No Arabic abstract
LHC $tbar{t}$ data have the potential to provide constraints on the gluon distribution, especially at high $x$, with both ATLAS and CMS performing differential measurements. Recently, CMS has measured double-differential $tbar{t}$ distributions at 8 TeV. In this paper we examine the impact of this data set on the gluon distribution. To that end we develop novel, double-differential NNLO predictions for that data. No significant impact is found when the CMS data is added to the CT14HERA2 global PDF fit, due to the larger impact of the inclusive jet data from both the Tevatron and the LHC. If the jet data are removed from the fit, then an impact is observed. If the CMS data is scaled by a larger weight, representing the greater statistical power of the jet data, a roughly equal impact on the gluon distribution is observed for the $tbar{t}$ as for the inclusive jet data. For data samples with higher integrated luminosity at 13 TeV, a more significant impact of the double-differential $tbar{t}$ data may be observed.
Top-quark pair production at the LHC is directly sensitive to the gluon PDF at large x. While total cross-section data is already included in several PDF determinations, differential distributions are not, because the corresponding NNLO calculations have become available only recently. In this work we study the impact on the large-x gluon of top-quark pair differential distributions measured by ATLAS and CMS at $sqrt{s}=8$ TeV. Our analysis, performed in the NNPDF3.0 framework at NNLO accuracy, allows us to identify the optimal combination of LHC top-quark pair measurements that maximize the constraints on the gluon, as well as to assess the compatibility between ATLAS and CMS data. We find that differential distributions from top-quark pair production provide significant constraints on the large-x gluon, comparable to those obtained from inclusive jet production data, and thus should become an important ingredient for the next generation of global PDF fits.
Motivated by the desire to understand the nucleon mass structure in terms of light-cone distributions, we introduce the twist-four parton distribution function $F(x)$ whose first moment is the gluon condensate in the nucleon. We present the equation of motion relations for $F(x)$ and discuss the possible existence of the delta function (`zero mode) contribution at $x=0$. We also perform one-loop calculations for quark and gluon targets.
We present two equivalent consistency checks of the momentum sum rule for double parton distributions and show the importance of the inclusion of the so-called inhomogeneous term in order to preserve correct longitudinal momentum correlations. We further discuss in some detail the kinematics of the splitting at the basis of the inhomogeneous term and update the double parton distributions evolution equations at different virtualities.
We write down the four-dimensional fully differential decay distribution for the top quark decay $t to Wb to ell u b$. We discuss how its eight physical parameters can be measured, either with a global fit or with the use of selected one-dimensional distributions and asymmetries. We give expressions for the top decay amplitudes for a general $tbW$ interaction, and show how the untangled measurement of the two components of the fraction of longitudinal $W$ bosons - those with $b$ quark helicities of $1/2$ and $-1/2$, respectively - could improve the precision of a global fit to the $tbW$ vertex.
We present a systematic investigation of jet production at hadron colliders from a phenomenological point of view, with the dual aim of providing a validation of theoretical calculations and guidance to future determinations of parton distributions (PDFs). We account for all available inclusive jet and dijet production measurements from ATLAS and CMS at 7 and 8 TeV by including them in a global PDF determination, and comparing to theoretical predictions at NNLO QCD supplemented by electroweak (EW) corrections. We assess the compatibility of the PDFs, specifically the gluon, obtained before and after inclusion of the jet data. We compare the single-inclusive jet and dijet observables in terms of perturbative behaviour upon inclusion of QCD and EW corrections, impact on the PDFs, and global fit quality. In the single-inclusive case, we also investigate the role played by different scale choices and the stability of the results upon changes in modelling of the correlated experimental systematics.