arXiv subjects

Juan Rojo

Publications and source records attributed to Juan Rojo.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

The Structure of the Proton in the LHC Precision Era

We review recent progress in the determination of the parton distribution functions (PDFs) of the proton, with emphasis on the applications for precision phenomenology at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). First of all, we introduce the general theoretical framework underlying the global QCD analysis of the quark and gluon internal structure of protons. We then present a detailed overview of the hard-scattering measurements, and the corresponding theory predictions, that are used in state-of-the-art PDF fits. We emphasize here the role that higher-order QCD and electroweak corrections play in the description of recent high-precision collider data. We present the methodology used to extract PDFs in global analyses, including the PDF parametrization strategy and the definition and propagation of PDF uncertainties. Then we review and compare the most recent releases from the various PDF fitting collaborations, highlighting their differences and similarities. We discuss the role that QED corrections and photon-initiated contributions play in modern PDF analysis. We provide representative examples of the implications of PDF fits for high-precision LHC phenomenological applications, such as Higgs coupling measurements and searches for high-mass New Physics resonances. We conclude this report by discussing some selected topics relevant for the future of PDF determinations, including the treatment of theoretical uncertainties, the connection with lattice QCD calculations, and the role of PDFs at future high-energy colliders beyond the LHC.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

Parton distributions with small-x resummation: evidence for BFKL dynamics in HERA data

We present a determination of the parton distribution functions of the proton in which NLO and NNLO fixed-order calculations are supplemented by NLLx small-x resummation. Deep inelastic structure functions are computed consistently at NLO+NLLx or NNLO+NLLx, while for hadronic processes small-x resummation is included only in the PDF evolution, with kinematic cuts introduced to ensure the fitted data lie in a region where the fixed-order calculation of the hard cross-sections is reliable. In all other respects, the fits use the same methodology and are based on the same global dataset as the recent NNPDF3.1 analysis. We demonstrate that the inclusion of small-x resummation leads to a quantitative improvement in the perturbative description of the HERA inclusive and charm-production reduced cross-sections in the small x region. The impact of the resummation in our fits is greater at NNLO than at NLO, because fixed-order calculations have a perturbative instability at small x due to large logarithms that can be cured by resummation. We explore the phenomenological implications of PDF sets with small-x resummation for the longitudinal structure function $F_L$ at HERA, for parton luminosities and LHC benchmark cross-sections, for ultra-high energy neutrino-nucleus cross-sections, and for future high-energy lepton-proton colliders such as the LHeC.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

Parton distributions and lattice QCD calculations: a community white paper

In the framework of quantum chromodynamics (QCD), parton distribution functions (PDFs) quantify how the momentum and spin of a hadron are divided among its quark and gluon constituents. Two main approaches exist to determine PDFs. The first approach, based on QCD factorization theorems, realizes a QCD analysis of a suitable set of hard-scattering measurements, often using a variety of hadronic observables. The second approach, based on first-principle operator definitions of PDFs, uses lattice QCD to compute directly some PDF-related quantities, such as their moments. Motivated by recent progress in both approaches, in this document we present an overview of lattice-QCD and global-analysis techniques used to determine unpolarized and polarized proton PDFs and their moments. We provide benchmark numbers to validate present and future lattice-QCD calculations and we illustrate how they could be used to reduce the PDF uncertainties in current unpolarized and polarized global analyses. This document represents a first step towards establishing a common language between the two communities, to foster dialogue and to further improve our knowledge of PDFs.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Higgs pair production in vector-boson fusion at the LHC and beyond

The production of pairs of Higgs bosons at hadron colliders provides unique information on the Higgs sector and on the mechanism underlying electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB). Most studies have concentrated on the gluon fusion production mode which has the largest cross section. However, despite its small production rate, the vector-boson fusion channel can also be relevant since even small modifications of the Higgs couplings to vector bosons induce a striking increase of the cross section as a function of the invariant mass of the Higgs boson pair. In this work, we exploit this unique signature to propose a strategy to extract the $hhVV$ quartic coupling and provide model-independent constraints on theories where EWSB is driven by new strong interactions. We take advantage of the higher signal yield of the $b\bar b b\bar b$ final state and make extensive use of jet substructure techniques to reconstruct signal events with a boosted topology, characteristic of large partonic energies, where each Higgs boson decays to a single collimated jet . Our results demonstrate that the $hhVV$ coupling can be measured with 45% (20%) precision at the LHC for $\mathcal{L}=$ 300 (3000) fb$^{-1}$, while a 1% precision can be achieved at a 100 TeV collider.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Maximal Entanglement in High Energy Physics

