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W. Kilian

Publications and source records attributed to W. Kilian.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Event Generators for High-Energy Physics Experiments

We provide an overview of the status of Monte-Carlo event generators for high-energy particle physics. Guided by the experimental needs and requirements, we highlight areas of active development, and opportunities for future improvements. Particular emphasis is given to physics models and algorithms that are employed across a variety of experiments. These common themes in event generator development lead to a more comprehensive understanding of physics at the highest energies and intensities, and allow models to be tested against a wealth of data that have been accumulated over the past decades. A cohesive approach to event generator development will allow these models to be further improved and systematic uncertainties to be reduced, directly contributing to future experimental success. Event generators are part of a much larger ecosystem of computational tools. They typically involve a number of unknown model parameters that must be tuned to experimental data, while maintaining the integrity of the underlying physics models. Making both these data, and the analyses with which they have been obtained accessible to future users is an essential aspect of open science and data preservation. It ensures the consistency of physics models across a variety of experiments.

hep-ph

Automated surface feature selection using SALSA2D: Assessing distribution of Elephant carcasses in Etosha National Park

This paper describes the development of an automated knot selection method (selecting number and location of knots) for bivariate splines in a pure regression framework (SALSA2D). To demonstrate this approach we use carcass location data from Etosha National Park (ENP), Namibia to assess the spatial distribution of elephant deaths. Elephant mortality is an important component of understanding population dynamics, the overall increase or decline in populations and for disease monitoring. The presence only carcass location data were modelled using a downweighted Poisson regression (equivalent to a point-process model) and using developed method, SALSA2D, for knot selection. The result was a more realistic local/clustered intensity surface compared with an existing model averaging approach. Using the new algorithm, the carcass location data were modelled using additional environmental covariates (annual rainfall, distance to water and roads). The results showed high carcass intensity close to water holes ($<$3km) and roads ($<$2km) and in areas of the park with average rainfall ($\sim$450mm annually). Some high risk areas were identified particularly in the north east of the park and the risk of death does not always coincide with elephant distribution across the park. These findings are an important component in understanding population dynamics and drivers for population and park management. Particularly for controlling elephant numbers and/or mitigation of anthrax or other disease outbreaks.

stat.ME

Revisiting $^{129}$Xe electric dipole moment measurements applying a new global phase fitting approach

By measuring the nuclear magnetic spin precession frequencies of polarized $^{129}$Xe and $^{3}$He, a new upper limit on the $^{129}$Xe atomic electric dipole moment (EDM) $ d_\mathrm{A} (^{129}\mathrm{Xe})$ was reported in Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 143003 (2019). Here, we propose a new evaluation method based on global phase fitting (GPF) for analyzing the continuous phase development of the $^{3}$He-$^{129}$Xe comagnetometer signal. The Cramer-Rao Lower Bound on the $^{129}$Xe EDM for the GPF method is theoretically derived and shows the potential benefit of our new approach. The robustness of the GPF method is verified with Monte-Carlo studies. By optimizing the analysis parameters and adding data that could not be analyzed with the former method, we obtain a result of $d_\mathrm{A} (^{129}\mathrm{Xe}) = 1.1 \pm 3.6~\mathrm{(stat)} \pm 2.0~\mathrm{(syst)} \times 10^{-28}~ e~\mathrm{cm}$ in an unblinded analysis. For the systematic uncertainty analyses, we adopted all methods from the aforementioned PRL publication except the comagnetometer phase drift, which can be omitted using the GPF method. The updated null result can be interpreted as a new upper limit of $| d_\mathrm{A} (^{129}\mathrm{Xe}) | < 8.3 \times 10^{-28}~e~\mathrm{cm}$ at the 95\% C.L.

physics.atom-ph

Theory for the FCC-ee : Report on the 11th FCC-ee Workshop

The Future Circular Collider (FCC) at CERN, a proposed 100-km circular facility with several colliders in succession, culminates with a 100 TeV proton-proton collider. It offers a vast new domain of exploration in particle physics, with orders of magnitude advances in terms of Precision, Sensitivity and Energy. The implementation plan foresees, as a first step, an Electroweak Factory electron-positron collider. This high luminosity facility, operating between 90 and 365 GeV centre-of-mass energy, will study the heavy particles of the Standard Model, Z, W, Higgs, and top with unprecedented accuracy. The Electroweak Factory $e^+e^-$ collider constitutes a real challenge to the theory and to precision calculations, triggering the need for the development of new mathematical methods and software tools. A first workshop in 2018 had focused on the first FCC-ee stage, the Tera-Z, and confronted the theoretical status of precision Standard Model calculations on the Z-boson resonance to the experimental demands. The second workshop in January 2019, which is reported here, extended the scope to the next stages, with the production of W-bosons (FCC-ee-W), the Higgs boson (FCC-ee-H) and top quarks (FCC-ee-tt). In particular, the theoretical precision in the determination of the crucial input parameters, alpha_QED, alpha_QCD, M_W, m_t at the level of FCC-ee requirements is thoroughly discussed. The requirements on Standard Model theory calculations were spelled out, so as to meet the demanding accuracy of the FCC-ee experimental potential. The discussion of innovative methods and tools for multi-loop calculations was deepened. Furthermore, phenomenological analyses beyond the Standard Model were discussed, in particular the effective theory approaches. The reports of 2018 and 2019 serve as white papers of the workshop results and subsequent developments.

