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Marius Wiesemann

Publications and source records attributed to Marius Wiesemann.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

$ZZ$ production at the LHC: NNLO predictions for $2\ell2ν$ and $4\ell$ signatures

We consider QCD radiative corrections to $ZZ$ production for all experimentally relevant leptonic processes. We report on a novel computation of next-to-next-to-leading-order (NNLO) corrections to the diboson signature with two charged leptons and missing transverse energy ($\ell\ell$+$E_T^{\rm miss}$). All relevant final states are considered: $\ell\ellν_\ellν_\ell$, $\ell\ellν_{\ell'}ν_{\ell'}$ and $\ellν_{\ell}\ell'ν_{\ell'}$. We also study processes with four charged leptons: $\ell\ell\ell\ell$ and $\ell\ell\ell'\ell'$. For the first time NNLO accuracy is achieved for a process mixing two double-resonant diboson topologies ($ZZ/W^+W^-\to\ell\ellν_\ellν_\ell$). We find good agreement with ATLAS data at 8 TeV. NNLO corrections are large (5-20% and more), and interference effects between $ZZ$ and $W^+W^-$ resonances turn out to be negligible in most cases.

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NNLOPS accurate predictions for $W^+W^-$ production

We present novel predictions for the production of $W^+W^-$ pairs in hadron collisions that are next-to-next-to-leading order accurate and consistently matched to a parton shower (NNLOPS). All diagrams that lead to the process $pp\to e^- \bar ν_e\;μ^+ν_μ+X$ are taken into account, thereby including spin correlations and off-shell effects. For the first time full NNLOPS accuracy is achieved for a $2\to 4$ process. We find good agreement, at the 1$σ$ level, with the $W^+W^-$ rates measured by ATLAS and CMS. The importance of NNLOPS predictions is evident from differential distributions sensitive to soft-gluon effects and from the large impact ($10$% and more) of including next-to-next-to-leading order corrections on top of MiNLO. We define a charge asymmetry for the $W$ bosons and the leptons in $W^+W^-$ production at the LHC, which is sensitive to the $W$ polarizations and hence can be used as a probe of new physics.

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Fully differential NNLO computations with MATRIX

We present the computational framework MATRIX which allows us to evaluate fully differential cross sections for a wide class of processes at hadron colliders in next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) QCD. The processes we consider are $2\to 1$ and $2\to 2$ hadronic reactions involving Higgs and vector bosons in the final state. All possible leptonic decay channels of the vector bosons are included for the first time in the calculations, by consistently accounting for all resonant and non-resonant diagrams, off-shell effects and spin correlations. We briefly introduce the theoretical framework MATRIX is based on, discuss its relevant features and provide a detailed description of how to use MATRIX to obtain NNLO accurate results for the various processes. We report reference predictions for inclusive and fiducial cross sections of all the physics processes considered here and discuss their corresponding uncertainties. MATRIX features an automatic extrapolation procedure that allows us, for the first time, to control the systematic uncertainties inherent to the applied NNLO subtraction procedure down to the few permille level (or better).

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Accurate predictions for charged Higgs production: closing the $m_{H^{\pm}}\sim m_t$ window

We present predictions for the total cross section for the production of a charged Higgs boson in the intermediate-mass range ($m_{H^{\pm}}\sim m_t$) at the LHC, focusing on a type-II two-Higgs-doublet model. Results are obtained at next-to-leading order (NLO) accuracy in QCD perturbation theory, by studying the full process $pp\to H^\pm W^\mp b \bar b$ in the complex-(top)-mass scheme with massive bottom quarks. Compared to lowest-order predictions, NLO corrections have a sizeable impact: they increase the cross section by roughly 50\% and reduce uncertainties due to scale variations by more than a factor of two. Our computation reliably interpolates between the low- and high-mass regime. Our results provide the first NLO prediction for charged Higgs production in the intermediate-mass range and therefore allow to have NLO accurate predictions in the full $m_{H^{\pm}}$ range. The extension of our results to different realisations of the two-Higgs-doublet model or to the supersymmetric case is also discussed.

