arXiv subjects

Andrew S. Papanastasiou

Publications and source records attributed to Andrew S. Papanastasiou.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2020

An exploratory study of the impact of CMS double-differential top distributions on the gluon parton distribution function

LHC $t\bar{t}$ data have the potential to provide constraints on the gluon distribution, especially at high $x$, with both ATLAS and CMS performing differential measurements. Recently, CMS has measured double-differential $t\bar{t}$ distributions at 8 TeV. In this paper we examine the impact of this data set on the gluon distribution. To that end we develop novel, double-differential NNLO predictions for that data. No significant impact is found when the CMS data is added to the CT14HERA2 global PDF fit, due to the larger impact of the inclusive jet data from both the Tevatron and the LHC. If the jet data are removed from the fit, then an impact is observed. If the CMS data is scaled by a larger weight, representing the greater statistical power of the jet data, a roughly equal impact on the gluon distribution is observed for the $t\bar{t}$ as for the inclusive jet data. For data samples with higher integrated luminosity at 13 TeV, a more significant impact of the double-differential $t\bar{t}$ data may be observed.

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arXiv2020

Simultaneous extraction of $α_s$ and $m_t$ from LHC $t\bar{t}$ differential distributions

We present a joint extraction of the strong coupling $α_s$ and the top-quark pole mass $m_t$ from measurements of top-quark pair production performed by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the 8 TeV LHC. For the first time, differential NNLO theory predictions for different values of the top-quark mass are utilised for four kinematic distributions: the average transverse momentum of the top-quark, its average rapidity and the pair invariant mass and rapidity. The use of fastNLO tables for these distributions allows rapid evaluation of the differential theory predictions for different PDF sets. We consider the single differential distributions from the experiments both separately and in combination in order to obtain the best fit to theory. Our final values are $α_s=0.1159^{+0.0013}_{-0.0014}$ and $m_t=173.8^{+0.8}_{-0.8}$ GeV which are compatible with previous extractions using top-quark measurements. In the case of $m_t$, our value is also compatible with the world average value collated by the Particle Data Group.

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arXiv2020

Top-quark pair production at complete-NLO accuracy with NNLO+NNLL$'$ corrections in QCD

We describe predictions for top-quark pair differential distributions at hadron colliders, which combine state-of-the-art NNLO QCD calculations and NLO electroweak corrections together with double resummation at NNLL$'$ accuracy of threshold logarithms and small-mass logarithms. This is the first time that such a combination has appeared in the literature. Numerical results are presented for the invariant-mass distribution, the transverse-momentum distribution as well as rapidity distributions.

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arXiv2019

Higher order corrections to spin correlations in top quark pair production at the LHC

We calculate, for the first time, the next-to-next-to leading order (NNLO) QCD corrections to spin correlations in top quark pair production at the LHC. The NNLO corrections play an important role in the description of the corresponding differential distributions. We observe that the Standard Model calculation describes the available delta-phi data in the fiducial region but does not agree with the delta-phi measurement extrapolated to full phase space. Most likely this discrepancy is due to the difference in precision between existing event generators and NNLO calculations for dilepton top-pair final states.

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arXiv2019

NNLO versus NLO multi-jet merging for top-pair production including electroweak corrections

In this proceedings we compare phenomenological predictions for differential distributions in top-quark pair production at the LHC. In particular we consider NNLO QCD fixed-order predictions and parton-level predictions based on NLO QCD multi-jet merging following the MEPS@NLO scheme. In both predictions NLO electroweak (EW) corrections are incorporated in different approximations. We focus on several transverse-momentum distributions and on the top-quark invariant mass distribution, both highly relevant for the ongoing physics program at the LHC. We discuss comparisons between the different considered approximations and their advantages and disadvantages for different distributions.

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arXiv2018

Top Quark Pair Production: theory overview

In this talk we present the current status of the theoretical description of the production of top-quark pairs at the LHC, detailing recent progress for predictions at the stable-top level as well as for predictions that include the decay of the top quarks.

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arXiv2017

Top-quark pair-production and decay at high precision

We present a fully-differential and high-precision calculation of top-quark pair-production and decay at the LHC, providing predictions for observables constructed from top-quark leptonic and $b$-flavoured jet final states. The calculation is implemented in a parton-level Monte Carlo and includes an approximation to the next-to-next-to leading order (NNLO) corrections to the production and, for the first time, the exact NNLO corrections to the decay subprocesses. The corrections beyond NLO are sizeable, and including them is crucial for an accurate description of the cross section constrained by experimental phase-space restrictions. We compare our predictions to published ATLAS and CMS measurements at the LHC, finding improved agreement compared with lower orders in the perturbative expansion.

