arXiv subjects

Peter Richardson

Publications and source records attributed to Peter Richardson.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Herwig 7.0 / Herwig++ 3.0 Release Note

A major new release of the Monte Carlo event generator Herwig++ (version 3.0) is now available. This release marks the end of distinguishing Herwig++ and HERWIG development and therefore constitutes the first major release of version 7 of the Herwig event generator family. The new version features a number of significant improvements to the event simulation, including: built-in NLO hard process calculation for all Standard Model processes, with matching to both angular-ordered and dipole shower modules via both subtractive (MC@NLO-type) and multiplicative (Powheg-type) algorithms; QED radiation and spin correlations in the angular ordered shower; a consistent treatment of perturbative uncertainties within the hard process and parton showering. Several of the new features will be covered in detail in accompanying publications, and an update of the manual will follow in due course.

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arXiv2015

Studying the sensitivity of monotop probes to compressed supersymmetric scenarios at the LHC

We investigate the sensitivity of the Large Hadron Collider to supersymmetric setups using monotop probes in which the signal is a single top quark produced in association with missing transverse energy. Our prospective study relies on Monte Carlo simulations of 300 invfb of proton- proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 14 TeV and considers both leptonic and hadronic monotop decays. We present analysis strategies sensitive to regions of the supersymmetric parameter space which feature small superparticle mass splittings and illustrate their strengths in the context of a particular set of benchmark scenarios. Finally, we compare the regions of parameter space expected to be accessible with monotops probes during the next run of the LHC to the reach of more traditional search strategies employed by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations, where available.

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arXiv2014

Monte Carlo Simulation of Hard Radiation in Decays in Beyond the Standard Model Physics in Herwig++

We use the POWHEG formalism in the Herwig++ event generator to match QCD real-emission matrix elements with the parton shower for a range of decays relevant to Beyond the Standard Model physics searches. Applying this correction affects the shapes of experimental observables and so changes the number of events passing selection criteria. To validate this approach, we study the impact of the correction on Standard Model top quark decays. We then illustrate the effect of the correction on Beyond the Standard Model scenarios by considering the invariant-mass distribution of dijets produced in the decay of the lightest Randall-Sundrum graviton and transverse momentum distributions for decays in Supersymmetry. We consider only the effect of the POWHEG correction on the simulation of the hardest emission in the shower and ignore the normalisation factor required to correct the total widths and branching ratios to next-to-leading order accuracy.

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arXiv2012

Next-to-Leading Order Simulation of Slepton Pair Production

The next-to-leading order (NLO) corrections to Drell-Yan slepton pair production are merged with parton shower evolution via the POWHEG method in Herwig++. The NLO corrections at the level of event generation alter the shape of observables in a non-global way, thereby potentially affecting the fraction of signal events which pass crucial transverse momentum cuts on decay products and missing transverse momentum requirements on events. This effect is not captured by an overall rescaling of the cross section and can have repercussions on the reach of LHC searches.

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arXiv2012

The 125 GeV Higgs in the NMSSM in light of LHC results and astrophysics constraints

Recent LHC data suggest an excess in the Higgs decay channels into gamma gamma, W W and Z Z at roughly 125 GeV. The current excess in the diphoton channel is twice that expected from a Standard Model Higgs; whilst this may well change with more statistics, it is interesting to consider the implications should the result persist. Here, we assess whether the NMSSM with a neutralino dark matter candidate could explain this excess when astrophysical constraints (e.g. no overproduction of gamma rays and radio emission in the galaxy, no anomalous excess in the dark matter direct detection experiments and no dark matter overabundance) are imposed on the neutralino. This enables us to disregard unphysical regions of the parameter space even though the Higgs signal is compatible with the observed excess. The result of our analysis is that there are configurations of the parameter space which can explain the signal strength reported by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations for a Higgs mass within the required range. Should the observed signal strength finally be compatible with Standard Model expectations, it would be difficult to distinguish between the discovery of Standard Model Higgs and a SM-like Higgs from the NMSSM, unless one performs dedicated searches of very light Higgs bosons and possibly investigate peculiar signatures of supersymmetric particles. We also propose a new jets + missing E_T signal for the case where the LSP is a singlino-like neutralino.

