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T. Stelzer

Publications and source records attributed to T. Stelzer.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

The automated computation of tree-level and next-to-leading order differential cross sections, and their matching to parton shower simulations

We discuss the theoretical bases that underpin the automation of the computations of tree-level and next-to-leading order cross sections, of their matching to parton shower simulations, and of the merging of matched samples that differ by light-parton multiplicities. We present a computer program, MadGraph5_aMC@NLO, capable of handling all these computations -- parton-level fixed order, shower-matched, merged -- in a unified framework whose defining features are flexibility, high level of parallelisation, and human intervention limited to input physics quantities. We demonstrate the potential of the program by presenting selected phenomenological applications relevant to the LHC and to a 1-TeV $e^+e^-$ collider. While next-to-leading order results are restricted to QCD corrections to SM processes in the first public version, we show that from the user viewpoint no changes have to be expected in the case of corrections due to any given renormalisable Lagrangian, and that the implementation of these are well under way.

hep-ph

Fast computation of MadGraph amplitudes on graphics processing unit (GPU)

Continuing our previous studies on QED and QCD processes, we use the graphics processing unit (GPU) for fast calculations of helicity amplitudes for general Standard Model (SM) processes. Additional HEGET codes to handle all SM interactions are introduced, as well assthe program MG2CUDA that converts arbitrary MadGraph generated HELAS amplitudess(FORTRAN) into HEGET codes in CUDA. We test all the codes by comparing amplitudes and cross sections for multi-jet srocesses at the LHC associated with production of single and double weak bosonss a top-quark pair, Higgs boson plus a weak boson or a top-quark pair, and multisle Higgs bosons via weak-boson fusion, where all the heavy particles are allowes to decay into light quarks and leptons with full spin correlations. All the helicity amplitudes computed by HEGET are found to agree with those comsuted by HELAS within the expected numerical accuracy, and the cross sections obsained by gBASES, a GPU version of the Monte Carlo integration program, agree wish those obtained by BASES (FORTRAN), as well as those obtained by MadGraph. The performance of GPU was over a factor of 10 faster than CPU for all processes except those with the highest number of jets.

physics.comp-ph

Fast calculation of HELAS amplitudes using graphics processing unit (GPU)

We use the graphics processing unit (GPU) for fast calculations of helicity amplitudes of physics processes. As our first attempt, we compute $u\bar{u}\to nγ$ ($n=2$ to 8) processes in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 14$TeV by transferring the MadGraph generated HELAS amplitudes (FORTRAN) into newly developed HEGET ({\bf H}ELAS {\bf E}valuation with {\bf G}PU {\bf E}nhanced {\bf T}echnology) codes written in CUDA, a C-platform developed by NVIDIA for general purpose computing on the GPU. Compared with the usual CPU programs, we obtain 40-150 times better performance on the GPU.

physics.comp-ph

Calculation of HELAS amplitudes for QCD processes using graphics processing unit (GPU)

We use a graphics processing unit (GPU) for fast calculations of helicity amplitudes of quark and gluon scattering processes in massless QCD. New HEGET ({\bf H}ELAS {\bf E}valuation with {\bf G}PU {\bf E}nhanced {\bf T}echnology) codes for gluon self-interactions are introduced, and a C++ program to convert the MadGraph generated FORTRAN codes into HEGET codes in CUDA (a C-platform for general purpose computing on GPU) is created. Because of the proliferation of the number of Feynman diagrams and the number of independent color amplitudes, the maximum number of final state jets we can evaluate on a GPU is limited to 4 for pure gluon processes ($gg\to 4g$), or 5 for processes with one or more quark lines such as $q\bar{q}\to 5g$ and $qq\to qq+3g$. Compared with the usual CPU-based programs, we obtain 60-100 times better performance on the GPU, except for 5-jet production processes and the $gg\to 4g$ processes for which the GPU gain over the CPU is about 20.

hep-ph

Automatic generation of quarkonium amplitudes in NRQCD

We present a simple method to automatically evaluate arbitrary tree-level amplitudes involving the production or decay of a heavy quark pair QQbar in a generic {2S+1}L_J^[1,8] state, i.e., the short distance coefficients appearing in the NRQCD factorization formalism. Our approach is based on extracting the relevant contributions from the open heavy quark-antiquark amplitudes through an expansion with respect to the quark-antiquark relative momentum and the application of suitable color and spin projectors. To illustrate the capabilities of the method and its implementation in MadGraph a few applications to quarkonium collider phenomenology are presented.

hep-ph

Weak boson fusion production of supersymmetric particles at the LHC

We present a complete calculation of weak boson fusion production of colorless supersymmetric particles at the LHC, using the new matrix element generator SUSY-MadGraph. The cross sections are small, generally at the attobarn level, with a few notable exceptions which might provide additional supersymmetric parameter measurements. We discuss in detail how to consistently define supersymmetric weak couplings to preserve unitarity of weak gauge boson scattering amplitudes to fermions, and derive sum rules for weak supersymmetric couplings.

hep-ph

Correlated decays of pair-produced scalar taus

We study the quantum mechanical correlation between two identical neutralinos in the decays of minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) scalar tau (stau) pair produced in e+e- annihilation. Generally, the decay products of scalar (spinless) particles are not correlated. We show that a correlation between two neutralinos appears near pair production threshold, due to a finite stau width and mixing of the staus and/or neutralinos, and because the neutralinos are Majorana. Because the correlation is significant only in a specific kinematical configuration, it can be observed only in supersymmetric models where the neutralino momenta can be kinematically reconstructed, such as in models with R-parity violation.

