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Melissa van Beekveld

Publications and source records attributed to Melissa van Beekveld.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

NNLL resummation for the production of four top quarks

Four-top production is one of the rarest processes of the Standard Model observable at the Large Hadron Collider, offering sensitivity to the top Yukawa coupling, Higgs width, and beyond-Standard-Model physics. We present precise predictions for the invariant-mass distribution and total cross section using threshold resummation at next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (NNLL) accuracy, matched to next-to-leading order (NLO) calculations.

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The Monte Carlo Ecosystem in High-Energy Physics: A Primer

Monte Carlo event generators are the central interface between theoretical calculations and experimental measurements in collider physics. Over several decades, a comprehensive and highly modular ecosystem of tools has developed around them, encompassing matrix-element calculations, parton showers, hadronisation models, and their integration with detector simulation, event-level analysis and statistical inference. While these tools are ubiquitous in modern research, the conceptual scope and technical structure of the full simulation chain can be challenging to navigate, particularly for researchers entering the field. In this primer, we provide a structured and up-to-date overview of the high-energy physics Monte Carlo ecosystem, focusing primarily on event-generator methodologies and their role within the broader collider workflow. We discuss the conceptual foundations of modern generators, the computational and organisational challenges of large-scale simulations, and the principles that enable interoperability and reproducibility across theory and experiment. We also examine the evolving computing landscape and sustainability considerations that will shape the future development of these tools. Aimed primarily at early-stage doctoral researchers while serving as a reference for the broader community, this article seeks to clarify architecture, methodology, and long-term trajectory of Monte Carlo event generation in collider physics.

hep-ph

A generalised-$k_t$ jet algorithm for Deep Inelastic Scattering

We introduce an inclusive generalised-$k_t$ jet algorithm for Deep Inelastic Scattering, defined in the Breit frame and implemented in fjcontrib. The family of algorithms is governed by the usual parameter $p$, which controls the transverse-momentum dependence of the algorithm, as well as by a jet radius parameter $R$. The angular-ordered ($p=0$) version of the algorithm was already presented by some of us, and can be used to formulate observables with simple all-order structures. In this article we investigate phenomenological applications of the algorithms related to the identification of the jet associated with the struck quark, and assess their sensitivity to non-perturbative effects, such as hadronisation. We also perform comparisons with the recent Centauro algorithm.

hep-ph

Logarithmically-accurate showers with massive quarks

We formulate PanScales final-state showers that account for quark masses and achieve next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy, while preserving the original accuracy of the showers for observables where the mass of the quarks is irrelevant. We validate the accuracy of the shower algorithms by performing fixed-order tests up to second order in the strong coupling constant, and all-order comparisons to (semi-)analytic resummed calculations for a series of observables, including Lund-tree shapes, non-global energy flows and Lund sub-jet multiplicities. We also include some phenomenological studies using LEP data.

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A new suite of Lund-tree observables to resolve jets

We introduce a class of collider observables, named Lund-Tree Shapes (LTS), defined from declustering trees originating from the Lund jet plane representation of the QCD radiation pattern in multi-jet scattering processes. At the differential level, they are continuous global variables akin classical event shapes and $n\to n+1$ jet-resolution parameters, which probe the geometry and hierarchical structure of the radiation in an event. At the integrated, cumulative level, they naturally define $n$ jet rates, providing a jet-multiplicity-based characterisation of multi-jet final states. Their definition applies to scattering processes with any number of resolved jets in the final state, as well as to groomed jets. They are thus usable as resolution variables in the context of higher-order calculations via phase-space slicing, matching fixed-order calculations to parton showers, and testing the logarithmic accuracy of shower algorithms. From a theoretical viewpoint, such observables feature a simple all-order structure and are free of non-global logarithmic corrections. As an initial application, we derive next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic accurate predictions for processes with two QCD legs at $e e$, $pp$ and $e p$ colliders, and matched predictions to next-to-next-to-leading order for the LHC, discussing aspects of collider phenomenology.

hep-ph

Logarithmically-accurate and positive-definite NLO shower matching

We present methods to achieve NLL+NLO accurate parton showering for processes with two coloured legs: neutral- and charged-current Drell-Yan, and Higgs production in $pp$ collisions, as well as DIS and $e^+e^-$ to jets. The methods include adaptations of existing approaches, as well as a new NLO matching scheme, ESME, that is positive-definite by construction. Our implementations of the methods within the PanScales framework yield highly competitive NLO event generation speeds. We validate the fixed-order and combined resummation accuracy with tests in the limit of small QCD coupling and briefly touch on phenomenological comparisons to standard NLO results and to Drell-Yan data. The progress reported here is an essential step towards showers with logarithmic accuracy beyond NLL for processes with incoming hadrons.

