arXiv subjects

Gavin P. Salam

Publications and source records attributed to Gavin P. Salam.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Small-radius jets to all orders in QCD

As hadron collider physics continues to push the boundaries of precision, it becomes increasingly important to have methods for predicting properties of jets across a broad range of jet radius values R, and in particular for small R. In this paper we resum all leading logarithmic terms, $α_s^n \ln^n R$, in the limit of small R, for a wide variety of observables. These include the inclusive jet spectrum, jet vetoes for Higgs physics and jet substructure tools. Some of the quantities that we consider are relevant also for heavy-ion collisions. Furthermore, we examine and comment on the underlying order-by-order convergence of the perturbative series for different R values. Our results indicate that small-R effects can be substantial. Phenomenological studies will appear in a forthcoming companion paper.

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arXiv2015

The PDF4LHC report on PDFs and LHC data: Results from Run I and preparation for Run II

The accurate determination of the Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs) of the proton is an essential ingredient of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) program. PDF uncertainties impact a wide range of processes, from Higgs boson characterisation and precision Standard Model measurements to New Physics searches. A major recent development in modern PDF analyses has been to exploit the wealth of new information contained in precision measurements from the LHC Run I, as well as progress in tools and methods to include these data in PDF fits. In this report we summarise the information that PDF-sensitive measurements at the LHC have provided so far, and review the prospects for further constraining PDFs with data from the recently started Run II. This document aims to provide useful input to the LHC collaborations to prioritise their PDF-sensitive measurements at Run II, as well as a comprehensive reference for the PDF-fitting collaborations.

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arXiv2015

Resonance Searches with an Updated Top Tagger

The performance of top taggers, for example in resonance searches, can be significantly enhanced through an increased set of variables, with a special focus on final-state radiation. We study the production and the decay of a heavy gauge boson in the upcoming LHC run. For constant signal efficiency, the multivariate analysis achieves an increased background rejection by up to a factor 30 compared to our previous tagger. Based on this study and the documentation in the Appendix we release a new HEPTopTagger2 for the upcoming LHC run. It now includes an optimal choice of the size of the fat jet, N-subjettiness, and different modes of Qjets.

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arXiv2015

On the use of charged-track information to subtract neutral pileup

The use of charged pileup tracks in a jet to predict the neutral pileup component in that same jet could potentially lead to improved pileup removal techniques, provided there is a strong local correlation between charged and neutral pileup. In Monte Carlo simulation we find that the correlation is however moderate, a feature that we attribute to characteristics of the underlying non-perturbative dynamics. Consequently, `neutral-proportional-to-charge' (NpC) pileup mitigation approaches do not outperform existing, area-based, pileup removal methods. This finding contrasts with the arguments made in favour of a new method, "jet cleansing", in part based on the NpC approach. We identify the critical differences between the performances of linear cleansing and trimmed NpC as being due to the former's rejection of subjets that have no charged tracks from the leading vertex, a procedure that we name "zeroing". Zeroing, an extreme version of the "charged-track trimming" proposed by ATLAS, can be combined with a range of pileup-mitigation methods, and appears to have both benefits and drawbacks. We show how the latter can be straightforwardly alleviated. We also discuss the limited potential for improvement that can be obtained by linear combinations of the NpC and area-subtraction methods.

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arXiv2013

QCD calculations for jet substructure

We present results on novel analytic calculations to describe invariant mass distributions of QCD jets with three substructure algorithms: trimming, pruning and the mass-drop taggers. These results not only lead to considerable insight into the behaviour of these tools, but also show how they can be improved. As an example, we discuss the remarkable properties of the modified mass-drop tagger.

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arXiv2013

Towards an understanding of jet substructure

We present first analytic, resummed calculations of the rates at which widespread jet substructure tools tag QCD jets. As well as considering trimming, pruning and the mass-drop tagger, we introduce modified tools with improved analytical and phenomenological behaviours. Most taggers have double logarithmic resummed structures. The modified mass-drop tagger is special in that it involves only single logarithms, and is free from a complex class of terms known as non-global logarithms. The modification of pruning brings an improved ability to discriminate between the different colour structures that characterise signal and background. As we outline in an extensive phenomenological discussion, these results provide valuable insight into the performance of existing tools and help lay robust foundations for future substructure studies.

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arXiv2013

Energy Correlation Functions for Jet Substructure

We show how generalized energy correlation functions can be used as a powerful probe of jet substructure. These correlation functions are based on the energies and pair-wise angles of particles within a jet, with (N+1)-point correlators sensitive to N-prong substructure. Unlike many previous jet substructure methods, these correlation functions do not require the explicit identification of subjet regions. In addition, the correlation functions are better probes of certain soft and collinear features that are masked by other methods. We present three Monte Carlo case studies to illustrate the utility of these observables: 2-point correlators for quark/gluon discrimination, 3-point correlators for boosted W/Z/Higgs boson identification, and 4-point correlators for boosted top quark identification. For quark/gluon discrimination, the 2-point correlator is particularly powerful, as can be understood via a next-to-leading logarithmic calculation. For boosted 2-prong resonances the benefit depends on the mass of the resonance.