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Effective Field Theory for Higgs properties parametrisation: the transverse momentum spectrum case

After the Higgs boson discovery, LHC can be used as a precision machine to explore its properties. Indeed, in case new resonances will not be found, the only access to New Physics would be via measuring small deviations from the SM predictions. A consistent approach is provided by a bottom-up Effective Field Theory, with dimension six operators built of Standard Model fields (SMEFT). We discuss how this approach works in case of the transverse momentum spectrum of the Higgs particle. In our calculation we augmented the Standard Model with three additional operators describing modifications of the top and bottom Yukawa couplings, and a point-like Higgs coupling to gluons. Based on recently presented resummed transverse-momentum spectra including these operators at NLL+NLO accuracy,which we recently presented in Ref [1], in this note we show the extension of the calculation to NNLL+NNLO. We find that such modifications, while affecting the total rate within the current uncertainties, can lead to significant distortions of the spectrum. Additionally, through significant reduction of the scale uncertainty we improve the sensitivity to the new operators.

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$W^\pm Z$ production at the LHC: fiducial cross sections and distributions in NNLO QCD

We report on the first fully differential calculation for $W^\pm Z$ production in hadron collisions up to next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in QCD perturbation theory. Leptonic decays of the $W$ and $Z$ bosons are consistently taken into account, i.e. we include all resonant and non-resonant diagrams that contribute to the process $pp\to \ell^{'\pm} ν_{\ell^{'}} \ell^+\ell^-+X$ both in the same-flavour ($\ell'=\ell$) and the different-flavour ($\ell'\neq \ell$) channel. Fiducial cross sections and distributions are presented in the presence of standard selection cuts applied in the experimental $W^\pm Z$ analyses by ATLAS and CMS at centre-of-mass energies of 8 and 13\,TeV. As previously shown for the inclusive cross section, NNLO corrections increase the NLO result by about $10\%$, thereby leading to an improved agreement with experimental data. The importance of NNLO accurate predictions is also shown in the case of new-physics scenarios, where, especially in high-$p_T$ categories, their impact can reach ${\cal O}(20\%)$. The availability of differential NNLO predictions will play a crucial role in the rich physics programme that is based on precision studies of $W^\pm Z$ signatures at the LHC.

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Modeling BSM effects on the Higgs transverse-momentum spectrum in an EFT approach

We consider the transverse-momentum distribution of a Higgs boson produced through gluon fusion in hadron collisions. At small transverse momenta, the large logarithmic terms are resummed up to next-to-leading-logarithmic (NLL) accuracy. The resummed computation is consistently matched to the next-to-leading-order (NLO) result valid at large transverse momenta. The ensuing Standard Model prediction is supplemented by possible new-physics effects parametrised through three dimension-six operators related to the modification of the top and bottom Yukawa couplings, and to the inclusion of a point-like Higgs-gluon coupling, respectively. We present resummed transverse-momentum spectra including the effect of these operators at NLL+NLO accuracy and study their impact on the shape of the distribution. We find that such modifications, while affecting the total rate within the current uncertainties, can lead to significant distortions of the spectrum. The proper parametrization of such effects becomes increasingly important for experimental analyses in Run II of the LHC.

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Distributions for neutral Higgs production in the NMSSM

A novel computation of the fully-differential cross section for neutral Higgs-boson production through gluon fusion in the CP-conserving NMSSM is presented. Based on the calculation of NLO corrections to the total cross section [1], we implemented the NMSSM amplitudes in three codes, applying different resummation techniques: analytic transverse-momentum resummation at NLO+NLL, and two fully-differential NLO+PS Monte-Carlo approaches using the MC@NLO and POWHEG matching procedures, respectively. We study phenomenological predictions for distributions in the NMSSM with a special emphasis on the Higgs transverse-momentum spectrum. Reasonable agreement among the various approaches is found, once well-motivated choices for the unphysical matching scales and the determination of the related uncertainties are made.

