ABSTRACT
High-energy jets recoiling against missing transverse energy (MET) are powerful probes of dark matter at the LHC. Searches based on large MET signatures require a precise control of the Z ( ν ν ¯ ) + jet background in the signal region. This can be achieved by taking accurate data in control regions dominated by Z ( â + â - ) + jet, W ( â ν ) + jet and γ + jet production, and extrapolating to the Z ( ν ν ¯ ) + jet background by means of precise theoretical predictions. In this context, recent advances in perturbative calculations open the door to significant sensitivity improvements in dark matter searches. In this spirit, we present a combination of state-of-the-art calculations for all relevant V + jets processes, including throughout NNLO QCD corrections and NLO electroweak corrections supplemented by Sudakov logarithms at two loops. Predictions at parton level are provided together with detailed recommendations for their usage in experimental analyses based on the reweighting of Monte Carlo samples. Particular attention is devoted to the estimate of theoretical uncertainties in the framework of dark matter searches, where subtle aspects such as correlations across different V + jet processes play a key role. The anticipated theoretical uncertainty in the Z ( ν ν ¯ ) + jet background is at the few percent level up to the TeV range.
ABSTRACT
Charged gauge boson pair production at the Large Hadron Collider allows detailed probes of the fundamental structure of electroweak interactions. We present precise theoretical predictions for on-shell W+ W- production that include, for the first time, QCD effects up to next to next to leading order in perturbation theory. As compared to next to leading order, the inclusive W+ W- cross section is enhanced by 9% at 7 TeV and 12% at 14 TeV. The residual perturbative uncertainty is at the 3% level. The severe contamination of the W+ W- cross section due to top-quark resonances is discussed in detail. Comparing different definitions of top-free W+ W- production in the four and five flavor number schemes, we demonstrate that top-quark resonances can be separated from the inclusive W+ W- cross section without a significant loss of theoretical precision.
ABSTRACT
We introduce a new technique to generate scattering amplitudes at one loop. Traditional tree algorithms, which handle diagrams with fixed momenta, are promoted to generators of loop-momentum polynomials that we call open loops. Combining open loops with tensor-integral and Ossola-Papadopoulos-Pittau reduction results in a fully flexible, very fast, and numerically stable one-loop generator. As demonstrated with nontrivial applications, the open-loop approach will permit us to obtain precise predictions for a very wide range of collider processes.
ABSTRACT
Top-antitop quark pairs belong to the most abundantly produced and precisely measurable heavy-particle signatures at hadron colliders and allow for crucial tests of the standard model and new physics searches. Here we report on the calculation of the next-to-leading order (NLO) QCD corrections to hadronic W(+)W(-)bb production, which provides a complete NLO description of the production of top-antitop pairs and their subsequent decay into W bosons and bottom quarks, including interferences, off-shell effects, and nonresonant backgrounds. Numerical predictions for the Tevatron and the LHC are presented.
ABSTRACT
We report on the calculation of the full next-to-leading-order QCD corrections to the production of ttbb final states at the LHC, which deliver a serious background contribution to the production of a Higgs boson (decaying into a bb pair) in association with a tt pair. While the corrections significantly reduce the unphysical scale dependence of the leading-order cross section, our results predict an enhancement of the ttbb production cross section by a K factor of about 1.8.
