arXiv subjects

Stefano Forte

Publications and source records attributed to Stefano Forte.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

HERA data and DGLAP evolution: theory and phenomenology

We examine critically the evidence for deviations from next-to-leading order perturbative DGLAP evolution in HERA data. We briefly review the status of perturbative small-x resummation and of global determinations of parton distributions. We show that the geometric scaling properties of HERA data are consistent with DGLAP evolution, which is also strongly supported by the double asymptotic scaling properties of the data. However, backward--evolution of parton distributions into the low x, low Q^2 region does show evidence of deviations between the observed behaviour and the next-to-leading order predictions. These deviations cannot be explained by missing next-to-next-to-leading order perturbative terms, and are consistent with perturbative small-x resummation.

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arXiv2010

Fitting Parton Distribution Data with Multiplicative Normalization Uncertainties

We consider the generic problem of performing a global fit to many independent data sets each with a different overall multiplicative normalization uncertainty. We show that the methods in common use to treat multiplicative uncertainties lead to systematic biases. We develop a method which is unbiased, based on a self--consistent iterative procedure. We demonstrate the use of this method by applying it to the determination of parton distribution functions with the NNPDF methodology, which uses a Monte Carlo method for uncertainty estimation.

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arXiv2010

A first unbiased global NLO determination of parton distributions and their uncertainties

We present a determination of the parton distributions of the nucleon from a global set of hard scattering data using the NNPDF methodology: NNPDF2.0. Experimental data include deep-inelastic scattering with the combined HERA-I dataset, fixed target Drell-Yan production, collider weak boson production and inclusive jet production. Next-to-leading order QCD is used throughout without resorting to K-factors. We present and utilize an improved fast algorithm for the solution of evolution equations and the computation of general hadronic processes. We introduce improved techniques for the training of the neural networks which are used as parton parametrization, and we use a novel approach for the proper treatment of normalization uncertainties. We assess quantitatively the impact of individual datasets on PDFs. We find very good consistency of all datasets with each other and with NLO QCD, with no evidence of tension between datasets. Some PDF combinations relevant for LHC observables turn out to be determined rather more accurately than in any other parton fit.

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arXiv2010

Combined PDF and strong coupling uncertainties at the LHC with NNPDF2.0

We present predictions for relevant LHC observables obtained with the NNPDF2.0 set. We compute the combined PDFs uncertainties on these observables, and show that combining errors in quadrature yields an excellent approximation to exact error propagation. We then compare the NNPDF2.0 results to the other global PDF fits using a common value of $α_s$. At LHC 7 TeV, reasonable agreement, both in central values and in uncertainties, is found for NNPDF2.0, CTEQ6.6 and MSTW08.

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arXiv2010

The impact of PDF and alphas uncertainties on Higgs Production in gluon fusion at hadron colliders

We present a systematic study of uncertainties due to parton distributions and the strong coupling on the gluon-fusion production cross section of the Standard Model Higgs at the Tevatron and LHC colliders. We compare procedures and results when three recent sets of PDFs are used, CTEQ6.6, MSTW08 and NNPDF1.2, and we discuss specifically the way PDF and strong coupling uncertainties are combined. We find that results obtained from different PDF sets are in reasonable agreement if a common value of the strong coupling is adopted. We show that the addition in quadrature of PDF and alphas uncertainties provides an adequate approximation to the full result with exact error propagation. We discuss a simple recipe to determine a conservative PDF+alphas uncertainty from available global parton sets, and we use it to estimate this uncertainty on the given process to be about 10% at the Tevatron and 5% at the LHC for a light Higgs.

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arXiv2010

Heavy quarks in deep-inelastic scattering

We discuss a general framework for the inclusion of heavy quark mass contributions to deep-inelastic structure functions and their perturbative matching to structure functions computed in variable-mass schemes. Our approach is based on the so-called FONLL method, previously introduced and applied to heavy quark hadroproduction and photoproduction. We define our framework, provide expressions up to second order in the strong coupling, and use them to construct matched expressions for structure functions up to NNLO. After checking explicitly the consistency of our results, we perform a study of the phenomenological impact of heavy quark terms, and compare results obtained at various perturbative orders, and with various prescriptions for the treatment of subleading terms, specifically those related to threshold behaviour. We also consider the heavy quark structure function F2c and discuss issues related to the presence of mass singularities in their coefficient functions.