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arXiv2012

Investigation of Monte Carlo Uncertainties on Higgs Boson searches using Jet Substructure

We present an investigation of the dependence of searches for boosted Higgs bosons using jet substructure on the perturbative and non-perturbative parameters of the Herwig++ Monte Carlo event generator. Values are presented for a new tune of the parameters of the event generator, together with the an estimate of the uncertainties based on varying the parameters around the best-fit values.

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arXiv2012

Direct SUSY Searches at the LHC in the light of LEP Higgs Bounds

In this note we compare the latest 1.04 fb^{-1} LHC searches for squarks and gluinos from jets and missing transverse momentum (MET) with constraints arising from the LEP Higgs bound. For General Gauge Mediation models with moderate values of tan(beta) we find that the zero-lepton MET searches of supersymmetry at the LHC are only starting to be competitive with the Higgs bounds from LEP. From this perspective and for such models, the SUSY searches at the LHC are still very much in the beginning.

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arXiv2011

Simulation of Sextet Diquark Production

We present a method for simulating the production and decay of particles in the sextet representation of $SU(3)_C$ including the simulation of QCD radiation. First results from the Monte Carlo simulation of sextet diquark production at the LHC including both resonant and pair production are presented. We include limits on resonant diquark production from recent ATLAS results and perform the first simulation studies of the less model dependent pair production mechanism.

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arXiv2011

Travels on the squark-gluino mass plane

Soft supersymmetry breaking appears in the weak-scale effective action but is usually generated at higher scales. For these models the structure of the renormalization group evolution down to the electroweak scale leaves only part of the squark-gluino and slepton-gaugino mass planes accessible. Our observations divide these physical mass planes into three wedges: the first can be reached by all models of high-scale breaking; the second can only be populated by models with a low mediation scale; in the third wedge squarks and gluinos would have to be described by an exotic theory. All usual benchmark points reside in the first wedge, even though an LHC discovery in the third wedge would arguably be the most exciting outcome.

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arXiv2011

A Positive-Weight Next-to-Leading-Order Monte Carlo Simulation of Deep Inelastic Scattering and Higgs Boson Production via Vector Boson Fusion in Herwig++

The positive weight next-to-leading-order matching formalism (POWHEG) is applied to Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS) and the related Higgs boson production via vector-boson fusion process in the Herwig++ Monte Carlo event generator. This scheme combines parton shower simulation and next-to-leading-order calculation in a consistent way which only produces positive weight events. The simulation contains a full implementation of the truncated shower required to correctly model soft emissions in an angular-ordered parton shower.

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arXiv2011

Next-to-Leading-Order Monte Carlo Simulation of Diphoton Production in Hadronic Collisions

We present a method, based on the positive weight next-to-leading-order matching formalism (POWHEG), to simulate photon production processes at next-to-leading-order (NLO). This technique is applied to the simulation of diphoton production in hadron-hadron collisions. The algorithm consistently combines the parton shower and NLO calculation, producing only positive weight events. The simulation includes both the photon fragmentation contribution and a full implementation of the truncated shower required to correctly describe soft emissions in an angular-ordered parton shower.

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arXiv2011

New Constraints on Gauge Mediation and Beyond from LHC SUSY Searches at 7 TeV

The first results from the LHC on jets plus missing energy provide powerful new data to test SUSY models. Initial theoretical interpretations of these data have concentrated on gravity mediation, usually the CMSSM and its variations. In this paper we confront a large class of gauge mediation models with these new data. More precisely we consider models of pure general gauge mediation (pure GGM) and confront them with the recent experimental results of the ATLAS collaboration. We use Herwig++ and RIVET, incorporating the full set of experimental cuts, to calculate the signal rates and compare them to the data. Although based on only 35pb^{-1} of integrated luminosity, we show that these new data probe and exclude a portion of previously allowed parameter space of GGM. In addition we investigate the viability of standard SUSY benchmark points, including the Snowmass, CMS and ATLAS sets which encompass other mediation scenarios such as gravity, anomaly and gaugino mediation.