We analyze how maximal entanglement is generated at the fundamental level in QED by studying correlations between helicity states in tree-level scattering processes at high energy. We demonstrate that two mechanisms for the generation of maximal entanglement are at work: i) $s$-channel processes where the virtual photon carries equal overlaps of the helicities of the final state particles, and ii) the indistinguishable superposition between $t$- and $u$-channels. We then study whether requiring maximal entanglement constrains the coupling structure of QED and the weak interactions. In the case of photon-electron interactions unconstrained by gauge symmetry, we show how this requirement allows reproducing QED. For $Z$-mediated weak scattering, the maximal entanglement principle leads to non-trivial predictions for the value of the weak mixing angle $θ_W$. Our results are a first step towards understanding the connections between maximal entanglement and the fundamental symmetries of high-energy physics.

hep-th↗

arXiv2017

Parton distributions from high-precision collider data

We present a new set of parton distributions, NNPDF3.1, which updates NNPDF3.0, the first global set of PDFs determined using a methodology validated by a closure test. The update is motivated by recent progress in methodology and available data, and involves both. On the methodological side, we now parametrize and determine the charm PDF alongside the light quarks and gluon ones, thereby increasing from seven to eight the number of independent PDFs. On the data side, we now include the D0 electron and muon W asymmetries from the final Tevatron dataset, the complete LHCb measurements of W and Z production in the forward region at 7 and 8 TeV, and new ATLAS and CMS measurements of inclusive jet and electroweak boson production. We also include for the first time top-quark pair differential distributions and the transverse momentum of the Z bosons from ATLAS and CMS. We investigate the impact of parametrizing charm and provide evidence that the accuracy and stability of the PDFs are thereby improved. We study the impact of the new data by producing a variety of determinations based on reduced datasets. We find that both improvements have a significant impact on the PDFs, with some substantial reductions in uncertainties, but with the new PDFs generally in agreement with the previous set at the one sigma level. The most significant changes are seen in the light-quark flavor separation, and in increased precision in the determination of the gluon. We explore the implications of NNPDF3.1 for LHC phenomenology at Run II, compare with recent LHC measurements at 13 TeV, provide updated predictions for Higgs production cross-sections and discuss the strangeness and charm content of the proton in light of our improved dataset and methodology. The NNPDF3.1 PDFs are delivered for the first time both as Hessian sets, and as optimized Monte Carlo sets with a compressed number of replicas.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

The PDFLattice2017 workshop: a summary report

The workshop on Parton Distributions and Lattice Calculations in the LHC era (PDFLattice2017) was hosted at Balliol College, Oxford (UK), from 22$^{\rm nd}$ to 24$^{\rm th}$ March 2017. The workshop brought together the lattice-QCD and the global-fit physicists who devote their efforts to determine the parton distribution functions (PDFs) of the proton. The goals were to make the two communities more familiar between each other, review developments from both sides, and set precision targets for lattice calculations so that they can contribute, together with the forthcoming experimental input, to the next generation of PDF determinations. This contribution summarises the relevant outcome of the workshop, in anticipation of a thorough white paper.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Precision determination of the small-$x$ gluon from charm production at LHCb

The small-$x$ gluon in global fits of parton distributions is affected by large uncertainties from the lack of direct experimental constraints. In this work we provide a precision determination of the small-$x$ gluon from the exploitation of forward charm production data provided by LHCb for three different centre-of-mass (CoM) energies: 5~TeV, 7~TeV and 13~TeV. The LHCb measurements are included in the PDF fit by means of normalized distributions and cross-section ratios between data taken at different CoM values, $R_{13/7}$ and $R_{13/5}$. We demonstrate that forward charm production leads to a reduction of the PDF uncertainties of the gluon down to $x\simeq 10^{-6}$ by up to an order of magnitude, with implications for high-energy colliders, cosmic ray physics and neutrino astronomy.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

A determination of the fragmentation functions of pions, kaons, and protons with faithful uncertainties

