arXiv subjects

Ulrich Haisch

Publications and source records attributed to Ulrich Haisch.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Matrix element method at NLO: A fine proof of concept in POWHEG

The matrix element method (MEM) provides a fully probabilistic approach to confront experimental events with theory, retaining all correlations in the scattering matrix element. While leading-order MEM is widely used and automated, extending it to next-to-leading order (NLO) in QCD is challenging due to infrared divergences, negative weights, extra final-state partons, and multi-dimensional phase-space integration. We demonstrate that the POWHEG method offers a practical path to MEM at NLO accuracy. By projecting real-emission events onto Born kinematics via the mappings inherited from the $\tilde{B} (\Phi)$ function, our method consistently includes the hardest QCD radiation while preserving the NLO-accurate normalization. As a proof of concept, we apply it to fully leptonic $W^+ W^-$ production in the Standard Model (SM) effective field theory, focusing on a CP-even dimension-six triple-gauge-boson operator. Our NLO MEM implementation acts as a near-optimal classifier, exploiting spin- and polarization-dependent correlations among the final-state leptons to efficiently distinguish beyond-the-SM (BSM) from SM events. This demonstrates the potential of MEM at NLO for precision studies of electroweak processes and subtle BSM effects.

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arXiv2026

Constraining the Higgs potential using multi-Higgs production

The Higgs self-couplings remain only weakly constrained by current Large Hadron Collider (LHC) measurements, leaving ample room for physics beyond the Standard Model that could modify the structure of the Higgs potential. Multi-Higgs production processes provide a particularly sensitive probe of deviations in both the Higgs trilinear and quartic self-couplings. In this note, we summarize the current status of next-to-leading-order electroweak (EW) corrections to double-Higgs production computed within the Standard Model Effective Field Theory and Higgs Effective Field Theory frameworks, emphasizing how these calculations introduce sensitivity to the Higgs self-couplings beyond what is accessible at leading order. We discuss the key conceptual and technical differences between the two effective field theory approaches, including their treatment of higher-dimensional operators, renormalization procedures, and the structure of EW~two-loop amplitudes. Despite these differences, both approaches yield broadly consistent constraints, illustrating the complementarity of double- and triple-Higgs measurements. With the high-luminosity LHC and future high-energy colliders on the horizon, these developments and further advances provide an essential foundation for extracting increasingly precise information on the dynamics of EW symmetry breaking.

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arXiv2025

Dijet bounds on third-generation four-quark operators

We use dijet measurements from the Large Hadron Collider to constrain ten third-generation four-quark operators in the Standard Model effective field theory. At tree level, only the five operators involving four bottom quarks are directly constrained, but renormalization group (RG) effects allow all ten operators to be probed. Our analysis includes the dominant leading-logarithmic RG contributions up to two-loop order. The resulting bounds for the first five operators are nominal stronger or comparable to current limits, while those for the remaining operators remain weak despite the inclusion of logarithmically enhanced corrections.

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arXiv2025

How large are hadronic contributions to $h \to \gamma \gamma$?

The decay of the Higgs boson into two photons, $h \to \gamma \gamma$, is a loop-induced process within the Standard Model, predominantly mediated by loops of $W$ bosons and top quarks. While these leading contributions are well understood, the role of hadronic effects, which arise from non-perturbative QCD dynamics, has received less attention, with recent studies reporting puzzling and contradictory results. In this work, we present a systematic evaluation of the hadronic contributions to the $h \to \gamma \gamma$ decay width using dispersion relations. Our analysis shows that these contributions are exceedingly small, as expected, altering the decay width by about $0.004\%$ under conservative assumptions. Therefore, hadronic effects can be safely neglected even in the context of future high-precision Higgs measurements at current and next-generation colliders. As an aside, we also estimate the possible size of hadronic contributions to Higgs production in gluon-gluon fusion.

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arXiv2025

Polarized-boson pairs at NLO in the SMEFT

We present a computation of diboson production in the $W^\pm Z$ channel at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), incorporating leptonic decays of the gauge bosons and considering intermediate gauge bosons with definite polarization states. The analysis includes contributions from the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT) and is carried out at next-to-leading order accuracy in QCD, matched to a parton-shower simulation. Our implementation allows for the selection of specific helicity configurations, both in the Standard Model and in the presence of dimension-six operators inducing anomalous triple-gauge-boson couplings. This work provides a key ingredient for both polarization-template and quantum-tomography analyses of diboson systems at the LHC within the SMEFT framework.

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arXiv2025

Precision tests of third-generation four-quark operators: $gg \to h$ and $h \to \gamma \gamma$

We compute the two-loop contributions to Higgs production via gluon-gluon fusion ($gg \to h$) and Higgs decay into two photons ($h \to \gamma\gamma$), arising from third-generation four-quark operators in the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT). Our analysis is performed in the broken phase of the theory, retaining the full dependence on the Higgs and heavy-quark masses. This includes both finite matching corrections and logarithmic effects stemming from the renormalization group evolution within the SMEFT. As a byproduct, new two-loop anomalous dimensions in the SMEFT are obtained. We also briefly discuss the phenomenological implications of our two-loop calculations.

