that the first analyses at Run II of the LHC are now frequently limited by theory uncertainties urge the community to invest into further theoretical and technical improvements of these essential tools. In this short contribution to the European Strategy Update, we briefly review the state of the art, and the further developments that will be needed to meet the challenges of the next generation., Comment: Monte Carlo Community input to European Strategy Update

We present predictions for $W^+W^-$ production (with exact decays) that are next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) accurate and consistently matched to a parton shower. The matching is achieved by upgrading, with MiNLO, the NLO calculation of $W^+W^- +1$ jet production, in such a way that NLO accuracy is guaranteed for $W^+W^-$ inclusive observables, and by performing subsequently a reweighting of the WWJ-MiNLO events, differential in the $W^+W^-$ Born variables, to the NNLO results obtained with MATRIX., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to the proceedings of the XXVI International Workshop on Deep-Inelastic Scattering and Related Subjects, DIS 2018, April 16-20, 2018, Kobe, Japan

We present novel predictions for the production of $W^+W^-$ pairs in hadron collisions that are next-to-next-to-leading order accurate and consistently matched to a parton shower (NNLOPS). All diagrams that lead to the process $pp\to e^- \bar \nu_e\;\mu^+\nu_\mu+X$ are taken into account, thereby including spin correlations and off-shell effects. For the first time full NNLOPS accuracy is achieved for a $2\to 4$ process. We find good agreement, at the 1$\sigma$ level, with the $W^+W^-$ rates measured by ATLAS and CMS. The importance of NNLOPS predictions is evident from differential distributions sensitive to soft-gluon effects and from the large impact ($10$% and more) of including next-to-next-to-leading order corrections on top of MiNLO. We define a charge asymmetry for the $W$ bosons and the leptons in $W^+W^-$ production at the LHC, which is sensitive to the $W$ polarizations and hence can be used as a probe of new physics., Comment: 40 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables

The perturbative description of certain differential distributions across a wide kinematic range requires the matching of fixed-order perturbation theory with resummation of large logarithmic corrections to all orders. We present precise matched predictions for transverse-momentum distributions in Higgs boson (H) and Drell-Yan pair (DY) production as well as for the closely related ${\phi^{*}_\eta}$ distribution at the LHC. The calculation is exclusive in the Born kinematics, and allows for arbitrary fiducial selection cuts on the decay products of the colour singlets, which is of primary relevance for experimental analyses. Our predictions feature very small residual scale uncertainties and display a good convergence of the perturbative series. A comparison of the predictions for DY observables to experimental data at 8 TeV shows a very good agreement within the quoted errors., Comment: Added missing formula for renormalization scale dependence of the Hard function, results unchanged

We present a next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) accurate description of associated HZ production, followed by the Higgs boson decay into a pair of $b$-quarks treated at next-to-leading order (NLO), consistently matched to a parton shower (PS). The matching is achieved by performing reweighting of the $\texttt{HZJ-MiNLO}$ events, using multi-dimensional distributions that are fully-differential in the HZ Born kinematics, to the NNLO results obtained by using the $\texttt{MCFM-8.0}$ fixed-order calculation. Additionally we include the $gg\to\rm{HZ}$ contribution to the discussed process that appears at the $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s^2)$. We present phenomenological results obtained for 13 TeV hadronic collisions., Comment: 30 pages, 15 figures

I give an overview of recent theoretical results for exclusive Higgs-production cross sections, focusing in particular on processes where precise predictions will be relevant in the near future., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to the proceedings of the 5th annual Large Hadron Collider Physics conference, LHCP2017, 15-20 May, 2017, Shanghai, China

We present an approach to the momentum-space resummation of global, recursive infrared and collinear safe observables featuring kinematic zeros away from the Sudakov limit. In the hadro-production of a generic colour singlet, we consider the family of inclusive observables which do not depend on the rapidity of the radiation, prime examples being the transverse momentum of the singlet, and $\phi^*$ in Drell-Yan pair production. We derive a resummation formula valid up to next-to-next-to-next-to-leading-logaritmic accuracy for the considered observables. This formula reduces exactly to the customary resummation performed in impact-parameter space in the known cases, and it also predicts the correct power-behaved scaling of the cross section in the limit of small value of the observable. We show how this formalism is efficiently implemented by means of Monte Carlo techniques in a fully exclusive generator that allows one to apply arbitrary cuts on the Born variables for any colour singlet, as well as to automatically match the resummed results to fixed-order calculations. As a phenomenological application, we present state-of-the-art predictions for the Higgs-boson transverse-momentum spectrum at the LHC at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic accuracy matched to fixed next-to-next-to-leading order., Comment: Added short appendix on small pt scaling