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arXiv2010

Deviations from NLO QCD evolution in inclusive HERA data

We search for deviations from next-to-leading order QCD evolution in HERA structure function data. We compare to data predictions for structure functions in the small x region, obtained by evolving backwards to low Q^2 the results of a parton fit performed in the large Q^2 region, where fixed-order perturbative QCD is certainly reliable. We find evidence for deviations which are qualitatively consistent with the behaviour predicted by small x perturbative resummation, and possibly also by nonlinear evolution effects, but incompatible with next-to-next-to leading order corrections.

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arXiv2009

Precision determination of electroweak parameters and the strange content of the proton from neutrino deep-inelastic scattering

We use recent neutrino dimuon production data combined with a global deep-inelastic parton fit to construct a new parton set, NNPDF1.2, which includes a determination of the strange and antistrange distributions of the nucleon. The result is characterized by a faithful estimation of uncertainties thanks to the use of the NNPDF methodology, and is free of model or theoretical assumptions other than the use of NLO perturbative QCD and exact sum rules. Better control of the uncertainties of the strange and antistrange parton distributions allows us to reassess the determination of electroweak parameters from the NuTeV dimuon data. We perform a direct determination of the |V_cd| and |V_cs| CKM matrix elements, obtaining central values in agreement with the current global CKM fit: specifically we find |V_cd|=0.244\pm 0.019 and |V_cs|=0.96\pm 0.07. Our result for |V_cs| is more precise than any previous direct determination. We also reassess the uncertainty on the NuTeV determination of \sin^2θ_W through the Paschos-Wolfenstein relation: we find that the very large uncertainties in the strange valence momentum fraction are sufficient to bring the NuTeV result into complete agreement with the results from precision electroweak data.

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arXiv2009

Towards small x resummed DIS phenomenology

We report on recent progress towards quantitative phenomenology of small x resummation of deep-inelastic structure functions. We compute small x resummed K-factors with realistic PDFs and estimate their impact in the HERA kinematical region. These K-factors, which match smoothly to the fixed order NLO results, approximately reproduce the effect of a small x resummed PDF analysis. Typical corrections are found to be of the same order as the NNLO ones, that is, a few percent, but with opposite sign. These results imply that resummation corrections could be relevant for a global PDF analysis, especially with the very precise combined HERA dataset.

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arXiv2009

A determination of parton distributions with faithful uncertainty estimation

We present the determination of a set of parton distributions of the nucleon, at next-to-leading order, from a global set of deep-inelastic scattering data: NNPDF1.0. The determination is based on a Monte Carlo approach, with neural networks used as unbiased interpolants. This method, previously discussed by us and applied to a determination of the nonsinglet quark distribution, is designed to provide a faithful and statistically sound representation of the uncertainty on parton distributions. We discuss our dataset, its statistical features, and its Monte Carlo representation. We summarize the technique used to solve the evolution equations and its benchmarking, and the method used to compute physical observables. We discuss the parametrization and fitting of neural networks, and the algorithm used to determine the optimal fit. We finally present our set of parton distributions. We discuss its statistical properties, test for its stability upon various modifications of the fitting procedure, and compare it to other recent parton sets. We use it to compute the benchmark W and Z cross sections at the LHC. We discuss issues of delivery and interfacing to commonly used packages such as LHAPDF.

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arXiv2009

Can we trust small x resummation?

We review the current status of small x resummation of evolution of parton distributions and of deep-inelastic coefficient functions. We show that the resummed perturbative expansion is stable, robust upon different treatments of subleading terms, and that it matches smoothly to the unresummed perturbative expansions, with corrections which are of the same order as the typical NNLO ones in the HERA kinematic region. We discuss different approaches to small x resummation: we show that the ambiguities in the resummation procedure are small, provided all parametrically enhanced terms are included in the resummation and properly matched.