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arXiv2025

Neural simulation-based inference of the Higgs trilinear self-coupling via off-shell Higgs production

One of the forthcoming major challenges in particle physics is the experimental determination of the Higgs trilinear self-coupling. While efforts have largely focused on on-shell double- and single-Higgs production in proton-proton collisions, off-shell Higgs production has also been proposed as a valuable complementary probe. In this article, we design a hybrid neural simulation-based inference (NSBI) approach to construct a likelihood of the Higgs signal incorporating modifications from the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT), relevant background processes, and quantum interference effects. It leverages the training efficiency of matrix-element-enhanced techniques, which are vital for robust SMEFT applications, while also incorporating the practical advantages of classification-based methods for effective background estimates. We demonstrate that our NSBI approach achieves sensitivity close to the theoretical optimum and provide expected constraints for the high-luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider. While we primarily concentrate on the Higgs trilinear self-coupling, we also consider constraints on other SMEFT operators that affect off-shell Higgs production.

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arXiv2025

A new probe of the quartic Higgs self-coupling

We calculate the corrections to the Higgs wave-function renormalization constant arising from modified cubic, quartic, and quintic Higgs self-couplings up to the two-loop level. Using our analytic results, we derive two-dimensional constraints on the modifications of the considered Higgs self-interactions that could potentially be set from precision measurements of single-Higgs production processes at the high-luminosity Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and a Future Circular Collider. Our novel constraints are compared to those that might be set by searches for multi-Higgs production at the same facilities. In view of the first LHC results on triple-Higgs production, we also review the current status of Higgs self-coupling determinations after LHC Run 2.

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arXiv2025

Higgs production from anomalous gluon dynamics

We present a two-loop analysis of the contributions to Higgs production via gluon-gluon fusion arising from the triple-gluon operator in the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT). Our discussion covers all aspects of renormalization group (RG) improved perturbation theory, including matching and running within the SMEFT. This study can therefore be seen as a blueprint of the intricacies and subtleties that arise in RG improved SMEFT calculations for collider processes beyond the leading order.

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arXiv2024

Precision tests of third-generation four-quark operators: one- and two-loop matching

We calculate the one- and two-loop matching corrections in the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT) that impact electroweak precision measurements and flavour physics observables, focusing on the contributions of third-generation four-quark operators. Our results provide a crucial ingredient for a model-independent analysis of constraints on beyond the Standard Model physics that primarily affects the sector of third-generation four-quark operators. Concise analytic expressions are provided for all considered precision observables, which should facilitate their inclusion into global SMEFT analyses.

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arXiv2024

Exact two-loop amplitudes for Higgs plus jet production with a cubic Higgs self-coupling

We compute the corrections to the two-loop amplitudes for $gg \to h$, $gg \to hg$, $qg \to hq$, and $q \bar q \to hg$ due to a modified cubic Higgs self-coupling. The exact dependence on the Higgs and top-quark masses across the entire $2 \to 2$ phase space is determined by numerically solving a system of differential equations for the relevant master integrals. The calculated amplitudes are crucial for evaluating the impact of the considered corrections on exclusive $pp \to hj$ production at the hadronic event level. As an application, we calculate the non-universal, kinematic-dependent cubic Higgs self-coupling corrections to the Higgs-boson transverse momentum distribution in gluon-gluon fusion Higgs production for arbitrary values of the transverse momentum.

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arXiv2024

Novel collider signatures in the type-I 2HDM+$a$ model

The 2HDM+$a$ model is one of the main models used in the interpretations of dark matter searches at the LHC. So far, all the 2HDM+$a$ benchmarks considered by the ATLAS and CMS experiments are limited to a type-II Yukawa sector, in which the Higgs bosons $A$, $H$, and $H^\pm$ are all constrained to be mass-degenerate and heavier than around $600 \, {\rm GeV}$. In this work, we present the first detailed study of 2HDM+$a$ models with a type-I Yukawa sector, which, for moderate values of $\tanβ$, lift the constraints from flavour physics, allowing the extra Higgs bosons to be even lighter than the $125 \, {\rm GeV}$ Higgs boson discovered at the LHC. We discuss several benchmarks where the $A$, $H$, and $H^\pm$ states are not necessarily mass-degenerate and the signatures that arise in these models, some of which have not yet been explored at the LHC. We present the dominant channels in the studied benchmarks and the expected sensitivity in Run 2 data using truth-level analyses and discuss potential improvements in the experimental searches for Run 3.

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arXiv2024

Addendum to: Constraints on the quartic Higgs self-coupling from double-Higgs production at future hadron colliders

We study inclusive double-Higgs boson production at the LHC and at the HL-LHC including variations of the trilinear and of the quartic Higgs boson self-couplings at next-to-leading order (NLO) in QCD with full top quark mass dependence. Our results include the two-loop contributions to the $gg \rightarrow HH$ amplitudes that involve a modified $h_4$ vertex calculated in arXiv:1810.04665. We present results at 13, 13.6 and 14 TeV centre-of-mass energies. The implementation of the calculation is made publicly available in the POWHEG-BOX-V2 Monte Carlo framework.