hep-ph

Top-Quark Physics at the CLIC Electron-Positron Linear Collider

The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) is a proposed future high-luminosity linear electron-positron collider operating at three energy stages, with nominal centre-of-mass energies: 380 GeV, 1.5 TeV, and 3 TeV. Its aim is to explore the energy frontier, providing sensitivity to physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM) and precision measurements of Standard Model processes with an emphasis on Higgs boson and top-quark physics. The opportunities for top-quark physics at CLIC are discussed in this paper. The initial stage of operation focuses on top-quark pair production measurements, as well as the search for rare flavour-changing neutral current (FCNC) top-quark decays. It also includes a top-quark pair production threshold scan around 350 GeV which provides a precise measurement of the top-quark mass in a well-defined theoretical framework. At the higher-energy stages, studies are made of top-quark pairs produced in association with other particles. A study of ttH production including the extraction of the top Yukawa coupling is presented as well as a study of vector boson fusion (VBF) production, which gives direct access to high-energy electroweak interactions. Operation above 1 TeV leads to more highly collimated jet environments where dedicated methods are used to analyse the jet constituents. These techniques enable studies of the top-quark pair production, and hence the sensitivity to BSM physics, to be extended to higher energies. This paper also includes phenomenological interpretations that may be performed using the results from the extensive top-quark physics programme at CLIC.

hep-ex

New Limit on the Permanent Electric Dipole Moment of $^{129}$Xe using $^{3}$He Comagnetometry and SQUID Detection

We report results of a new technique to measure the electric dipole moment of $^{129}$Xe with $^3$He comagnetometry. Both species are polarized using spin-exchange optical pumping, transferred to a measurement cell, and transported into a magnetically shielded room, where SQUID magnetometers detect free precession in applied electric and magnetic fields. The result from a one week measurement campaign in 2017 and a 2.5 week campaign in 2018, combined with detailed study of systematic effects, is $d_A(^{129}\mathrm{Xe}) = (1.4 \pm 6.6_\mathrm{stat} \pm 2.0_\mathrm{syst})\times10^{-28}~e\,\mathrm{cm}$. This corresponds to an upper limit of $|d_A(^{129}\mathrm{Xe})| < 1.4 \times 10^{-27} ~e\,\mathrm{cm}~(95\%~\mathrm{CL})$, a factor of five more sensitive than the limit set in 2001.

physics.atom-ph

The CLIC Potential for New Physics

The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) is a mature option for the future of high energy physics. It combines the benefits of the clean environment of $e^+e^-$ colliders with operation at high centre-of-mass energies, allowing to probe scales beyond the reach of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) for many scenarios of new physics. This places the CLIC project at a privileged spot in between the precision and energy frontiers, with capabilities that will significantly extend knowledge on both fronts at the end of the LHC era. In this report we review and revisit the potential of CLIC to search, directly and indirectly, for physics beyond the Standard Model.

hep-ph

A new measurement of the permanent electric dipole moment of $^{129}$Xe using $^{3}$He comagnetometry and SQUID detection

We describe a new technique to measure the EDM of $^{129}$Xe with $^3$He comagnetometry. Both species are polarized using spin-exchange optical pumping, transferred to a measurement cell, and transported into a magnetically shielded room, where SQUID magnetometers detect free precession in applied electric and magnetic fields. The result of a one week run combined with a detailed study of systematic effects is $d_A(^{129}\mathrm{Xe}) = (0.26 \pm 2.33_\mathrm{stat} \pm 0.72_\mathrm{syst})\times10^{-27}~e\,\mathrm{cm}$. This corresponds to an upper limit of $|d_A(^{129}\mathrm{Xe})| < 4.81\times 10^{-27} ~e\,\mathrm{cm}~(95\%~\mathrm{CL})$, a factor of 1.4 more sensitive than the previous limit.

physics.atom-ph

New Developments in WHIZARD Version 2.6

We describe recent additions to the WHIZARD 2 Monte-Carlo event generator which improve the physics description of lepton-collider event samples and speed up the calculation time required for cross sections and event generation.

hep-ph

Scattering of W and Z Bosons at High-Energy Lepton Colliders

We present a new study of quasi-elastic $W$ and $Z$ scattering processes in high-energy $e^+e^-$ collisions, based on and extrapolating the low-energy effective theory which extends the Standard Model with a 125 GeV Higgs boson. Besides parameterizing deviations in terms of the dimension-8 operators that arise in the effective theory, we also study simplified models of new physics in $W/Z$ scattering in terms of scalar and tensor resonance multiplets. The high-energy asymptotics of all models is regulated by a universal unitarization procedure. This enables us to provide benchmark scenarios which can be meaningfully evaluated off-shell and in exclusive event samples, and to determine the sensitivity of an $e^+e^-$ collider to the model parameters. We analyze the longitudinal vector boson scattering modes, where we optimize the cuts for the fiducial cross section for different collider scenarios. Here, we choose energy stages of 1.0, 1.4 and 3 TeV, as motivated by the extendability of the ILC project and the staging scenario of the CLIC project.