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arXiv2011

General-purpose event generators for LHC physics

We review the physics basis, main features and use of general-purpose Monte Carlo event generators for the simulation of proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider. Topics included are: the generation of hard-scattering matrix elements for processes of interest, at both leading and next-to-leading QCD perturbative order; their matching to approximate treatments of higher orders based on the showering approximation; the parton and dipole shower formulations; parton distribution functions for event generators; non-perturbative aspects such as soft QCD collisions, the underlying event and diffractive processes; the string and cluster models for hadron formation; the treatment of hadron and tau decays; the inclusion of QED radiation and beyond-Standard-Model processes. We describe the principal features of the ARIADNE, Herwig++, PYTHIA 8 and SHERPA generators, together with the Rivet and Professor validation and tuning tools, and discuss the physics philosophy behind the proper use of these generators and tools. This review is aimed at phenomenologists wishing to understand better how parton-level predictions are translated into hadron-level events as well as experimentalists wanting a deeper insight into the tools available for signal and background simulation at the LHC.

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arXiv2009

A modified CKKW matrix element merging approach to angular-ordered parton showers

A modified version of the CKKW matrix element merging algorithm is presented, suitable for use in an angular-ordered parton shower, using truncated showers and forced splittings. The algorithm is implemented in the Herwig++ Monte Carlo event generator for the benchmark process e+e- -> hadrons. Results are presented at parton and hadron levels, demonstrating a smooth merging between the matrix elements and parton shower and an improved description of LEP data.

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arXiv2009

A Positive-Weight Next-to-Leading Order Monte Carlo Simulation for Higgs Boson Production

In this article we describe simulations of Higgs boson production via the gluon fusion and Higgs-strahlung processes, using the positive weight next-to-leading-order (NLO) matching scheme, POWHEG, in the Herwig++ 2.3 event generator. This formalism consistently incorporates the full NLO corrections to these processes within the parton shower simulation, without the production of negative weight events. These simulations include a full implementation of the truncated shower required to correctly model soft emissions in an angular-ordered parton shower. We present a thorough validation of these simulations, comparing them to other methods and calculations. The results obtained for the gluon fusion process corroborate, and provide detailed explanations for, findings reported by Alioli et al (arXiv:0812.0578) using an independent POWHEG simulation, neglecting truncated shower effects, released at the same time as our code.

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arXiv2008

A Positive-Weight Next-to-Leading Order Monte Carlo Simulation of Drell-Yan Vector Boson Production

The positive weight next-to-leading-order (NLO) matching scheme (POWHEG) is applied to Drell-Yan vector boson production in the Herwig++ Monte Carlo event generator. This approach consistently combines the NLO calculation and parton shower simulation, without the production of negative weight events. The simulation includes a full implementation of the truncated shower required to correctly describe soft emissions in an angular-ordered parton shower, for the first time. The results are compared with Tevatron W and Z production data and predictions for the transverse momentum spectrum of gauge bosons at the LHC presented.

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arXiv2007

Simulation of Tau Decays in the Herwig++ Event Generator

We describe the simulation of tau decays in the Herwig++ event generator, which includes sophisticated modelling of the hadronic currents and full treatment of spin correlation effects. The structure of the simulation makes it easy to add new models of tau decay,change the parameters of the existing models, and use the models from tau decay for the decay of other particles. The results are compared in detail with an existing simulation, and the benefits of the new structure are illustrated by considering the decay of the lightest chargino to the lightest neutralino in Anomaly-Mediated SUSY-Breaking models.

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arXiv2007

Simulation of Beyond Standard Model Physics in Herwig++

We present a new approach for the simulation of Beyond Standard Model (BSM) physics within the Herwig++ event generator. Our approach is more generic than previous methods with the aim of minimising the effort of implementing further new physics models. Spin correlations, which are important for BSM models due to new heavy fermions and bosons, are discussed and their effects demonstrated for the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) and Randall-Sundrum Model using our new framework.

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