We present NNFF1.0, a new determination of the fragmentation functions (FFs) of charged pions, charged kaons, and protons/antiprotons from an analysis of single-inclusive hadron production data in electron-positron annihilation. This determination, performed at leading, next-to-leading, and next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD, is based on the NNPDF methodology, a fitting framework designed to provide a statistically sound representation of FF uncertainties and to minimise any procedural bias. We discuss novel aspects of the methodology used in this analysis, namely an optimised parametrisation of FFs and a more efficient $χ^2$ minimisation strategy, and validate the FF fitting procedure by means of closure tests. We then present the NNFF1.0 sets, and discuss their fit quality, their perturbative convergence, and their stability upon variations of the kinematic cuts and the fitted dataset. We find that the systematic inclusion of higher-order QCD corrections significantly improves the description of the data, especially in the small-$z$ region. We compare the NNFF1.0 sets to other recent sets of FFs, finding in general a reasonable agreement, but also important differences. Together with existing sets of unpolarised and polarised parton distribution functions (PDFs), FFs and PDFs are now available from a common fitting framework for the first time.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Improving quark flavor separation with forward W and Z production at LHCb

We quantify the constraints on the flavour separation between the quarks and antiquarks in the proton provided by the recent forward weak gauge boson production data from the LHCb experiment at $\sqrt{s}=7$ and 8 TeV. Performed in the framework of the NNPDF3.1 global analysis, this study highlights the key role that the LHCb W and Z data have in achieving a robust quark flavour separation in the large-x region, including the strange and charm quarks. We demonstrate how the LHCb measurements lead to improved determinations of the the up and down quark PDFs in the region $x\ge 0.1$, with an uncertainty reduction that can be as large as a factor 2. We also show how the LHCb forward measurements severely restrict the size of the fitted charm PDF at large x, imposing stringent constraints on non-perturbative models for the charm content of the nucleon.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

The small-x gluon from forward charm production: implications for a 100 TeV proton collider

We review the constraints on the small-x gluon PDF that can be derived by exploiting the forward D meson production data from the LHCb experiment at $\sqrt{s}=5,7$ and 13 TeV. We then discuss the phenomenological implications of the resulting improved small-x gluon for ultra-high energy astrophysics, in particular neutrino telescopes, as well as for the proposed Future Circular Collider (FCC) with $\sqrt{s}=100$ TeV. We illustrate how at the FCC even electroweak scale cross-sections can become sensitive to the small-x region of the quark and gluon PDFs, and then demonstrate how the addition of the LHCb heavy meson production measurements leads to a reduction of PDF uncertainties for various benchmark cross-sections.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Pinning down the large-x gluon with NNLO top-quark pair differential distributions

Top-quark pair production at the LHC is directly sensitive to the gluon PDF at large x. While total cross-section data is already included in several PDF determinations, differential distributions are not, because the corresponding NNLO calculations have become available only recently. In this work we study the impact on the large-x gluon of top-quark pair differential distributions measured by ATLAS and CMS at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV. Our analysis, performed in the NNPDF3.0 framework at NNLO accuracy, allows us to identify the optimal combination of LHC top-quark pair measurements that maximize the constraints on the gluon, as well as to assess the compatibility between ATLAS and CMS data. We find that differential distributions from top-quark pair production provide significant constraints on the large-x gluon, comparable to those obtained from inclusive jet production data, and thus should become an important ingredient for the next generation of global PDF fits.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

The asymptotic behaviour of parton distributions at small and large $x$

It has been argued from the earliest days of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) that at asymptotically small values of $x$ the parton distribution functions (PDFs) of the proton behave as $x^α$, where the values of $α$ can be deduced from Regge theory, while at asymptotically large values of $x$ the PDFs behave as $(1-x)^β$, where the values of $β$ can be deduced from the Brodsky-Farrar quark counting rules. We critically examine these claims by extracting the exponents $α$ and $β$ from various global fits of parton distributions, analysing their scale dependence, and comparing their values to the naive expectations. We find that for valence distributions both Regge theory and counting rules are confirmed, at least within uncertainties, while for sea quarks and gluons the results are less conclusive. We also compare results from various PDF fits for the structure function ratio $F_2^n/F_2^p$ at large $x$, and caution against unrealistic uncertainty estimates due to overconstrained parametrisations.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

