arXiv subjects

Andrea Banfi

Publications and source records attributed to Andrea Banfi.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Anomalous triple gauge couplings in the light of dimension-8 operators in $W^+W^-$

We compare the size of dimension-8 effects on $W^+W^-$ production at the LHC arising from the $q\bar q$ and $\gamma\gamma$ initial states. In particular, we consider bosonic operators, which contribute to the anomalous triple and quadruple gauge couplings. The relevant dimension-6 and dimension-8 operators are matched to the anomalous triple gauge couplings that contribute to the $q\bar q$ channel, allowing for the resummation of large logarithmic contributions arising in the presence of a jet-veto through the program MCFM-RE. For the $\gamma\gamma$ channel, which receives contributions from both triple and quadruple gauge couplings, such resummation can be performed through the program MadGraph, by simply setting the factorisation scale to the jet-veto scale. We find that, when neglecting fermionic dimension-8 operators, the $\gamma\gamma$ channel has a dominant bosonic dimension-8 contribution and this channel can be used to understand the range of validity of the Effective Field Theory. With this in mind, and carefully considering theoretical and experimental uncertainties, we provide constraints on higher dimensional operators using current and future data.

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arXiv2026

Probing EFT breakdown in the tails of $W^+ W^-$ observables

In this letter, we test clipping effective field theory (EFT) simulations as a method of ensuring EFT validity. The procedure imposes that, at the level of the simulation, the invariant mass of a $W^+W^-$ pair $M_{WW}$ is less than the new physics scale $\Lambda$. We compare this to two other methods, comparison bin by bin of dimension-6 and dimension-8 squared contributions and implementing a cut on data. We find that setting $M_{WW} < \Lambda$ is not strict enough to ensure that the hierarchy of EFT operators is respected for dimension-6 and dimension-8 contributions. We also show that, even when using a stricter cut on $M_{WW}$, due to different correlations between $M_{WW}$ and $M_{e\mu}$ at different EFT orders, the bins in $M_{e\mu}$ (the invariant mass of the leptons originating from $W$ decays) used in an EFT fit may not truly be in the regime of EFT validity when performing a dimension-6 fit with $M_{WW} < \Lambda$. We also explore the correlations of three transverse mass observables: $M_{T1}, M_{T2}$ and $M_{T3}$, finding that $M_{T1}$ and $M_{T3}$ follow the $M_{WW}$ distribution more closely than $M_{e\mu}$. We present sensitivity studies using both the $M_{T3}$ distribution and $M_{e\mu}$ distribution. We test implementing an experimental cut on $M_{T3}$ in place of clipping the EFT simulation at $M_{WW} < \Lambda$. We finally comment that adding $M_{WW} < \Lambda$ cuts only to the EFT simulation could be interpreted as modifying the SMEFT expansion by a form factor and could therefore impact the model independence of EFT fits under this procedure.

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arXiv2025

Characterising hadronisation across the phase space

Leading hadronisation corrections to two-jet global event shapes amount to a shift in the corresponding perturbative distributions. It has been recently established that this shift depends significantly on the value of the considered event shape. These analyses consider perturbative configurations with only three partons emitting an ultra-soft non-perturbative gluon. These are dominant in the three-jet region. However, multiple soft and/or collinear emissions need to be considered to accurately describe event shape distributions near their Sudakov peak. In this region, non-perturbative shifts are usually computed by considering only two hard emitters. In this paper, we find that this approximation misses an important correction to the shift due to the emission of an additional soft wide-angle gluon. We then compute its contribution, and embed it in a general treatment for the shift that is valid in both the two-jet and three-jet regions.

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arXiv2025

The one-jettiness distribution contains super-super-leading logarithms

We show that one-jettiness ($\tau_1$) in colour-singlet plus jet production suffers from super-leading logarithms starting at order $\alpha_{\mathrm s}^4 \ln(1/\tau_1)^6$ relative to the Born level. This is one logarithm more dominant than any previously identified super-leading logarithms. The extra logarithm is not associated with additional poles, and is therefore consistent with the factorization of universal parton distribution functions at scale $\tau_1 Q$, where $Q$ is the hard scale.