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arXiv2016

Matched predictions for the $b\bar{b}H$ cross section at the 13 TeV LHC

We present up-to-date matched predictions for the $b\bar{b}H$ inclusive cross section at the LHC at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV. Using a previously developed method, our predictions consistently combine the complete NLO contributions that are present in the 4-flavor scheme calculation, including finite b-quark mass effects as well as top-loop induced $Y_b Y_t$ interference contributions, with the resummation of collinear logarithms of $m_b/m_H$ as present in the 5-flavor scheme calculation up to NNLO. We provide a detailed estimate of the perturbative uncertainties of the matched result by examining its dependence on the factorization and renormalization scales, the scale of the Yukawa coupling, and also the low b-quark matching scale in the PDFs. We motivate the use of a central renormalization scale of $m_H$/2, which is halfway between the values typically chosen in the 4-flavor and 5-flavor scheme calculations. We evaluate the parametric uncertainties due to the PDFs and the b-quark mass, and in particular discuss how to systematically disentangle the parametric $m_b$ dependence and the unphysical b-quark matching scale dependence. Our best prediction for the $b\bar{b} H$ production cross section in the Standard Model at 13 TeV and for $m_H$ = 125 GeV is $σ(b\bar b H) = 0.52 \,{\rm pb}\, [1 \pm 9.6\% {\rm (perturbative)}\,{}^{+2.9\%}_{-3.6\%} {\rm (parametric)}]$. We also provide predictions for a range of Higgs masses $m_H\in [50, 750]$ GeV. Our method to compute the matched prediction and to evaluate its uncertainty can be readily applied to other heavy-quark-initiated processes at the LHC.

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arXiv2016

Off-shell single-top production at NLO matched to parton showers

We study the hadroproduction of a $Wb$ pair in association with a light jet, focusing on the dominant $t$-channel contribution and including exactly at the matrix-element level all non-resonant and off-shell effects induced by the finite top-quark width. Our simulations are accurate to the next-to-leading order in QCD, and are matched to the HERWIG6 and PYTHIA8 parton showers through the MC@NLO method. We present phenomenological results relevant to the 8 TeV LHC, and carry out a thorough comparison to the case of on-shell $t$-channel single-top production. We formulate our approach so that it can be applied to the general case of matrix elements that feature coloured intermediate resonances and are matched to parton showers.

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arXiv2015

Resummation and Matching of $b$-quark Mass Effects in $b\bar{b}H$ Production

We use a systematic effective field theory setup to derive the $b\bar{b}H$ production cross section. Our result combines the merits of both fixed 4-flavor and 5-flavor schemes. It contains the full 4-flavor result, including the exact dependence on the $b$-quark mass, and improves it with a resummation of collinear logarithms of $m_b/m_H$. In the massless limit, it corresponds to a reorganized 5-flavor result. While we focus on $b\bar{b}H$ production, our method applies to generic heavy-quark initiated processes at hadron colliders. Our setup resembles the variable flavor number schemes known from heavy-flavor production in deep-inelastic scattering, but also differs in some key aspects. Most importantly, the effective $b$-quark PDF appears as part of the perturbative expansion of the final result where it effectively counts as an $O(α_s)$ object. The transition between the fixed-order (4-flavor) and resummation (5-flavor) regimes is governed by the low matching scale at which the $b$-quark is integrated out. Varying this scale provides a systematic way to assess the perturbative uncertainties associated with the resummation and matching procedure and reduces by going to higher orders. We discuss the practical implementation and present numerical results for the $b\bar{b}H$ production cross section at NLO+NLL. We also provide a comparison to the corresponding predictions in the fixed 4-flavor and 5-flavor results and the Santander matching prescription. Compared to the latter, we find a slightly reduced uncertainty and a larger central value, with its central value lying at the lower edge of our uncertainty band.

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arXiv2015

Probing the top-quark width through ratios of resonance contributions of $e^+e^-\rightarrow W^+W^-b\bar{b}$

We exploit offshell regions in the process $e^+e^-\rightarrow W^+W^-b\bar{b}$ to gain access to the top-quark width. Working at next-to-leading order in QCD we show that carefully selected ratios of offshell regions to onshell regions in the reconstructed top and antitop invariant mass spectra are, \emph{independently} of the coupling $g_{tbW}$, sensitive to the top-quark width. We explore this approach for different centre of mass energies and initial-state beam polarisations at $e^+e^-$ colliders and briefly comment on the applicability of this method for a measurement of the top-quark width at the LHC.

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