Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

John M. Campbell

Publications and source records attributed to John M. Campbell.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
arXiv2015

Higgs constraints from vector boson fusion and scattering

We present results on 4-lepton + 2-jet production, the partonic processes most commonly described as vector boson pair production in the Vector Boson Fusion (VBF) mode. This final state contains diagrams that are mediated by Higgs boson exchange. We focus particularly on the high-mass behaviour of the Higgs boson mediated diagrams, which unlike on-shell production, gives information about the Higgs couplings without assumptions on the Higgs boson total width. We assess the sensitivity of the high-mass region to Higgs coupling strengths, considering all vector boson pair channels, $W^-W^+$, $W^\pm W^\pm$, $W^\pm Z$ and $ZZ$. Because of the small background, the most promising mode is $W^+ W^+$ which has sensitivity to Higgs couplings because of Higgs boson exchange in the $t$-channel. Using the Caola-Melnikov (CM) method, the off-shell couplings can be interpreted as bounds on the Higgs boson total width. We estimate the bound that can be obtained with current data, as well as the bounds that could be obtained at $\sqrt{s}=13$~TeV in the VBF channel for data samples of 100 and 300 fb$^{-1}$. The CM method has already been successfully applied in the gluon fusion (GGF) production channel. The VBF production channel gives important complementary information, because both production and decay of the Higgs boson occur already at tree graph level.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2014

Interference effects for Higgs-mediated Z-pair plus jet production

We study interference effects in the production channel ZZ + jet, in particular focusing on the role of the Higgs boson. This production channel receives contributions both from Higgs boson-mediated diagrams via the decay $H \to ZZ$ (signal diagrams), as well as from diagrams where the Z-bosons couple directly to a quark loop (background diagrams). We consider the partonic processes $gggZZ$ and $gq \bar{q} ZZ$ in which interference between signal and background diagrams first occurs. Since interference is primarily an off-resonant effect for the Higgs boson, we treat the Z-bosons as on-shell. Thus our analysis is limited to the region above threshold, where the invariant mass of the Z-pair, $m_{ZZ}$, satisfies the condition $m_{ZZ}>2m_Z$. In the region $m_{ZZ} > 300$ GeV we find that the interference in the ZZ + jet channel is qualitatively similar to interference in the inclusive ZZ channel. Moreover, the rates are sufficient to study these effects at the LHC once jet-binned data become available.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2014

Bounding the Higgs width at the LHC

We present results for the Standard model description of the four-lepton production, mediated both by Higgs boson production and by other one-loop standard model processes. The description of four-lepton final states in MCFM v6.8 is reviewed, with special reference to the interference effects that can occur for identical species of leptons. We present results both for interference in the $l^+l^- l^- l^+$ and in the $l^-l^+ ν_l \barν_l$ final state. Prospects for further improvement in the theoretical description of four lepton production are also reviewed.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2014

Triphoton production at hadron colliders

We present next-to-leading order predictions for the production of triphoton final states at the LHC and the Tevatron. Our results include the effect of photon fragmentation for the first time and we are able to quantify the impact of different isolation prescriptions. We find that calculations accounting for fragmentation effects at leading order, and those employing a smooth cone isolation where no fragmentation contribution is required, are in reasonable agreement with one another. However, larger differences in the predicted rates arise when higher order corrections to the fragmentation functions are included. In addition we present full analytic results for the $γγγ$ and $γγ+$jet one-loop amplitudes. These amplitudes, which are particularly compact, may be useful to future higher-order calculations. Our results are available in the Monte Carlo code MCFM.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2013

Bounding the Higgs width at the LHC: complementary results from $H \to WW$

We investigate the potential of the process $gg \to H \to WW$ to provide bounds on the Higgs width. Recent studies using off-shell $H\rightarrow ZZ$ events have shown that Run 1 LHC data can constrain the Higgs width, $Γ_H < (25-45) Γ_{H}^{\rm SM}$. Using 20 fb-1 of 8 TeV ATLAS data, we estimate a bound on the Higgs boson width from the WW channel between $Γ_H < (100-500) Γ_H^{SM}$. The large spread in limits is due to the range of cuts applied in the existing experimental analysis. The stricter cuts designed to search for the on-shell Higgs boson limit the potential number of off-shell events, weakening the constraints. As some of the cuts are lifted the bounds improve. We show that there is potential in the high transverse mass region to produce upper bounds of the order of $(25-50) Γ_H^{SM}$, depending strongly on the level of systematic uncertainty that can be obtained. Thus, if these systematics can be controlled, a constraint on the Higgs boson width from the $H \to WW$ decay mode can complement a corresponding limit from $H \to ZZ$.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2013