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arXiv2024

Dimension-8 operators in $W^+W^-$ production via gluon fusion

We investigate the impact of dimension-8 operators on $W^+W^-$ production at the LHC for the incoming gluon-gluon channel. To this end, we have identified all dimension-8 CP-even operators contributing to the process in question, and computed the corresponding tree-level helicity amplitudes for fully-leptonic decays of the $W$ bosons. These are implemented in the program MCFM-RE, which automatically incorporates the effect of a jet-veto to reduce the otherwise overwhelming $t\bar t$ background. We find that, unless we break the hierarchy of the effective field theory (EFT), the interference of the dimension-8 operators with the Standard Model is negligible across the considered distributions. This justifies including the square of dimension-6 operators when performing EFT fits with this channel. We then present new constraints on CP-even and CP-odd dimension-6 operators within the EFT regime. Lastly, we postulate a scenario in which the hierarchy of the EFT is broken, justified by the strong constraints on dimension-6 operators from existing on-shell Higgs data. In this scenario, we discuss the constraints that can be reasonably set on CP-even dimension-8 operators with current and future data. We remark that the effect of the jet-veto on the ability to constrain new physics in the $W^+W^-$ channel is quite dramatic and must be properly taken into account.

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arXiv2024

Higgs interference effects in top-quark pair production in the 1HSM

We present a next-to-leading-order (NLO) study of the process $pp \; ( \to \{ h_1, h_2 \}) \to t\bar{t} + X$ in the 1-Higgs-singlet extension of the Standard Model with an additional heavy Higgs boson $h_2$ that mixes with the light Higgs boson $h_1$. This process is subject to large interference effects between loop-induced Higgs-mediated amplitudes and the QCD continuum background which tend to overcompensate any resonance contributions. A reliable modelling of the resulting top-pair invariant mass shapes requires the inclusion of higher-order QCD corrections, which are presented here. The computation of these NLO corrections is exact in all contributions but in the class of non-factorisable two-loop diagrams which are included in an approximate way such that all infrared singular limits are preserved. We present numerical results for several benchmark points with heavy Higgs masses in the range $700$--$3000$ GeV considering the production of stable top quarks. We find that the interference effects dominate the BSM signal yielding sharp dip structures instead of resonance peaks. The significance and excludability of the BSM effect is explored for the LHC Run 2, Run 3 and HL-LHC.

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arXiv2024

A POWHEG generator for deep inelastic scattering

We present a new event generator for the simulation of both neutral- and charged-current deep inelastic scattering (DIS) at next-to-leading order in QCD matched to parton showers using the POWHEG method. Our implementation builds on the existing POWHEG BOX framework originally designed for hadron-hadron collisions, supplemented by considerable extensions to account for the genuinely different kinematics inherent to lepton-hadron collisions. In particular, we present new momentum mappings that conserve the special kinematics found in DIS, which we use to modify the POWHEG BOX implementation of the Frixione-Kunszt-Signer subtraction mechanism. We compare our predictions to fixed-order and resummed predictions, as well as to data from the HERA ep collider. Finally we study a few representative distributions for the upcoming Electron Ion Collider.

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arXiv2023

Interplay between perturbative and non-perturbative effects with the ARES method

We present a new semi-numerical method to compute leading hadronisation corrections to two-jet event shapes in $e^+e^-$ annihilation. The formalism we present utilises the dispersive approach, where the magnitude of power corrections is controlled by suitable moments of an effective strong coupling, but it can be adapted to other methods. We focus on observables where the interplay between perturbative and non-perturbative effects is crucial in determining the power corrections. A naive treatment of power corrections for some of these observables gives rise to an unphysical behaviour in the corresponding distributions for moderate observable values, thus considerably limiting the available range to fit the non-perturbative moments. We present a universal treatment to handle such observables, based on a suitable subtraction procedure, and compare our results to the analytic result in the case of total broadening. Finally, for the first time we present predictions for the thrust major, which cannot be handled with analytic methods.

