Persistent homology of collider observations: when (w)hole matters

Abstract

Topological invariants have played a fundamental role in the advancement of theoretical high energy physics. Physicists have used several kinematic techniques to distinguish new physics predictions from the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics at Large Hadron Collider (LHC). However, the study of global topological invariants of the collider signals has not yet attracted much attention. In this article, we present a novel approach to study collider signals using persistent homology. The global topological properties of the ensemble of events as expressed by measures like persistent entropy, Betti area, etc. are worth considering in addition to the traditional approach of using kinematic variables event by event. In this exploratory study, we first explore the characteristic topological signature of a few SM electroweak resonant productions. Next, we use the framework to distinguish global properties of the invisible Higgs decay processes in the SM and a real singlet extension of the SM featuring stable singlet scalar dark matter.