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arXiv2024

LHC tau-pair production constraints on $a_τ$ and $d_τ$

We point out that relevant constraints on the anomalous magnetic ($a_τ$) and electric ($d_τ$) moment of the tau lepton can be derived from tau-pair production measurements performed at the LHC. Our conclusion is based on the observation that the leading relative deviations from the Standard Model prediction for $pp \to τ^+ τ^-$ due to $a_τ$ and $d_τ$ are enhanced at high energies. Less precise measurements at hadron colliders can therefore offer the same or better sensitivity to new physics with respect to high-precision low-energy measurements performed at lepton machines. We derive bounds on $a_τ$ and $d_τ$ using the full LHC Run II data set on tau-pair production and compare our findings with the current best limits on the tau anomalous moments.

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arXiv2023

SMEFT at NNLO$+$PS: $Vh$ production

In the context of the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT) the next-to-next-to-leading (NNLO) QCD corrections to the Higgsstrahlungs ($Vh$) processes in hadronic collisions are calculated and matched to a parton shower (PS). NNLO+PS precision is achieved for the complete sets of SMEFT operators that describe the interactions between the Higgs and two vector bosons and the couplings of the Higgs, a $W$ or a $Z$ boson, and light fermions. A POWHEG-BOX implementation of the computed NNLO SMEFT corrections is provided that allows for a realistic exclusive description of $Vh$ production at the level of hadronic events. This feature makes it an essential tool for future Higgs characterisation studies by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations. Utilising our new Monte Carlo code the numerical impact of NNLO+PS corrections on the kinematic distributions in $pp \to Zh \to \ell^+ \ell^- h$ production is explored, employing well-motivated SMEFT benchmark scenarios.

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arXiv2023

QED effects in inclusive semi-leptonic $B$ decays

We analyse in detail the QED corrections to the total decay width and the moments of the electron energy spectrum of the inclusive semi-leptonic $B \to X_c e \nu$ decay. Our calculation includes short-distance electroweak corrections, the complete ${\cal O}(\alpha)$ partonic terms and leading-logarithmic QED effects up to ${\cal O}(\Lambda^3_{\rm QCD}/m_b^3)$. A comprehensive numerical comparison of our results against those obtained with the Monte Carlo (MC) tool PHOTOS is presented. While the comparison indicates good overall agreement, our computation contains QED effects not included in PHOTOS and should therefore better describe photon radiation to $B \to X_c e \nu$ as measured by the $B$-factories. Our calculations represent the first steps in the construction of a fully differential higher-order QED MC generator for inclusive semi-leptonic $B$ decays.

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arXiv2023

Long-lived particle phenomenology in the 2HDM+$a$ model

Higgs decays displaced from the primary interaction vertex represent a striking experimental signature that is actively searched for by the ATLAS, CMS and LHCb collaborations. We point out that signals of this type appear in the context of the 2HDM+$a$ model if the mixing angle $θ$ of the two CP-odd weak spin-0 eigenstates is tiny and the dark matter (DM) sector is either decoupled or kinematically inaccessible. Utilising two suitable benchmark scenarios, we determine the constraints on the parameter space of the 2HDM+$a$ model that are set by the existing LHC searches for long-lived particles (LLPs) in Higgs decays. We find that depending on the precise mass spectrum of the spin-0 states, mixing angles $θ$ in the ballpark of a few $10^{-8}$ to $10^{-5}$ can be excluded based on LHC Run II data. This finding emphasises the unique role that searches for displaced signatures can play in constraining the parameter space of the 2HDM+$a$ model. The ensuing DM phenomenology is also discussed. In particular, we show that parameter choices leading to an interesting LLP phenomenology can simultaneously explain the DM abundance observed in today's Universe.

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arXiv2023

Drell-Yan production in third-generation gauge vector leptoquark models at NLO+PS in QCD

Motivated by the long-standing hints of lepton-flavour non-universality in the $b \to c \ell ν$ and $b \to s \ell^+ \ell^-$ channels, we study Drell-Yan ditau production at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In the context of models with third-generation gauge vector leptoquarks (LQs), we calculate the complete ${\cal O} (α_s)$ corrections to the $pp \to τ^+ τ^-$ process, achieving next-to-leading order (NLO) plus parton shower (NLO$+$PS) accuracy using the POWHEG method. We provide a dedicated Monte Carlo code that evaluates the NLO QCD corrections on-the-fly in the event generation and use it to study the numerical impact of NLO$+$PS corrections on the kinematic distributions that enter the existing experimental searches for non-resonant ditau final states. Based on our phenomenological analysis we derive NLO accurate constraints on the masses and couplings of third-generation gauge vector LQs using the latest LHC ditau search results corresponding to an integrated luminosity of around $140 \, {\rm fb}^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13 \, {\rm TeV}$. The presented NLO$+$PS generator allows for an improved signal modelling, making it an essential tool for future ATLAS and CMS searches for vector LQs in $τ^+ τ^-$ final states at LHC Run III and beyond.

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