arXiv subjects

Frank Petriello

Publications and source records attributed to Frank Petriello.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

$W$-boson production in polarized proton-proton collisions at RHIC through next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD

We perform a study of $W$-boson production in polarized proton-proton collisions through next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in perturbative QCD. This calculation is required to extend the extraction of polarized parton distribution functions to NNLO accuracy. We present differential distributions at $\sqrt{s}=510$ GeV, relevant for comparison to measurements from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The NNLO QCD corrections significantly reduce the scale dependence of the cross section. We compare the longitudinal single-spin asymmetries as a function of lepton pseudorapidity to RHIC data. The asymmetries exhibit excellent stability under perturbative QCD corrections.

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arXiv2021

Disentangling SMEFT operators with future low-energy PVES experiments

We study the potential of future Parity-Violating Electron Scattering (PVES) data to probe the parameter space of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT). We contrast the constraints derived from Drell-Yan data taken at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) with projections of the planned PVES experiments SoLID and P2. We show that the PVES data can complement the bounds set by the LHC data in the dimension-6 operator space since it probes different combinations of operators than Drell-Yan. The lower characteristic energy of P2 and SoLID also helps disentangle effects of dimension-6 and dimension-8 operators that are difficult to resolve with LHC Drell-Yan data alone.

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arXiv2020

Four-lepton Z-boson decay constraints on the SMEFT

We discuss how four-lepton decays of the Z-boson probe currently unconstrained flat directions in the parameter space of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT). We derive the constraints from these decays on four-lepton operators in the SMEFT and show how the LHC data for this process complements probes from neutrino-trident production. Future differential measurements with high-luminosity data can strongly constrain four-lepton operators and remove all flat directions in the four-muon sector of the SMEFT. We comment briefly on the possibility of using rare Z-decays to tau-leptons to probe untested directions in the SMEFT parameter space.

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arXiv2020

Next-to-leading power corrections to $V+1$ jet production in $N$-jettiness subtraction

We discuss the subleading power corrections to one-jet production processes in $N$-jettiness subtraction using vector-boson plus jet production as an example. We analytically derive the next-to-leading power leading logarithmic corrections (NLP-LL) through ${\cal O}(α_S)$ in perturbative QCD, and outline the calculation of the next-to-leading logarithmic corrections (NLP-NLL). Our result is differential in the jet transverse momentum and rapidity, and in the vector boson momentum squared and rapidity. We present simple formulae that separate the NLP corrections into universal factors valid for any one-jet cross section and process-dependent matrix-element corrections. We discuss in detail features of the NLP corrections such as the process independence of the leading-logarithmic result that occurs due to the factorization of matrix elements in the subleading soft limit, the occurrence of poles in the non-hemisphere soft function at NLP and the cancellation of potential $\sqrt{\mathcal{T}_1/Q}$ corrections to the $N$-jettiness factorization theorem. We validate our analytic result by comparing them to numerically-fitted coefficients, finding good agreement for both the inclusive and the differential cross sections.

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arXiv2020

Novel angular dependence in Drell-Yan lepton production via dimension-8 operators

We study the effects of dimension-8 operators on Drell-Yan production of lepton pairs at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We identify a class of operators that leads to novel angular dependence not accounted for in current analyses. The observation of such effects would be a smoking-gun signature of new physics appearing at the dimension-8 level. We propose an extension of the currently used angular basis and show that these effects should be observable in future LHC analyses for realistic values of the associated dimension-8 Wilson coefficients.

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arXiv2019

Top quark decay at next-to-leading order in the Standard Model Effective Field Theory

We consider top quark decay in the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT). We present a calculation of the total decay width and the $W$-boson helicity fractions at next-to-leading order (NLO) in SMEFT. Our result includes the complete set of contributing four-fermion operators in addition to QCD dipole operators and bottom-mass suppressed effects. We show that operators that first appear at NLO in the SMEFT can be bounded by the current data as well as future data from both a high-luminosity LHC and a potential $e^+e^-$ collider, demonstrating the importance of going beyond leading order when studying the SMEFT. We discuss technical aspects of our calculation that we believe will be useful in future higher-order studies of the SMEFT, in particular the treatment of $γ_5$ in loop diagrams.