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arXiv2021

Higher-order non-global logarithms from jet calculus

Non-global QCD observables are characterised by a sensitivity to the full angular distribution of soft radiation emitted coherently in hard scattering processes. This complexity poses a challenge to their all-order resummation, that was formulated at the leading-logarithmic order about two decades ago. In this article we present a solution to the long-standing problem of their resummation beyond this order, and carry out the first complete next-to-leading logarithmic calculation for non-global observables. This is achieved by solving numerically the recently derived set of non-linear differential equations which describe the evolution of soft radiation in the planar, large-$N_c$ limit. As a case study we address the calculation of the transverse energy distribution in the interjet rapidity region in $e^+e^-\to$ dijet production. The calculation is performed by means of an algorithm that we formulate in the language of jet-calculus generating functionals, which also makes the resummation technique applicable to more general non-global problems, such as those that arise in hadronic collisions. We find that NLL corrections are substantial and their inclusion leads to a significant reduction of the perturbative scale uncertainties for these observables. The computer code used in the calculations is made publicly available.

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arXiv2021

Next-to-leading non-global logarithms in QCD

Non-global logarithms arise from the sensitivity of collider observables to soft radiation in limited angular regions of phase space. Their resummation to next-to-leading logarithmic (NLL) order has been a long standing problem and its solution is relevant in the context of precision all-order calculations in a wide variety of collider processes and observables. In this article, we consider observables sensitive only to soft radiation, characterised by the absence of Sudakov double logarithms, and we derive a set of integro-differential equations that describes the resummation of NLL soft corrections in the planar, large-$N_c$ limit. The resulting set of evolution equations is derived in dimensional regularisation and we additionally provide a formulation that is manifestly finite in four space-time dimensions. The latter is suitable for a numerical integration and can be generalised to treat other infrared-safe observables sensitive solely to soft wide-angle radiation. We use the developed formalism to carry out a fixed-order calculation to ${\cal O}(α_s^2)$ in full colour for both the transverse energy and energy distribution in the interjet region between two cone jets in $e^+e^-$ collisions. We find that the expansion of the resummed cross section correctly reproduces the logarithmic structure of the full QCD result.

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arXiv2021

H1jet, a fast program to compute transverse momentum distributions

We present H1jet, a fast code that computes the total cross section and differential distribution in the transverse momentum of a colour singlet. In its current version, the program implements only leading-order $2\to 1$ and $2\to 2$ processes, but could be extended to higher orders. We discuss the processes implemented in H1jet, give detailed instructions on how to implement new processes, and perform comparisons to existing codes. This tool, mainly designed for theorists, can be fruitfully used to assess deviations of selected new physics models from the Standard Model behaviour, as well as to quickly obtain distributions of relevance for Standard Model phenomenology.

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arXiv2019

Near-to-planar three-jet events at NNLL accuracy

We extend the ARES method for next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic (NNLL) QCD resummations to three-jet event shapes in $e^+ e^-$ collisions in the near-to-planar limit. In particular, we define a NNLL radiator for three hard emitters, and discuss new features of NNLL corrections arising specifically in this case. As an example, we present predictions for the $D$-parameter, matched to exact NLO. After inclusion of hadronisation corrections in the dispersive approach, we compare our predictions with LEP1 data.

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arXiv2019

BSM WW production with a jet veto

We consider the impact on WW production of the unique dimension-six operator coupling gluons to the Higgs field. In order to study this process, we have to appropriately model the effect of a veto on additional jets. This requires the resummation of large logarithms of the ratio of the maximum jet transverse momentum and the invariant mass of the W boson pair. We have performed such resummation at the appropriate accuracy for the Standard Model (SM) background and for a signal beyond the SM (BSM), and devised a simple method to interface jet-veto resummations with fixed-order event generators. This resulted in the fast numerical code MCFM-RE, the Resummation Edition of the fixed-order code MCFM. We compared our resummed predictions with parton-shower event generators and assessed the size of effects, such as limited detector acceptances, hadronisation and the underlying event, that were not included in our resummation. We have then used the code to compare the sensitivity of WW and ZZ production at the HL-LHC to the considered higher-dimension operator. We have found that WW can provide complementary sensitivity with respect to ZZ, provided one is able to control theory uncertainties at the percent-level. Our method is general and can be applied to the production of any colour singlet, both within and beyond the SM.