I give an overview of recent progress in the simulation of final states involving top-quarks and vector bosons pair. First I'll discuss the recently found solutions needed to simulate fully differential top pair production ($pp\to b\bar{b}$ + 4 leptons) at NLO+PS accuracy, retaining off-shellness and interference effects exactly. In the second part, I'll review the MiNLO (Multi-scale Improved NLO) method, and then show a recent application, namely the simultaneous NLO+PS description of $W^+W^-$ and $W^+W^- +$ 1 jet production., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to the proceedings of the 38th International Conference on High Energy Physics, ICHEP2016, 3-10 August, 2016, Chicago, USA

We propose a novel strategy to constrain the bottom and charm Yukawa couplings by exploiting LHC measurements of transverse momentum distributions in Higgs production. Our method does not rely on the reconstruction of exclusive final states or heavy-flavour tagging. Compared to other proposals it leads to an enhanced sensitivity to the Yukawa couplings due to distortions of the differential Higgs spectra from emissions which either probe quark loops or are associated to quark-initiated production. We derive constraints using data from LHC Run I, and we explore the prospects of our method at future LHC runs. Finally, we comment on the possibility of bounding the strange Yukawa coupling., Comment: Added analysis of the Higgs transverse momentum distribution. Version published in Physical Review Letters

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 first extension of the MINLO' method, in its original form, to the case of a genuine underlying 2->2 process, with non-trivial virtual corrections., Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures

We propose a new approach to the resummation of the transverse-momentum distribution of a high-mass colour-singlet system in hadronic collisions. The resummation is performed in momentum space and is free of kinematic singularities at small transverse momentum. We derive a formula accurate at the next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic level, and present the first matched predictions to next-to-next-to-leading order for Higgs-boson production in gluon fusion at the LHC. This method can be adapted to all observables featuring kinematic cancellations in the infrared region., Comment: Minor changes to abstract and text, a few references added. First figure was changed to make its content clearer. The text referring to the plot was changed accordingly

We present a next-to-next-to-leading order accurate description of associated HW production consistently matched to a parton shower. The method is based on reweighting events obtained with the HW plus one jet NLO accurate calculation implemented in POWHEG, extended with the MiNLO procedure, to reproduce NNLO accurate Born distributions. Since the Born kinematics is more complex than the cases treated before, we use a parametrization of the Collins-Soper angles to reduce the number of variables required for the reweighting. We present phenomenological results at 13 TeV, with cuts suggested by the Higgs Cross Section Working Group., Comment: Minor changes, plots updated, matches the version published in JHEP

I summarize the state of the art of cross-section computations and of available simulation tools for top-quark pair production in hadron collisions. Particular emphasis is put on recent theory developments relevant for LHC phenomenology., Comment: Very minor changes (after comments by the editors). It matches the version to appear on PoS

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.

This document outlines a set of simplified models for dark matter and its interactions with Standard Model particles. It is intended to summarize the main characteristics that these simplified models have when applied to dark matter searches at the LHC, and to provide a number of useful expressions for reference. The list of models includes both s-channel and t-channel scenarios. For s-channel, spin-0 and spin-1 mediation is discussed, and also realizations where the Higgs particle provides a portal between the dark and visible sectors. The guiding principles underpinning the proposed simplified models are spelled out, and some suggestions for implementation are presented., Comment: v3: Fixed typo in eqns 14 & 15

The LHCb collaboration has recently performed a first measurement of the angular production asymmetry in the distribution of beauty quarks and anti-quarks at a hadron collider. We calculate the corresponding standard model prediction for this asymmetry at fixed-order in perturbation theory. Our results show good agreement with the data, which is provided differentially for three bins in the invariant mass of the $b \bar b$ system. We also present similar predictions for both beauty-quark and charm-quark final states within the LHCb acceptance for a collision energy of $\sqrt{s} = 13 \, {\rm TeV}$. We finally point out that a measurement of the ratio of the $b \bar b$ and $c \bar c$ cross sections may be useful for experimentally validating charm-tagging efficiencies., Comment: 4.5 pages + references, 1 figure, 4 tables

Stringent limits on the interactions between dark matter (DM) and the standard model can be set by studying how initial-state or final-state particles recoil against missing transverse energy (MET). In this work, we improve, extend and correct LHC constraints on the interactions between DM and top quarks that are mediated by the exchange of spin-0 s-channel resonances. A comparison of the LHC run-1 sensitivity of the two main search channels is presented, which shows that mono-jet searches are typically more restrictive than the MET + tbar t searches. We furthermore explore the reach of the 14 TeV LHC. The collider constraints are compared to the restrictions arising from direct and indirect detection as well as the DM relic abundance, and we also reflect on effective field theory interpretations of the LHC exclusions., Comment: 29 pages, 11 figures; v4: conflict with CERN-PH-TH number fixed