hep-ph

New Physics / Resonances in Vector Boson Scattering at the LHC

Vector boson scattering is (together with the production of multiple electroweak gauge bosons) the key process in the current run 2 of LHC to probe the microscopic nature of electroweak symmetry breaking. Deviations from the Standard Model are generically parameterized by higher-dimensional operators, however, there is a subtle issue of perturbative unitarity for such approaches for the process above. We discuss a parameter-free unitarization prescription to get physically meaningful predictions. In the second part, we construct simplified models for generic new resonances that can appear in vector boson scattering, with a special focus on the technicalities of tensor resonances.

hep-ph

High-Energy Vector Boson Scattering after the Higgs Discovery

Weak vector-boson W,Z scattering at high energy probes the Higgs sector and is most sensitive to any new physics associated with electroweak symmetry breaking. We show that in the presence of the 125 GeV Higgs boson, a conventional effective-theory analysis fails for this class of processes. We propose to extrapolate the effective-theory ansatz by an extension of the parameter-free K-matrix unitarization prescription, which we denote as direct T-matrix unitarization. We generalize this prescription to arbitrary non-perturbative models and describe the implementation, as an asymptotically consistent reference model matched to the low-energy effective theory. We present exemplary numerical results for full six-fermion processes at the LHC.

hep-ph

Resonances at the LHC beyond the Higgs: The Scalar/Tensor Case

We study in a bottom-up approach the theoretically consistent description of additional resonances in the electroweak sector beyond the discovered Higgs boson as simplified models. We focus on scalar and tensor resonances. Our formalism is suited for strongly coupled models, but can also be applied to weakly interacting theories. The spurious degrees of freedom of tensor resonances that would lead to bad high-energy behavior are treated using a generalization of the Stuckelberg formalism. We calculate scattering amplitudes for vector-boson and Higgs boson pairs. The high-energy region is regulated by the T-matrix unitarization procedure, leading to amplitudes that are well behaved on the whole phase space. We present numerical results for complete partonic processes that involve resonant vector-boson scattering, for the current and upcoming runs of LHC.

hep-ph

QCD NLO with Powheg matching and top threshold matching in WHIZARD

We present the status of the automation of NLO processes within the event generator WHIZARD. The program provides an automated FKS subtraction and phase space integration over the FKS regions, while the (QCD) NLO matrix element is accessed via the Binoth Les Houches Interface from an externally linked one-loop program. Massless and massive test cases and validation are shown for several e+e- processes. Furthermore, we discuss work in progress and future plans. The second part covers the matching of the NRQCD prediction with NLL threshold resummation to the NLO continuum top pair production at lepton colliders. Both the S-wave and P-wave production of the top pair are taken into account in the resummation. The inclusion in WHIZARD allows to study more exclusive observables than just the total cross section and automatically accounts for important electroweak and relativistic corrections in the threshold region.

hep-ph

Top Physics in WHIZARD

In this talk we summarize the top physics setup in the event generator WHIZARD with a main focus on lepton colliders. This includes full six-, eight- and ten-fermion processes, factorized processes and spin correlations. For lepton colliders, QCD NLO processes for top quark physics are available and will be discussed. A special focus is on the top-quark pair threshold, where a special implementation combines a non-relativistic effective field theory calculation augmented by a next-to-leading threshold logarithm resummation with a continuum relativistic fixed-order QCD NLO simulation.

hep-ph

Automation of NLO processes and decays and POWHEG matching in WHIZARD

We give a status report on the automation of next-to-leading order processes within the Monte Carlo event generator WHIZARD, using GoSam and OpenLoops as provider for one-loop matrix elements. To deal with divergences, WHIZARD uses automated FKS subtraction, and the phase space for singular regions is generated automatically. NLO examples for both scattering and decay processes with a focus on e+e- processes are shown. Also, first NLO-studies of observables for collisions of polarized leptons beams, e.g. at the ILC, will be presented. Furthermore, the automatic matching of the fixed-order NLO amplitudes with emissions from the parton shower within the POWHEG formalism inside WHIZARD will be discussed. We also present results for top pairs at threshold in lepton collisions, including matching between a resummed threshold calculation and fixed-order NLO. This allows the investigation of more exclusive differential observables.

hep-ph

Automated NLO QCD Corrections with WHIZARD

We briefly discuss the current status of NLO QCD automation in the Monte Carlo event generator WHIZARD. The functionality is presented for the explicit study of off-shell top quark production with associated backgrounds at a lepton collider.

hep-ph

Matching NLO QCD Corrections in WHIZARD with the POWHEG scheme

Building on the new automatic subtraction of NLO amplitudes in WHIZARD, we present our implementation of the POWHEG scheme to match radiative corrections consistently with the parton shower. We apply this general framework to two linear collider processes, $e^+e^-\,\to\,t\bar{t}$ and $e^+e^-\,\to\,t\bar{t}H$.

hep-ph