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arXiv2013

Scale-invariant resonance tagging in multijet events and new physics in Higgs pair production

We study resonant pair production of heavy particles in fully hadronic final states by means of jet substructure techniques. We propose a new resonance tagging strategy that smoothly interpolates between the highly boosted and fully resolved regimes, leading to uniform signal efficiencies and background rejection rates across a broad range of masses. Our method makes it possible to efficiently replace independent experimental searches, based on different final state topologies, with a single common analysis. As a case study, we apply our technique to pair production of Higgs bosons decaying into $b\bar{b}$ pairs in generic New Physics scenarios. We adopt as benchmark models radion and massive KK graviton production in warped extra dimensions. We find that despite the overwhelming QCD background, the $4b$ final state has enough sensitivity to provide a complementary handle in searches for enhanced Higgs pair production at the LHC.

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arXiv2012

Pileup subtraction for jet shapes

Jet shapes have the potential to play a role in many LHC analyses, for example in quark-gluon discrimination or jet substructure analyses for hadronic decays of boosted heavy objects. Most shapes, however, are significantly affected by pileup. We introduce a general method to correct for pileup effects in shapes, which acts event-by-event and jet-by-jet, and accounts also for hadron masses. It involves a numerical determination, for each jet, of a given shape's susceptibility to pileup. Together with existing techniques for determining the level of pileup, this then enables an extrapolation to zero pileup. The method can be used for a wide range of jet shapes and we show its successful application in the context of quark/gluon discrimination and top-tagging.

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arXiv2012

Jet Fragmentation Function Moments in Heavy Ion Collisions

The nature of a jet's fragmentation in heavy-ion collisions has the potential to cast light on the mechanism of jet quenching. However the presence of the huge underlying event complicates the reconstruction of the jet fragmentation function as a function of the momentum fraction z of hadrons in the jet. Here we propose the use of moments of the fragmentation function. These quantities appear to be as sensitive to quenching modifications as the fragmentation function directly in z. We show that they are amenable to background subtraction using the same jet-area based techniques proposed in the past for jet p_t's. Furthermore, complications due to correlations between background-fluctuation contributions to the jet's p_t and to its particle content are easily corrected for.

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arXiv2012

NLL+NNLO predictions for jet-veto efficiencies in Higgs-boson and Drell-Yan production

Using the technology of the CAESAR approach to resummation, we examine the jet-veto efficiency in Higgs-boson and Drell-Yan production at hadron colliders and show that at next-to-leading logarithmic (NLL) accuracy the resummation reduces to just a Sudakov form factor. Matching with NNLO calculations results in stable predictions for the case of Drell-Yan production, but reveals substantial uncertainties in gluon-fusion Higgs production, connected in part with the poor behaviour of the perturbative series for the total cross section. We compare our results to those from POWHEG with and without reweighting by HqT, as used experimentally, and observe acceptable agreement. In an appendix we derive the part of the NNLL resummation corrections associated with the radius dependence of the jet algorithm.

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arXiv2012

Higgs and Z-boson production with a jet veto

We derive first next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic resummations for jet-veto efficiencies in Higgs and Z-boson production at hadron colliders. Matching with next-to-next-to-leading order results allows us to provide a range of phenomenological predictions for the LHC, including cross-section results, detailed uncertainty estimates and comparisons to current widely-used tools.

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arXiv2012

QCD in hadron collisions

This talk examines recent progress in collider QCD and some facets of the interplay between these developments and searches for new particles and phenomena at the Tevatron and LHC.

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arXiv2012

Hard Processes in Proton-Proton Collisions at the Large Hadron Collider

The measurement of hard scattering processes, meaning those with energy scales of more than a few GeV, is the main method by which physics is being explored and extended by the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider. We review the principal measurements made so far, and what they have told us about physics at the energy frontier.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2011

FastJet user manual

FastJet is a C++ package that provides a broad range of jet finding and analysis tools. It includes efficient native implementations of all widely used 2-to-1 sequential recombination jet algorithms for pp and e+e- collisions, as well as access to 3rd party jet algorithms through a plugin mechanism, including all currently used cone algorithms. FastJet also provides means to facilitate the manipulation of jet substructure, including some common boosted heavy-object taggers, as well as tools for estimation of pileup and underlying-event noise levels, determination of jet areas and subtraction or suppression of noise in jets.

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arXiv2011

Fluctuations and asymmetric jet events in PbPb collisions at the LHC

Recent LHC results concerning full jet-quenching in PbPb collisions have been presented in terms of a jet asymmetry parameter, measuring the imbalance between the transverse momenta of leading and subleading jets. We examine the potential sensitivity of this distribution to fluctuations from the heavy-ion background. Our results suggest that a detailed estimate of the true fluctuations would be of benefit in extracting quantitative information about jet quenching. We also find that the apparent impact of fluctuations on the jet asymmetry distribution can depend significantly on the choice of low-pt threshold used for the simulation of the hard pp events.

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arXiv2011

Perturbative QCD for the LHC

These proceedings discuss some of the highlights of recent research in perturbative QCD as it relates to the LHC. Topics covered include the new generation of Monte Carlo event generators, the revolution that is occurring in NLO calculations, progress towards NNLO predictions and developments in the definition and use of jets.

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arXiv2011

Elements of QCD for hadron colliders

The aim of these lectures is to provide (experimental particle physics Ph.D.) students with an introduction to some of the core concepts and methods of QCD that are relevant in an LHC context.

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