Event-by-event weighting at next-to-leading order

We present a general method of associating next-to-leading order weights to leading order phase space configurations at hadron colliders. The method relies on a re-organization of phase space for the real radiation contributions, defining a one-to-many map such that each point in the real phase space is associated with a distinct Born topology. As a result virtual and real singularities cancel at each Born phase space point. The new phase space maps can be used in a traditional approach for NLO calculations. However, interesting applications arise when one instead integrates out the real radiation up to a specified scale. This allows one to define NLO weights for individual phase space points that are present at LO. This method allows for the extension of matrix element methods to next-to-leading order, even in the presence of jets. We discuss some recent applications of the matrix element method to Higgs physics at the LHC.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2013

Bounding the Higgs width at the LHC using full analytic results for gg -> 2e 2μ

We revisit the hadronic production of the four-lepton final state, e^- e^+ μ^- μ^+, through the fusion of initial state gluons. This process is mediated by loops of quarks and we provide first full analytic results for helicity amplitudes that account for both the effects of the quark mass in the loop and off-shell vector bosons. The analytic results have been implemented in the Monte Carlo program MCFM and are both fast, and numerically stable in the region of low Z transverse momentum. We use our results to study the interference between Higgs-mediated and continuum production of four-lepton final states, which is necessary in order to obtain accurate theoretical predictions outside the Higgs resonance region. We have confirmed and extended a recent analysis of Caola and Melnikov that proposes to use a measurement of the off-shell region to constrain the total width of the Higgs boson. Using a simple cut-and-count method, existing LHC data should bound the width at the level of 25-45 times the Standard Model expectation. We investigate the power of using a matrix element method to construct a kinematic discriminant to sharpen the constraint. In our analysis the bound on the Higgs width is improved by a factor of about 1.6 using a simple cut on the MEM discriminant, compared to an invariant mass cut m_{4l} > 300 GeV.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2013

Methods and Results for Standard Model Event Generation at $\sqrt{s}$ = 14 TeV, 33 TeV and 100 TeV Proton Colliders (A Snowmass Whitepaper)

This document describes the novel techniques used to simulate the common Snowmass 2013 Energy Frontier Standard Model backgrounds for future hadron colliders. The purpose of many Energy Frontier studies is to explore the reach of high luminosity data sets at a variety of high energy colliders. The generation of high statistics samples which accurately model large integrated luminosities for multiple center-of-mass energies and pile-up environments is not possible using an unweighted event generation strategy -- an approach which relies on event weighting was necessary. Even with these improvements in efficiency, extensive computing resources were required. This document describes the specific approach to event generation using Madgraph5 to produce parton-level processes, followed by parton showering and hadronization with Pythia6, and pile-up and detector simulation with Delphes3. The majority of Standard Model processes for pp interactions at $\sqrt(s)$ = 14, 33, and 100 TeV with 0, 50, and 140 additional pile-up interactions are publicly available.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2013

The Matrix Element Method at Next-to-Leading Order

This paper presents an extension of the matrix element method to next-to-leading order in perturbation theory. To accomplish this we have developed a method to calculate next-to-leading order weights on an event-by-event basis. This allows for the definition of next-to-leading order likelihoods in exactly the same fashion as at leading order, thus extending the matrix element method to next-to-leading order. A welcome by-product of the method is the straightforward and efficient generation of unweighted next-to-leading order events. As examples of the application of our next-to-leading order matrix element method we consider the measurement of the mass of the Z boson and also the search for the Higgs boson in the four lepton channel.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2013

W and Z bosons in association with two jets using the POWHEG method

In this work we present the implementation of generators for W and Z bosons in association with two jets interfaced to parton showers using the POWHEG BOX. We incorporate matrix elements from the parton-level Monte Carlo program MCFM in the POWHEG BOX, allowing for a considerable improvement in speed compared to previous implementations. We address certain problems that arise when processes that are singular at the Born level are implemented in a shower framework using either a generation cut or a Born suppression factor to yield weighted events. In such a case, events with very large weights can be generated after the shower through a number of mechanisms. Events with very small transverse momentum at the Born level can develop large transverse momentum either after the hardest emission, after the shower, or after the inclusion of multi-parton interactions. We present a solution to this problem that can be easily implemented in the POWHEG BOX. We also show that a full solution to this problem can only be achieved if the generator maintains physical validity also when the transverse momentum of the emitted partons becomes unresolved. One such scheme is the recently-proposed MiNLO method for the choice of scale and the exponentiation of Sudakov form factors in NLO computations. We present a validation study of our generators, by comparing their output to available LHC data.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2013