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Heavy-quark mass effects in Higgs plus jets production

We study the production of a Standard Model Higgs boson in the gluon-fusion channel at the 13 TeV LHC. Our results are accurate to the next-to-leading order in QCD, bar for the lack of some two-loop amplitudes, for up to two extra jets and are matched to the PYTHIA8 Monte Carlo. We address the impact, at the level of inclusive rates and of differential distributions, of the merging of samples characterised by different final-state multiplicities, and of the effects induced by top and bottom masses through heavy-quark loop diagrams. We find that both the merging and the heavy-quark masses must be included in the calculation in order to realistically predict observables of experimental interest.

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$W^+W^-$ production at the LHC: fiducial cross sections and distributions in NNLO QCD

We consider QCD radiative corrections to $W^+W^-$ production at the LHC and present the first fully differential predictions for this process at next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in perturbation theory. Our computation consistently includes the leptonic decays of the $W$ bosons, taking into account spin correlations, off-shell effects and non-resonant contributions. Detailed predictions are presented for the different-flavour channel $pp\toμ^+e^-ν_μ{\bar ν}_e+X$ at $\sqrt{s}=8$ and $13$ TeV. In particular, we discuss fiducial cross sections and distributions in the presence of standard selection cuts used in experimental $W^+W^-$ and $H\to W^+W^-$ analyses at the LHC. The inclusive $W^+W^-$ cross section receives large NNLO corrections, and, due to the presence of a jet veto, typical fiducial cuts have a sizeable influence on the behaviour of the perturbative expansion. The availability of differential NNLO predictions, both for inclusive and fiducial observables, will play an important role in the rich physics programme that is based on precision studies of $W^+W^-$ signatures at the LHC.

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$W^{\pm}Z$ production at hadron colliders in NNLO QCD

We report on the first computation of the next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) QCD corrections to $W^{\pm}Z$ production in proton collisions. We consider both the inclusive production of on-shell $W^{\pm}Z$ pairs at LHC energies and the total $W^{\pm}Z$ rates including off-shell effects of the $W$ and $Z$ bosons. In the off-shell computation, the invariant mass of the lepton pairs from the $Z$ boson decay is required to be in a given mass window, and the results are compared with the corresponding measurements obtained by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations. The NNLO corrections range from 8% at $\sqrt{s}$=7 TeV to 11% at $\sqrt{s}$=14 TeV and significantly improve the agreement with the LHC data at $\sqrt{s}$=7 and 8 TeV.

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Transverse-momentum resummation of colorless final states at the NNLL+NNLO

We present a general framework that allows to compute the resummed transverse-momentum distribution of a system of colorless particles. The implementation is fully differential in the degrees of freedom of the final-state system. As a first application, we consider the transverse-momentum spectrum of ZZ and WW boson pairs produced in hadron collisions, where we resum the logarithmically enhanced contributions due to multiple soft-gluon emission at small transverse momenta to all orders in perturbation theory. We exploit the most advanced perturbative information for the ZZ and WW production processes that is available at present by combining next-to-next-to-leading order QCD corrections with next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic resummation.

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BSM effects on the Higgs transverse-momentum spectrum in an EFT approach

Effective Field Theories offer a consistent bottom-up approach to parametrise small deviations from Standard Model predictions. In this work we report on the application of the Effective Field Theory to shed light on effects from high-scale physics beyond the Standard Model on the Higgs transverse-momentum spectrum. The Standard Model prediction for the transverse-momentum distribution in Higgs boson production through gluon fusion is augmented by three new dimension-six operators, implying the modification of the top and bottom Yukawa couplings, and the inclusion of a point-like Higgs-gluon coupling. We present resummed transverse-momentum spectra including these operators at NLO+NLL accuracy and study their effects on the shape of the distribution. The proper parametrization of such effects becomes increasingly important for experimental analyses in Run II of the LHC.