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arXiv2008

Update on Neural Network Parton Distributions: NNPDF1.1

We present recent progress within the NNPDF parton analysis framework. After a brief review of the results from the DIS NNPDF analysis, NNPDF1.0, we discuss results from an updated analysis with independent parametrizations for the strange and anti-strange distributions, denoted by NNPDF1.1. We examine the phenomenological implications of this improved analysis for the strange PDFs.

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arXiv2008

Borel resummation of transverse momentum distributions

We present a new prescription for the resummation of contributions due to soft gluon emission to the trasverse momentum distribution of processes such as Drell-Yan production in hadronic collisions. We show that familiar difficulties in obtaining resummed results as a function of transverse momentum starting from impact-parameter space resummation are related to the divergence of the perturbative expansion of the momentum-space result. We construct a resummed expression by Borel resummation of this divergent series, removing the divergence in the Borel inversion through the inclusion of a suitable higher twist term. The ensuing resummation prescription is free of numerical instabilities, is stable upon the inclusion of subleading terms, and the original divergent perturbative series is asymptotic to it. We compare our results to those obtained using alternative prescriptions, and discuss the ambiguities related to the resummation procedure.

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arXiv2008

Finite-top-mass effects in NNLO Higgs production

We construct an accurate approximation to the exact NNLO cross section for Higgs production in gluon-gluon fusion by matching the dominant finite top mass corrections recently computed by us to the known result in the infinite mass limit. The ensuing corrections to the partonic cross section are very large when the center of mass energy of the partonic collision is much larger than the Higgs mass, but lead to a moderate correction at the percent level to the total Higgs production cross section at the LHC. Our computation thus reduces the uncertainty related to these corrections at the LHC from the percent to the per mille level.

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arXiv2008

Geometric Scaling from GLAP evolution

We show that the geometric scaling of the total virtual photon-proton cross section data can be explained using standard linear GLAP perturbative evolution with generic boundary conditions in a wide kinematic region. This allows us to single out the region where geometric scaling may provide evidence for parton saturation.

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arXiv2008

Structure Function Resummation in small-x QCD

We summarize our recent results on small x resummation in full QCD with n_f quark flavours and discuss their phenomenological impact in the extraction of parton distributions from present day structure function data and their extrapolation to the kinematics relevant for future colliders such as the LHC.

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arXiv2008

Small x Resummation with Quarks: Deep-Inelastic Scattering

We extend our previous results on small-x resummation in the pure Yang--Mills theory to full QCD with nf quark flavours, with a resummed two-by-two matrix of resummed quark and gluon splitting functions. We also construct the corresponding deep-inelastic coefficient functions, and show how these can be combined with parton densities to give fully resummed deep-inelastic structure functions F_2 and F_L at the next-to-leading logarithmic level. We discuss how this resummation can be performed in different factorization schemes, including the commonly used MSbar scheme. We study the importance of the resummation effects by comparison with fixed-order perturbative results, and we discuss the corresponding renormalization and factorization scale variation uncertainties. We find that for x below 0.01 the resummation effects are comparable in size to the fixed order NNLO corrections, but differ in shape. We finally discuss the phenomenological impact of the small-x resummation, specifically in the extraction of parton distribution from present day experiments and their extrapolation to the kinematics relevant for future colliders such as the LHC

hep-ph↗

arXiv2008

Higgs production via gluon-gluon fusion with finite top mass beyond next-to-leading order

We present a computation of the cross section for inclusive Higgs production in gluon-gluon fusion for finite values of the top mass in perturbative QCD to all orders in the limit of high partonic center-of-mass energy. We show that at NLO the high energy contribution accounts for most of the difference between the result found with finite top mass and that obtained in the limit of infinite top mass. We use our result to improve the known NNLO order result obtained with infinite top mass. We estimate the effect of the high energy NNLO top mass dependence on the K factor to be of the order of a few per cent.

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