Finding the Higgs boson in decays to Z gamma using the matrix element method at Next-to-Leading Order

We illustrate how the Matrix Element Method at Next-to-Leading Order (MEM@NLO) can be used to discriminate between events arising from the production of a Higgs boson, which subsequently decays to a final state consisting of ell^+ell^-gamma, and the background production of the same final state. We illustrate how the method could be used in an experimental analysis by devising cuts on the signal (P_S) and background (P_B) weights that are computed event-by-event in this approach. We find that we can increase the S/sqrt(B) ratio by around 50\% compared to an invariant mass fit on its own. Considering only statistical uncertainty, this is equivalent to recording a factor of around two times more integrated luminosity.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2012

Next-to-leading order predictions for Z gamma+jet and Z gamma gamma final states at the LHC

We present next-to-leading order predictions for final states containing leptons produced through the decay of a Z boson in association with either a photon and a jet, or a pair of photons. The effect of photon radiation from the final state leptons is included and we also allow for contributions arising from fragmentation processes. Phenomenological studies are presented for the LHC in the case of final states containing charged leptons and in the case of neutrinos. We also use the procedure introduced by Stewart and Tackmann to provide a reliable estimate of the scale uncertainty inherent in our theoretical calculations of jet-binned Z gamma cross sections. These computations have been implemented in the public code MCFM.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2012

t \bar{t} W production and decay at NLO

We present results for the production of a top pair in association with a W-boson at next-to-leading order. We have implemented this process into the parton-level integrator MCFM including the decays of both the top quarks and the W-bosons with full spin correlations. Although the cross section for this process is small, it is a Standard Model source of same-sign lepton events that must be accounted for in many new physics searches. For a particular analysis of same-sign lepton events in which b-quarks are also present, we investigate the effect of the NLO corrections as a function of the signal region cuts.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2012

Top-quark processes at NLO in production and decay

We describe the implementation of top production and decay processes in the parton-level Monte Carlo program MCFM. By treating the top quark as being on-shell, we can factorize the amplitudes for top-pair production, s-channel single-top production, and t-channel single-top production into the product of an amplitude for production and an amplitude for decay. In this way we can retain all spin correlations. Both the production and the decay amplitudes are calculated consistently at next-to-leading order in alpha_s. The full dependence on the b-quark mass is also kept. Phenomenological results are presented for various kinematic distributions at the LHC and for the top quark forward-backward asymmetry at the Tevatron.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2012

NLO Higgs boson production plus one and two jets using the POWHEG BOX, MadGraph4 and MCFM

We present a next-to-leading order calculation of Higgs boson production plus one and two jets via gluon fusion interfaced to shower Monte Carlo programs, implemented according to the POWHEG method. For this implementation we have used a new interface of the POWHEG BOX with MadGraph4, that generates the codes for generic Born and real processes automatically. The virtual corrections have been taken from the MCFM code. We carry out a simple phenomenological study of our generators, comparing them among each other and with fixed next-to-leading order results.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2011

Gluon-gluon contributions to W+ W- production and Higgs interference effects

In this paper we complete our re-assessment of the production of W boson pairs at the LHC, by calculating analytic results for the gg -> W+ W- -> (νl lν) process including the effect of massive quarks circulating in the loop. Together with the one-loop amplitudes containing the first two generations of massless quarks propagating in the loop, these diagrams can give a significant contribution with a large flux of gluons. One of the component parts of this calculation is the production of a standard model Higgs boson, gg -> H and its subsequent decay, H -> W+(-> νl) W-(-> l ν). We will quantify the importance of the interference between the Higgs boson production process and the gluon-induced continuum production in the context of searches for the Higgs boson at the Tevatron and the LHC. For instance, for mH < 140 GeV the effect of the interference typically results in around a 10% reduction in the expected number of Higgs signal events. The majority of this interference is due to non-resonant contributions. Therefore cuts on the transverse mass such as those currently used by the ATLAS collaboration reduce the destructive interference to about a 1% effect. We advocate that a cut on the maximum transverse mass be used in future Higgs searches in this channel.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2011

NLO predictions for a lepton, missing transverse momentum and dijets at the Tevatron

n this letter we investigate the various processes that can contribute to a final state consisting of a lepton, missing transverse momentum and two jets at Next to Leading Order (NLO) at the Tevatron. In particular we consider the production of W/Z + 2 jets, diboson pairs, single top and the tt process with both fully leptonic and semi-leptonic decays. We present distributions for the invariant mass of the dijet system and normalisations of the various processes, accurate to NLO.

hep-ph↗