We present a next-to-leading order (NLO) calculation of $t\bar{t}$ production in hadronic collisions interfaced to shower generators according to the POWHEG method. We start from an NLO result from previous work, obtained in the zero width limit, where radiative corrections to both production and decays are included. The POWHEG interface required an extension of the POWHEG BOX framework, in order to deal with radiation from the decay of resonances. This extension is fully general (i.e. it can be applied in principle to any process considered in the zero width limit), and is here applied for the first time. In order to perform a realistic simulation, we introduce finite width effects using different approximations, that we validated by comparing with published exact NLO results. We have interfaced our POWHEG code to the PYTHIA8 shower Monte Carlo generator. At this stage, we dealt with novel issues related to the treatment of resonances, especially with regard to the initial scale for the shower that needs to be set appropriately. This procedure affects, for example, the fragmentation function of the b quark, that we have studied with particular attention. We believe that the tool presented here improves over previous generators for all aspects that have to do with top decays, and especially for the study of issues related to top mass measurements that involve B hadrons or b jets. The work presented here also constitutes a first step towards a fully consistent matching of NLO calculations involving intermediate resonances decaying into coloured particles, with parton showers., Comment: Minor changes: improved few sentences, added 1 explanatory figure in sec. 1. Now it matches the version published in JHEP

We present a next-to-next-to-leading order accurate description of Drell-Yan lepton pair production processes through $\gamma^*/Z$ or $W$ exchange that includes consistently parton shower effects. Results are obtained by upgrading the vector-boson plus one jet NLO calculation in POWHEG with the MiNLO procedure and by applying an appropriate reweighting procedure making use of the DYNNLO program. We compare to existing data and to accurate resummed calculations., Comment: 31 pages, 17 figures, 1 table

We describe the method used to build a simulation of Higgs boson production accurate at next-to-next-to-leading order and matched to a parton shower. The adopted procedure makes use of a combination of the POWHEG and MiNLO methods. We also use results from HNNLO as final input to reach the claimed accuracy. Results for typical observables are shown., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to the proceedings of the 49th Rencontres de Moriond on QCD and High Energy Interactions, March 22-29, 2014, La Thuile

After the discovery of the 125 GeV scalar boson with gauge properties similar to the Standard Model Higgs, the search for beyond the SM interactions will focus on studying the discovered particles' coupling properties more precisely and shedding light on the relation of fermion masses with the electroweak vacuum. The large mass of the top quark and the SM-predicted order one top Yukawa coupling is a natural candidate for BSM physics, though experimentally challenging to constrain. In this paper, we argue that investigating angular correlations in $pp\to tHj$ production provides an excellent handle to constrain the top Yukawa coupling $y_t$ via direct measurements, even when we focus on rare exclusive final states. We perform a hadron-level analysis and show that we may expect to constrain $y_t\gtrsim 0.5\, y_t^{\text{SM}}$ at 95%-99% confidence level at the high luminosity LHC using semi-leptonic top decays and $H\to \gamma \gamma$ alone, by employing a two-channel measurement approach., Comment: Improved a couple of sentences, improved quality of fig.1, added 1 citation, matches version published in PRD

We describe how a simulation of Higgs boson production accurate at next-to-next-to-leading order and matched to a parton shower can be built by combining the POWHEG and MiNLO methods and using HNNLO results as input., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to the proceedings of the LC13 Workshop, September 16-20, 2013, ECT*, Trento, Italy

The latest LHC mono-jet searches place stringent bounds on the pp -> chibar chi cross section of dark matter. Further properties such as the dark matter mass or the precise structure of the interactions between dark matter and the standard model can however not be determined in this manner. We point out that measurements of the azimuthal angle correlations between the two jets in 2 j + chibar chi events may be used to disentangle whether dark matter pair production proceeds dominantly through tree or loop diagrams. Our general observation is illustrated by considering theories in which dark matter interacts predominantly with the top quark. We show explicitly that in this case the jet-jet azimuthal angle difference is a gold-plated observable to probe the Lorentz structure of the couplings of dark matter to top quarks, thus testing the CP nature of the particle mediating these interactions., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures; v2: discussion of signal and background cross sections added, labelling of plots improved, typos fixed and references updated; matches version published in PRD

LHC searches for missing transverse energy in association with a jet allow to place strong bounds on the interactions between dark matter and quarks. In this article, we present an extension of the POWHEG BOX capable of calculating the underlying cross sections at the next-to-leading order level. This approach enables us to consistently include the effects of parton showering and to apply realistic experimental cuts. We find significant differences from a fixed-order analysis that neglects parton showering effects. In particular, next-to-leading order corrections do not lead to a significant enhancement of the mono-jet cross section once a veto on additional jets is imposed. Nevertheless, these corrections reduce the theoretical uncertainties of the signal prediction and therefore improve the reliability of the derived bounds. We present our results in terms of simple rescaling factors, which can be directly applied to existing experimental analyses and discuss the impact of changing experimental cuts., Comment: Added KITP affiliations, fixed 2 very minor typos, matches version published in JHEP