A Determination of the Charm Content of the Proton

We present an unbiased determination of the charm content of the proton, in which the charm parton distribution function (PDF) is parametrized on the same footing as the light quarks and the gluon in a global PDF analysis. This determination relies on the calculation of deep-inelastic structure functions in the FONLL scheme, generalized to account for massive charm-initiated contributions. In contrast to the usual situation in which the charm PDF is assumed to be generated perturbatively by pair radiation off gluons and light quarks, vanishing at a scale set by the value of the charm mass m_c, we find that the fitted charm PDF vanishes within uncertainties at a scale Q~1.5 GeV for all x<~0.1, independent of the value of m_c used in the coefficient functions. We also find some evidence that the charm PDF at large x>~0.1 and low scales does not vanish, but rather has an "intrinsic" component, very weakly scale dependent and almost independent of the value of m_c, carrying about 1% of the total momentum of the proton. The uncertainties in all other PDFs are only slightly increased by the inclusion of fitted charm, while the dependence of these PDFs on m_c is significantly reduced. When the EMC charm structure function dataset is included, it is well described by the fit, and PDF uncertainties in the fitted charm PDF are significantly reduced, though we verify that excluding the EMC data does not qualitatively modify any of our findings. The increased stability with respect to m_c persists at high scales and is the main implication of our results for LHC phenomenology. Fitting the charm PDF modifies the predictions for processes such as high p_T and large rapidity charm pair production and Z+c production, and thus we expect that future LHC data will further constrain the charm content of the proton.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

PDF4LHC recommendations for Run II

The interpretation of LHC measurements requires a careful estimate of various sources of uncertainties that affect theoretical calculations. In this contribution, we present the PDF4LHC Working Group recommendations for the usage of sets of parton distribution functions (PDFs) at the LHC Run II. We review the construction and validation of the PDF4LHC15 combined sets, and study some of their phenomenological implications. We also address some recent criticism of these recommendations.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Boosting Higgs pair production in the $b\bar{b}b\bar{b}$ final state with multivariate techniques

The measurement of Higgs pair production will be a cornerstone of the LHC program in the coming years. Double Higgs production provides a crucial window upon the mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking and has a unique sensitivity to the Higgs trilinear coupling. We study the feasibility of a measurement of Higgs pair production in the $b\bar{b}b\bar{b}$ final state at the LHC. Our analysis is based on a combination of traditional cut-based methods with state-of-the-art multivariate techniques. We account for all relevant backgrounds, including the contributions from light and charm jet mis-identification, which are ultimately comparable in size to the irreducible $4b$ QCD background. We demonstrate the robustness of our analysis strategy in a high pileup environment. For an integrated luminosity of $\mathcal{L}=3$ ab$^{-1}$, a signal significance of $S/\sqrt{B}\simeq 3$ is obtained, indicating that the $b\bar{b}b\bar{b}$ final state alone could allow for the observation of double Higgs production at the High-Luminosity LHC.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Specialized minimal PDFs for optimized LHC calculations

We present a methodology for the construction of parton distribution functions (PDFs) designed to provide an accurate representation of PDF uncertainties for specific processes or classes of processes with a minimal number of PDF error sets: specialized minimal PDF sets, or SM-PDFs. We construct these SM-PDFs in such a way that sets corresponding to different input processes can be combined without losing information, specifically on their correlations, and that they are robust upon smooth variations of the kinematic cuts. The proposed strategy never discards information, so that the SM-PDF sets can be enlarged by the addition of new processes, until the prior PDF set is eventually recovered for a large enough set of processes. We illustrate the method by producing SM-PDFs tailored to Higgs, top quark pair, and electroweak gauge boson physics, and determine that, when the PDF4LHC15 combined set is used as the prior, around 11, 4 and 11 Hessian eigenvectors respectively are enough to fully describe the corresponding processes.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Weak boson production from D0 and LHCb in the NNPDF global analysis

High-precision electroweak production measurements from the Tevatron and the LHC provide important constraints on the quark flavor separation in global PDF fits. In this contribution, we study the impact of the recent D0 W asymmetry measurements and of the LHCb W and Z Run I combination in the global NNPDF analysis. We find that these measurements can be described by NLO QCD theory and that they lead to a significant reduction of PDF uncertainties.

hep-ph↗