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A brief theory overview of Higgs physics at the LHC

This is a brief review of the theoretical status of Higgs production at the LHC in the Standard Model, with an emphasis on the recent developments and computations. In particular, I focus on both inclusive and differential cross sections for the dominant production mode in the Standard Model, where the theoretical uncertainties induced by the different interplays between top- and bottom-quark effects in the gluon-fusion scattering amplitude are discussed.

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Resummation ambiguities in the Higgs transverse-momentum spectrum in the Standard Model and beyond

We study the prediction for the Higgs transverse momentum distribution in gluon fusion and focus on the problem of matching fixed- and all-order perturbative results. The main sources of matching ambiguities on this distribution are investigated by means of a twofold comparison. On the one hand, we present a detailed qualitative and quantitative comparison of two recently introduced algorithms for determining the matching scale. On the other hand, we apply the results of both methods to three widely used approaches for the resummation of logarithmically enhanced contributions at small transverse momenta: the MC@NLO and POWHEG Monte Carlo approaches, and analytic resummation. While the three sets of results are largely compatible in the low-pT region, they exhibit sizable differences at large pT. We show that these differences can be significantly reduced by suitable modifications of formally subleading terms in the Monte Carlo implementations. We apply our study to the Standard Model Higgs boson and to the neutral Higgs bosons of the Two-Higgs-Doublet Model for representative scenarios of the parameter space, where the top- and bottom-quark diagrams enter the cross section at different strength.

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Transverse-momentum resummation for vector-boson pair production at NNLL+NNLO

We consider the transverse-momentum ($p_T$) distribution of $ZZ$ and $W^+W^-$ boson pairs produced in hadron collisions. At small $p_T$, the logarithmically enhanced contributions due to multiple soft-gluon emission are resummed to all orders in QCD perturbation theory. At intermediate and large values of $p_T$, we consistently combine resummation with the known fixed-order results. We exploit the most advanced perturbative information that is available at present: next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic resummation combined with the next-to-next-to-leading fixed-order calculation. After integration over $p_T$, we recover the known next-to-next-to-leading order result for the inclusive cross section. We present numerical results at the LHC, together with an estimate of the corresponding uncertainties. We also study the rapidity dependence of the $p_T$ spectrum and we consider $p_T$ efficiencies at different orders of resummed and fixed-order perturbation theory.

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Heavy charged Higgs boson production at the LHC

In this paper we study the production of a heavy charged Higgs boson in association with heavy quarks at the LHC, in a type-II two-Higgs-doublet model. We present for the first time fully-differential results obtained in the four-flavour scheme at NLO accuracy, both at fixed order and including the matching with parton showers. Relevant differential distributions are studied for two values of the charged boson mass and a thorough comparison is performed between predictions obtained in the four- and five-flavour schemes. We show that the agreement between the two schemes is improved by NLO(+PS) corrections for observables inclusive in the degrees of freedom of bottom quarks. We argue that the four-flavour scheme leads to more reliable predictions, thanks to its accurate description of the bottom-quark kinematics and its small dependence on the Monte Carlos, which in turn is rather large in the five-flavour scheme. A detailed set of recommendations for the simulation of this process in experimental analyses at the LHC is provided.

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Hadronic Higgs production through NLO+PS in the SM, the 2HDM and the MSSM

The NLO cross section of the gluon fusion process is matched to parton showers in the MC@NLO approach. We work in the framework of MadGraph5_aMC@NLO and document the inclusion of the full quark-mass dependence in the SM as well as the state-of-the-art squark and gluino effects within the MSSM embodied in the program SusHi. The combination of the two programs is realized by a script which is publicly available and whose usage is detailed. We discuss the input cards and the relevant parameter switches. One of our focuses is on the shower scale which is specifically important for gluon-induced Higgs production, particularly in models with enhanced Higgs-bottom Yukawa coupling.

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