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arXiv2018

Next-to-leading-logarithmic power corrections for $N$-jettiness subtraction in color-singlet production

We present a detailed derivation of the power corrections to the factorization theorem for the 0-jettiness event shape variable $\mathcal{T}$. Our calculation is performed directly in QCD without using the formalism of effective field theory. We analytically calculate the next-to-leading logarithmic power corrections for small $\mathcal{T}$ at next-to-leading order in the strong coupling constant, extending previous computations which obtained only the leading-logarithmic power corrections. We address a discrepancy in the literature between results for the leading-logarithmic power corrections to a particular definition of 0-jettiness. We present a numerical study of the power corrections in the context of their application to the $N$-jettiness subtraction method for higher-order calculations, using gluon-fusion Higgs production as an example. The inclusion of the next-to-leading-logarithmic power corrections further improves the numerical efficiency of the approach beyond the improvement obtained from the leading-logarithmic power corrections.

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arXiv2018

Inclusive jet production as a probe of polarized PDFs at a future EIC

We present a detailed phenomenological study of polarized inclusive jet production in electron-proton collisions at a future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). Our analysis is performed at next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD using the numerical code DISTRESS and includes all relevant partonic channels and resolved photon contributions. We elucidate the role of different kinematic regions in probing different aspects of proton and photon structure and study the impact of the EIC collision energy on the measurement of polarized parton distribution functions.

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arXiv2017

The spin-dependent quark beam function at NNLO

We calculate the beam function for longitudinally-polarized quarks through next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in QCD perturbation theory. This is the last missing ingredient needed to apply the factorization theorem for the $N$-jettiness event-shape variable in polarized collisions through the NNLO level. We present all technical details of our derivation. As a by-product of our calculation we provide the first independent check of the previously-obtained unpolarized quark beam function. We anticipate that our result will have phenomenological applications in describing data from polarized collisions.

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arXiv2017

The impact of the LHC Z-boson transverse momentum data on PDF determinations

The LHC has recently released precise measurements of the transverse momentum distribution of the Z-boson that provide a unique constraint on the structure of the proton. Theoretical developments now allow the prediction of these observables through next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in perturbative QCD. In this work we study the impact of incorporating these latest advances into a determination of parton distribution functions (PDFs) through NNLO including the recent ATLAS and CMS 7 TeV and 8 TeV $p_T^Z$ data. We investigate the consistency of these measurements in a global fit to the available data and quantify the impact of including the $p_T^Z$ distributions on the PDFs. The inclusion of these new data sets significantly reduces the uncertainties on select parton distributions and the corresponding parton-parton luminosities. In particular, we find that the $p_T^Z$ data ultimately leads to a reduction of the PDF uncertainty on the gluon-fusion and vector-boson fusion Higgs production cross sections by about 30%, while keeping the central values nearly unchanged.

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arXiv2017

Power Corrections in the N-jettiness Subtraction Scheme

We discuss the leading-logarithmic power corrections in the $N$-jettiness subtraction scheme for higher-order perturbative QCD calculations. We compute the next-to-leading order power corrections for an arbitrary $N$-jet process, and we explicitly calculate the power correction through next-to-next-to-leading order for color-singlet production for both $q\bar{q}$ and $gg$ initiated processes. Our results are compact and simple to implement numerically. Including the leading power correction in the $N$-jettiness subtraction scheme substantially improves its numerical efficiency. We discuss what features of our techniques extend to processes containing final-state jets.

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arXiv2016

W-boson plus jet differential distributions at NNLO in QCD

We present a detailed phenomenological study of W-boson production in association with a jet through next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in perturbative QCD. Fiducial cross sections and differential distributions for both 8 TeV and 13 TeV LHC collisions are presented, as are results for both the inclusive one-jet bin and the exclusive one-jet bin. Two different event selection criteria are considered: a general selection with standard cuts used in experimental analyses, and a boosted selection that focuses on high transverse momentum jets. We discuss the higher-order corrections in detail and identify for which observables and phase space regions the QCD perturbative expansion is under good theoretical control, and where additional work is needed. For most distributions and phase space regions the QCD perturbative expansion exhibits good convergence after the inclusion of the NNLO corrections.