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arXiv2019

Composite Higgs at high transverse momentum

In this paper we explore composite Higgs scenarios through the effects of light top-partners in Higgs+Jet production at the LHC. The pseudo-Goldstone boson nature of the Higgs field means that single-Higgs production via gluon fusion is insensitive to the mass spectrum of the top-partners. However in associated production this is not the case, and new physics scales may be probed. In the course of the work we consider scenarios with both one and two light top-partner multiplets in the spectrum of composite states. We study corrections to the Higgs couplings and the effects that the light top-partner multiplets have on the transverse momentum spectrum of the Higgs. Interestingly, we find that the corrections to the Standard Model expectation depend strongly on the representation of the top-partners in the global symmetry.

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arXiv2019

High precision determination of $α_s$ from a global fit of jet rates

We present state-of-the-art extractions of the strong coupling based on N$^3$LO+NNLL accurate predictions for the two-jet rate in the Durham clustering algorithm at $e^+e^-$ collisions, as well as a simultaneous fit of the two- and three-jet rates taking into account correlations between the two observables. The fits are performed on a large range of data sets collected at LEP and PETRA colliders, with energies spanning from $35$ GeV to $207$ GeV. Owing to the high accuracy of the predictions used, the perturbative uncertainty is considerably smaller than that due to hadronization. Our best determination at the $Z$ mass is $α_s(M_Z) = 0.11881 \pm 0.00063(exp.) \pm 0.00101(hadr.) \pm 0.00045(ren.) \pm 0.00034(res.)$, which is in agreement with the latest world average and has a comparable total uncertainty.

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arXiv2018

The Sudakov radiator for jet observables and the soft physical coupling

We present a procedure to calculate the Sudakov radiator for a generic recursive infrared and collinear (rIRC) safe observable in two-scale problems. We give closed formulae for the radiator at next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic (NNLL) accuracy, which completes the general NNLL resummation for this class of observables in the {\tt ARES} method for processes with two emitters at the Born level. As a byproduct, we define a physical coupling in the soft limit, and we provide an explicit expression for its relation to the $\overline{\rm MS}$ coupling up to ${\cal O}(α_s^3)$. This physical coupling constitutes one of the ingredients for a NNLL accurate parton shower algorithm. As an application we obtain analytic NNLL results, of which several are new, for all angularities $τ_x$ defined with respect to both the thrust axis and the winner-take-all axis, and for the moments of energy-energy correlation $FC_x$ in $e^+e^-$ annihilation. For the latter observables we find that, for some values of $x$, an accurate prediction of the peak of the differential distribution requires a simultaneous resummation of the logarithmic terms originating from the two-jet limit and at the Sudakov shoulder.

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arXiv2018

Digging for Top Squarks from Higgs data: from signal strengths to differential distributions

One way to hunt for top squarks is to look for deviations from the Standard Model in loop level processes involving Higgses. This method is indirect, but complementary to direct searches as it does not rely on specific top squark decays. Studying inclusive Higgs production $pp \to h$ alone is insufficient, since there are parameter regions where the effects of the two top squarks approximately cancel. This degeneracy can be broken by looking at the rate for highly boosted Higgses recoiling against a jet, $pp \to h + \text{jet}$. In this paper we perform a detailed study of the complementarity of the inclusive and highly boosted processes at the LHC, both in existing Run 1 and Run 2 data, and looking forward to high luminosity. To break the degeneracy, our calculation must maintain the full mass dependence in the loop functions and therefore cannot be recast in an effective field theory framework. We quantify the dependence of both topologies in the top squark parameter space, and outline which levels of experimental and theoretical understanding would be needed for boosted Higgses to be competitive with inclusive Higgs production.

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arXiv2017

A general method for the resummation of event-shape distributions in e^+e^- annihilation

We present a novel method for resummation of event shapes to next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic (NNLL) accuracy. We discuss the technique and describe its implementation in a numerical program in the case of e^+e^- collisions where the resummed prediction is matched to NNLO. We reproduce all the existing predictions and present new results for oblateness and thrust major.

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