hep-ph

Color-flow decomposition of QCD amplitudes

We introduce a new color decomposition for multi-parton amplitudes in QCD, free of fundamental-representation matrices and structure constants. This decomposition has a physical interpretation in terms of the flow of color, which makes it ideal for merging with shower Monte-Carlo programs. The color-flow decomposition allows for very efficient evaluation of amplitudes with many quarks and gluons, many times faster than the standard color decomposition based on fundamental-representation matrices. This will increase the speed of event generators for multi-jet processes, which are the principal backgrounds to signals of new physics at colliders.

hep-ph

Associated production of Higgs and single top at hadron colliders

We study the production of the Higgs boson in association with a single top quark at hadron colliders. The cross sections for the three production processes (t-channel, s-channel, and W-associated) at both the Tevatron and the LHC are presented. We investigate the possibility of detecting a signal for the largest of these processes, the t-channel process at the LHC, via the Higgs decay into b b-bar. The QCD backgrounds are large and difficult to curb, hindering the extraction of the signal. Extensions of our analysis to the production of supersymmetric Higgs bosons are also addressed. The cross section is enhanced for large values of tangent beta, increasing the prospects for extracting a signal.

hep-ph

Two Photon Radiation in W and Z Boson Production at the Tevatron Collider

We present a calculation of two photon radiation in W and Z boson production in hadronic collisions, based on the complete matrix elements for the processes q\bar q'\to\ell^\pmνγγand q\bar q\to\ell^+\ell^-γγ, including finite charged lepton masses. In order to achieve stable numerical results over the full phase space, multiconfiguration Monte Carlo techniques are used to map the peaks in the differential cross section. Numerical results are presented for the Fermilab Tevatron.

hep-ph

Quarkonia and the Pole Mass

The pole mass of a heavy quark is ambiguous by an amount of order $Λ_{QCD}$. We show that the heavy-quark potential, $V(r)$, is similarly ambiguous, but that the total static energy, $2M_{pole}+V(r)$, is unambiguous when expressed in terms of a short-distance mass. This implies that the extraction of a short-distance mass from the quarkonium spectrum is free of an ambiguity of order $Λ_{QCD}$, in contrast with the pole mass.

hep-ph

Higgs-Boson Production in Association with Bottom Quarks at Next-to-Leading Order

We argue that the leading-order subprocess for Higgs-boson production in association with bottom quarks is (b\bar{b} -> H). This process is an important source of Higgs bosons with enhanced Yukawa coupling to bottom quarks. We calculate the corrections to this cross section at next-to-leading-order in 1/ln(m_H/m_b) and alpha_s and at next-to-next-to-leading order in 1/ln(m_H/m_b).

hep-ph

Gluon Radiation in Top Mass Reconstruction: Effect of Hadronic W Decays

Top quark events in hadron collisions often contain additional hadronic jets from gluon bremsstrahlung off the quarks and gluons in the hard subprocesses. Such extra jets must be taken into account in attempts to reconstruct the momentum of the top quark from those of its decay products. We have performed a complete calculation of gluon radiation in top production and decay at the Fermilab Tevatron including hadronically decaying W bosons. In this talk we discuss the effect of gluon radiation on the reconstructed mass of the top quark, using various top mass reconstruction scenarios. Implications for the LHC are briefly discussed.

hep-ph

Single-top-quark production at hadron colliders

Single-top-quark production probes the charged-current weak interaction of the top quark, and provides a direct measurement of the CKM matrix element V_{tb}. We perform two independent analyses to quantify the accuracy with which the W-gluon fusion (gq -> t\bar{b}q) and (q\bar{q} -> t\bar{b}) signals can be extracted from the backgrounds at both the Tevatron and the LHC. Although perturbation theory breaks down at low transverse momentum for the W-gluon fusion \bar{b} differential cross section, we show how to obtain a reliable cross section integrated over low \bar{b} transverse momenta up to a cutoff. We estimate the accuracy with which V_{tb} can be measured in both analyses, including theoretical and statistical uncertainties. We also show that the polarization of the top quark in W-gluon fusion can be detected at the Fermilab Tevatron and the CERN LHC.

hep-ph

Single-Top-Quark Production via W-Gluon Fusion at Next-to-Leading Order

Single-top-quark production via W-gluon fusion at hadron colliders provides an opportunity to directly probe the charged-current interaction of the top quark. We calculate the next-to-leading-order corrections to this process at the Fermilab Tevatron, the CERN Large Hadron Collider, and DESY HERA. Using a b-quark distribution function to sum collinear logarithms, we show that there are two independent corrections, of order 1/[ln(m_t^2/m_b^2)] and alpha_s. This observation is generic to processes involving a perturbatively derived heavy-quark distribution function at an energy scale large compared with the heavy-quark mass.

hep-ph

Nonperturbative Effects in Quarkonia Associated with Large Orders in Perturbation Theory

We show that the perturbation series for quarkonia energies diverges at large orders. This results in a perturbative ambiguity in the energy that scales as e^(-1/a*Lambda) where a is the Bohr radius of quarkonium and Lambda is the QCD scale parameter. This ambiguity is associated with a nonperturbative contribution to the energy from distances of order 1/Lambda and greater. This contribution is separate from that of the gluon condensate.

hep-ph

Gluon Radiation and Top Quark Physics

Radiation of gluons gives rise to extra jets in top quark events that can lead to complications in event reconstruction and mass measurement. I review recent results for gluon radiation in top quark production and decay, and discuss their implications for top quark physics.

hep-ph