We detail a simulation of Higgs boson production via gluon fusion, accurate at next-to-next-to-leading order in the strong coupling, including matching to a parton shower, yielding a fully exclusive, hadron-level description of the final-state. The approach relies on the POWHEG method for merging the NLO Higgs plus jet cross-section with the parton shower, and on the MINLO method to simultaneously achieve NLO accuracy for inclusive Higgs boson production. The NNLO accuracy is reached by a reweighting procedure making use of the HNNLO program., Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures. Very minor clarifications in the text for v2

Extensions of the Standard Model Higgs sector involving weak isotriplet scalars are not only benchmark candidates to reconcile observed anomalies of the recently discovered Higgs-like particle, but also exhibit a vast parameter space, for which the lightest Higgs' phenomenology turns out to be very similar to the Standard Model one. A generic prediction of this model class is the appearance of exotic doubly charged scalar particles. In this paper we adapt existing dilepton+missing energy+jets measurements in the context of SUSY searches to the dominant decay mode $H^{\pm\pm}\to W^\pm W^\pm$ and find that the LHC already starts probing the model's parameter space. A simple modification towards signatures typical of weak boson fusion searches allows us to formulate even tighter constraints with the 7 TeV LHC data set. A corresponding analysis of this channel performed at 14 TeV center of mass energy will constrain the model over the entire parameter space and facilitate potential $H^{\pm\pm}\to W^\pm W^\pm$ discoveries., Comment: typos fixed, references added, matches published version

ATLAS and CMS have discovered a Standard Model Higgs-like particle. One of the main discovery channels is the Higgs decay to two photons, which, at the moment, seems to be considerably enhanced over the Standard Model expectation. Models with additional charged matter coupling to the Higgs sector can enhance or decrease the Higgs to two photons branching ratio. We take this as motivation to confront the so-called Georgi-Machacek model of Higgs triplets with the results of recent searches for a SM Higgs boson performed at the LHC. We also investigate the model in regions of the allowed parameter space relevant for a SM-like phenomenology. The Georgi-Machacek model avoids tree-level issues of the T parameter, while offering a vastly modified Higgs phenomenology compared to the Standard Model. This comes at the price of introducing another fine-tuning problem related to electroweak precision measurements. We investigate the collider phenomenology of the Georgi-Machacek model in the light of existing collider constraints beyond any effective field theory approximation and contextualize our findings with electroweak precision constraints., Comment: Added 3 references, reference list reordered, few typos fixed, explanations improved in a couple of places, matches version accepted for publication in PRD

We present results for the QCD next-to-leading order (NLO) calculation of single-top t-channel production in the 4-flavour scheme, interfaced to Parton Shower (PS) Monte Carlo programs according to the POWHEG and MC@NLO methods. Comparisons between the two methods, as well as with the corresponding process in the 5-flavour scheme are presented. For the first time results for typical kinematic distributions of the spectator-b jet are presented in an NLO+PS approach., Comment: 16+1 pages, 8 figures, matches version accepted for publication in JHEP

We present results for the QCD production of Z/{\gamma} + 2 jets matched with parton showers using the POWHEG method. Some technicalities relevant for the merging of NLO corrections for this process with parton showers are discussed, and results for typical distributions are shown, in presence of different sets of cuts. A comparison with ATLAS data is also presented, and good agreement is found., Comment: 13+1 pages, 6 figures, 1 reference and 1 appendix added; matches version accepted for publication in JHEP

Both the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations have sought for effects beyond pure next-to-leading order in dijet observables, with the goal to distinguish between the perturbative descriptions provided by a next-to-leading order plus collinear-resummation calculation and by the resummation of wide-angle, hard emissions. In this paper we identify regions of phase space in dijet production where some observables receive large corrections beyond next-to-leading order and study their theoretical description with two tools that perform these two different resummations: the POWHEG BOX and HEJ. Furthermore, we suggest analyses where the predictions from POWHEG and HEJ can be clearly distinguished experimentally., Comment: Version accepted in PRD

Non-standard decays of the Higgs boson produced at the Large Hadron Collider can lead to signatures which can easily be missed due to non-adapted trigger or search strategies. Keeping electroweak symmetry breaking Standard Model-like we classify the phenomenology of an evasive Higgs boson into three categories and discuss how they can be described in an effective field theory. We comment on how one can improve the search strategies to also detect such an evasive Higgs., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, references added, final version accepted for publication in PRD