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Threshold resummation for the production of four top quarks at the LHC

We compute the total cross section for $t\bar{t}t\bar{t}$ production at next-to-leading logarithmic (NLL$^{\prime}$) accuracy. This is the first time resummation is performed for a hadron-collider process with four colored particles in the final state. The calculation is matched to the next-to-leading order strong and electroweak corrections. The NLL$^{\prime}$ corrections enhance the total production rate by 26\%. The size of the theoretical error due to scale variation is reduced by close to a factor of two, bringing the theoretical error significantly below the current experimental uncertainty of the measurement.

hep-ph

Invariant-mass threshold resummation for the production of four top quarks at the LHC

Using invariant-mass threshold resummation, we compute the invariant-mass distribution and the total cross section for $t\bar{t}t\bar{t}$ production at the LHC with centre-of-mass energy of 13.6 TeV at NLL' accuracy. This accuracy includes next-to-leading logarithmic contributions together with relative $\mathcal{O}(α_s)$ non-logarithmic terms present in the threshold limit. We match the NLL' results to NLO in QCD and to complete NLO with electroweak corrections. We find that the inclusion of NLL' soft-gluon corrections significantly reduces the size of the theoretical uncertainties and greatly improves the convergence of the predictions when considering various choices of renormalisation and factorisation scales.

hep-ph

A new standard for the logarithmic accuracy of parton showers

We report on a major milestone in the construction of logarithmically accurate final-state parton showers, achieving next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic (NNLL) accuracy for the wide class of observables known as event shapes. The key to this advance lies in the identification of the relation between critical NNLL analytic resummation ingredients and their parton-shower counterparts. Our analytic discussion is supplemented with numerical tests of the logarithmic accuracy of three shower variants for more than a dozen distinct event-shape observables in $Z \to q \bar q$ and Higgs $\to gg$ decays. The NNLL terms are phenomenologically sizeable, as illustrated in comparisons to data.

hep-ph

A Phenomenological Analysis of LHC Neutrino Scattering at NLO Accuracy Matched to Parton Showers

We perform a detailed phenomenological study of high-energy neutrino deep inelastic scattering (DIS) focused on LHC far-forward experiments such as FASER$ν$ and SND@LHC. To this aim, we parametrise the neutrino fluxes reaching these LHC far-forward experiments in terms of `neutrino PDFs' encoding their energy and rapidity dependence by means of the LHAPDF framework. We integrate these neutrino PDFs in the recently developed POWHEG-BOX-RES implementation of neutrino-induced DIS to produce predictions accurate at next-to-leading order (NLO) in the QCD coupling matched to parton showers (PS) with Pythia8. We present NLO+PS predictions for final-state distributions within the acceptance of FASER$ν$ and SND@LHC as well as for two experiments of the proposed Forward Physics Facility (FPF), FASER$ν$2 and FLArE. We quantify the impact of NLO QCD corrections, of the parton showering and hadronisation settings in Pythia8, of the QED shower, and of the incoming neutrino flavour for the description of these observables, and compare our predictions with the GENIE neutrino event generator. Our work demonstrates the relevance of modern higher-order event generators to achieve the key scientific targets of the LHC neutrino experiments.

hep-ph

Two-loop anomalous dimensions for small-$R$ jet versus hadronic fragmentation functions

We study the collinear fragmentation of highly energetic jets defined with a small jet radius. In particular, we investigate how the corresponding fragmentation functions differ from their hadronic counterpart defined in the common $\overline{\rm MS}$ scheme. We find that the anomalous dimensions governing the perturbative evolution of the two fragmentation functions differ starting at the two loop order. We compute for the first time the new anomalous dimensions at two loops and confirm our predictions by comparing the inclusive small-$R$ jet spectrum against a fixed order perturbative calculation at ${\cal O}(α_s^2)$. To investigate the dependence of the anomalous dimension on the kinematic cutoff variable, we study the fragmentation functions of Cambridge jets defined with a transverse momentum cutoff as opposed to an angular cutoff $R$. We further study the evolution of the small-$R$ fragmentation function with an alternative cutoff scale, proportional to $z R$, representing the maximum possible transverse momentum of emissions within a jet. In these cases we find that the two-loop anomalous dimensions coincide with the $\overline{\rm MS}$ DGLAP ones, highlighting a correspondence between the $\overline{\rm MS}$ scheme and a transverse-momentum cutoff.

hep-ph

A collinear shower algorithm for NSL non-singlet fragmentation

We formulate a collinear partonic shower algorithm that achieves next-to-single-logarithmic (NSL, $α_s^n L^{n-1}$) accuracy for collinear-sensitive non-singlet fragmentation observables. This entails the development of an algorithm for nesting triple-collinear splitting functions. It also involves the inclusion of the one-loop double-collinear corrections, through a $z$-dependent NLO-accurate effective $1\to 2$ branching probability, using a formula that can be applied more generally also to future full showers with $1\to3$ splitting kernels. The specific NLO branching probability is calculated in two ways, one based on slicing, the other using a subtraction approach based on recent analytical calculations. We close with demonstrations of the shower's accuracy for non-singlet partonic fragmentation functions and the energy spectrum of small-$R$ quark jets. This work represents an important conceptual step towards general NNLL accuracy in parton showers.