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arXiv2016

Single-inclusive jet production in electron-nucleon collisions through next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD

We compute the ${\cal O}(α^2α_s^2)$ perturbative corrections to inclusive jet production in electron-nucleon collisions. This process is of particular interest to the physics program of a future Electron Ion Collider (EIC). We include all relevant partonic processes, including deep-inelastic scattering contributions, photon-initiated corrections, and parton-parton scattering terms that first appear at this order. Upon integration over the final-state hadronic phase space we validate our results for the deep-inelastic corrections against the known next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) structure functions. Our calculation uses the $N$-jettiness subtraction scheme for performing higher-order computations, and allows for a completely differential description of the deep-inelastic scattering process. We describe the application of this method to inclusive jet production in detail, and present phenomenological results for the proposed EIC. The NNLO corrections have a non-trivial dependence on the jet kinematics and arise from an intricate interplay between all contributing partonic channels.

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arXiv2016

Phenomenology of the Z-boson plus jet process at NNLO

We present a detailed phenomenological study of Z-boson production in association with a jet through next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in perturbative QCD. Fiducial cross sections and differential distributions for both 8 TeV and 13 TeV LHC collisions are presented. We study the impact of different parton distribution functions (PDFs) on predictions for the Z+jet process. Upon inclusion of the NNLO corrections, the residual scale uncertainty is reduced such that both the total rate and the transverse momentum distributions can be used to discriminate between various PDF sets.

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arXiv2016

$W$-boson production in association with a jet at next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD

We present the complete calculation of $W$-boson production in association with a jet in hadronic collisions through next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD. To cancel infrared divergences we introduce a new subtraction method that exploits the fact that the $N$-jettiness event-shape variable fully captures the singularity structure of QCD amplitudes with final-state partons. This method holds for processes with an arbitrary number of jets, and is easily implemented into existing frameworks for higher-order calculations. We present initial phenomenological results for $W$+jet production at the LHC. The NNLO corrections are small and lead to a significantly reduced theoretical error, opening the door to precision measurements in the $W$+jet channel at the LHC.

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arXiv2016

A comparison of NNLO QCD predictions with 7 TeV ATLAS and CMS data for $V$+jet processes

We perform a detailed comparison of next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) QCD predictions for the W+jet and Z+jet processes with 7 TeV experimental data from ATLAS and CMS. We observe excellent agreement between theory and data for most studied observables, which span several orders of magnitude in both cross section and energy. For some observables, such as the $H_T$ distribution, the NNLO QCD corrections are essential for resolving existing discrepancies between theory and data.

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arXiv2016

Z-boson production in association with a jet at next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD

We present the first complete calculation of Z-boson production in association with a jet in hadronic collisions through next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD. Our computation uses the recently-proposed N-jettiness subtraction scheme to regulate the infrared divergences that appear in the real-emission contributions. We present phenomenological results for 13 TeV proton-proton collisions with fully realistic fiducial cuts on the final-state particles. The remaining theoretical uncertainties after the inclusion of our calculations are at the percent-level, making the Z+jet channel ready for precision studies at the LHC Run II.

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arXiv2016

Color singlet production at NNLO in MCFM

We present the implementation of several color-singlet final-state processes at Next-to-Next-to Leading Order (NNLO) accuracy in QCD to the publicly available parton-level Monte Carlo program MCFM. Specifically we discuss the processes $pp\rightarrow H$, $pp\rightarrow Z$, $pp\rightarrow W$, $pp\rightarrow HZ$, $pp\rightarrow HW$ and $pp\rightarrowγγ$. Decays of the unstable bosons are fully included, resulting in a flexible fully differential Monte Carlo code. The NNLO corrections have been calculated using the non-local $N$-jettiness subtraction approach. Special attention is given to the numerical aspects of running MCFM for these processes at this order. We pay particular attention to the systematic uncertainties due to the power corrections induced by the $N$-jettiness regularization scheme and the evaluation time needed to run the hybrid openMP/MPI version of MCFM at NNLO on multi-processor systems.

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