hep-ph

The impact of CP-violating phases on DM observables in the cpMSSM

In this paper we examine the effect of adding CP-violating phases to the pMSSM on the Dark-Matter (DM) direct-detection cross sections, the velocity-weighted annihilation cross section, and the DM relic density. We show that $φ_{M_2}$ and $φ_μ$, the phases of the wino and higgsino mass parameters, are sufficiently constrained by electron electric-dipole-moment (EDM) measurements such that the allowed values of these phases are too small to influence these DM observables. Conversely, the phase of the bino-mass parameter $φ_{M_1}$ and the phases associated with the trilinear couplings, $φ_{A^t}$, $φ_{A^b}$, and $φ_{A^τ}$, are barely constrained by EDM experiments. We find that these cpMSSM phases can have an important impact on the mentioned DM observables. This especially concerns pMSSM points that lie on the boundary of exclusion, as observables can be affected by cpMSSM phases to the extent that they are either pushed into the observable region, or outside the excluded region.

hep-ph

Collinear fragmentation at NNLL: generating functionals, groomed correlators and angularities

Jet calculus offers a unique mathematical technique to bridge the area of QCD resummation with Monte Carlo parton showers. With the ultimate goal of constructing next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (NNLL) parton showers we study, using the language of generating functionals, the collinear fragmentation of final-state partons. In particular, we focus on the definition and calculation of the Sudakov form factor, which physically describes the no-emission probability in an ordered branching process. We review recent results for quark jets and compute the Sudakov form factor for the collinear fragmentation of gluon jets at NNLL. The NNLL corrections are encoded in a $z$ dependent two-loop anomalous dimension $B_2(z)$, with $z$ being a suitably defined longitudinal momentum fraction. This is obtained from the integration of the relevant $1\to 3$ collinear splitting kernels combined with the one-loop corrections to the $1\to 2$ counterpart. This work provides the missing ingredients to extend the methods of jet calculus in the collinear limit to NNLL and gives an important element of the next generation of NNLL parton shower algorithms. As an application we derive new NNLL results for both the fractional moments of energy-energy correlation $FC_x$ and the angularities $λ_x$ measured on mMDT/Soft-Drop ($β=0$) groomed jets.

hep-ph

Next-to-leading-logarithmic PanScales showers for Deep Inelastic Scattering and Vector Boson Fusion

We introduce the first family of parton showers that achieve next-to-leading logarithmic (NLL) accuracy for processes involving a $t$-channel exchange of a colour-singlet, and embed them in the PanScales framework. These showers are applicable to processes such as deep inelastic scattering (DIS), vector boson fusion (VBF), and vector boson scattering (VBS). We extensively test and verify the NLL accuracy of the new showers at both fixed order and all orders across a wide range of observables. We also introduce a generalisation of the Cambridge-Aachen jet algorithm and formulate new DIS observables that exhibit a simple resummation structure. The NLL showers are compared to a standard transverse-momentum ordered dipole shower, serving as a proxy for the current state-of-the-art leading-logarithmic showers available in public codes. Depending on the observable, we find discrepancies at NLL of the order of $15\%$. We also present some exploratory phenomenological results for Higgs production in VBF. This work enables, for the first time, to resum simultaneously global and non-global observables for the VBF process at NLL accuracy.

hep-ph

Introduction to the PanScales framework, version 0.1

In this article, we document version 0.1 of the PanScales code for parton shower simulations. With the help of a few examples, we discuss basic usage of the code, including tests of logarithmic accuracy of parton showers. We expose some of the numerical techniques underlying the logarithmic tests and include a description of how users can implement their own showers within the framework. Some of the simpler logarithmic tests can be performed in a few minutes on a modern laptop. As an early step towards phenomenology, we also outline some aspects of a preliminary interface to Pythia, for access to its hard matrix elements and its hadronisation modules.

hep-ph

Exponentiation of soft quark effects from the replica trick

In this paper, we show that multiple maximally soft (anti-)quark and gluon emissions exponentiate at the level of either the amplitude or cross-section. We first show that such emissions can be captured by introducing new soft emission operators, which serve to generalise the well-known Wilson lines describing emissions of maximally soft gluons. Next, we prove that vacuum expectation values of these operators exponentiate using the replica trick, a statistical-physics argument that has previously been used to demonstrate soft-gluon exponentiation properties in QCD. The obtained results are general, i.e. not tied to a particular scattering process. We illustrate our arguments by demonstrating the exponentiation of certain real and virtual corrections affecting subleading partonic channels in deep-inelastic scattering.

hep-ph

Next-to-soft radiation from a different angle

Soft and collinear radiation in collider processes can be described in a universal way, that is independent of the underlying process. Recent years have seen a number of approaches for probing whether radiation beyond the leading soft approximation can also be systematically classified. In this paper, we study a formula that captures the leading next-to-soft QCD radiation affecting processes with both final- and initial-state partons, by shifting the momenta in the non-radiative squared amplitude. We first examine W+jet production, and show that a previously derived formula of this type indeed holds in the case in which massive colour singlet particles are present in the final state. Next, we develop a physical understanding of the momentum shifts, showing precisely how they disrupt the well-known angular ordering property of leading soft radiation.

hep-ph