No Arabic abstract
We have implemented a code for Z + n jets production in ALPGEN, with Z decays into several final states, including l+ l- and t tbar. The MLM prescription is used for matching the matrix element with the parton shower, including in this way the leading soft and collinear corrections. In order to demonstrate its capabilities, we perform a combined analysis of Z -> t tbar and Z -> t tbar j production for a heavy leptophobic gauge boson. It is found that the effect of the extra jet cannot only be accounted for by a K factor multiplying the leading-order cross section. In fact, the combined analysis for Z -> t tbar and Z -> t tbar j presented improves the statistical significance of the signal by 25% (8.55 sigma versus 6.77 sigma for a Z mass of 1 TeV), compared with the results of an inclusive analysis carried out on the same sample of t tbar + t tbar j events.
With the goal of increasing the precision of NLO QCD predictions for the $ppto tbar{t} gamma$ process in the di-lepton top quark decay channel we present theoretical predictions for the ${cal R}= sigma_{tbar{t}gamma}/sigma_{tbar{t}}$ cross section ratio. Results for the latter together with various differential cross section ratios are given for the LHC with the Run II energy of $sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV. Fully realistic NLO computations for $tbar{t}$ and $tbar{t}gamma$ production are employed. They are based on matrix elements for $e^+ u_e mu^- bar{ u}_mu bbar{b}$ and $e^+ u_e mu^- bar{ u}_mu bbar{b}gamma$ processes and include all resonant and non-resonant diagrams, interferences, and off-shell effects of the top quarks and the $W$ gauge bosons. Various renormalisation and factorisation scale choices and parton density functions are examined to assess their impact on the cross section ratio. Depending on the transverse momentum cut on the hard photon a judicious choice of a dynamical scale allows us to obtain $1%-3%$ percent precision on ${cal R}$. Moreover, for differential cross section ratios theoretical uncertainties in the range of $1%-6%$ have been estimated. Until now such high precision predictions have only been reserved for the top quark pair production at NNLO QCD. Thus, ${cal R}$ at NLO in QCD represents a very precise observable to be measured at the LHC for example to study the top quark charge asymmetry or to probe the strength and the structure of the $t$-$bar{t}$-$gamma$ vertex. The latter can shed some light on possible new physics that can reveal itself only once sufficiently precise theoretical predictions are available.
Precision studies of the properties of the top quark represent a cornerstone of the LHC physics program. In this contribution we focus on the production of $tbar{t}$ pairs in association with one hard jet and in particular on its connection with precision measurements of the top quark mass at the LHC. We report a summary of a full calculation of the process $pp to e^+ u_emu^-bar{ u}_mu b bar{b}j$ at NLO QCD accuracy, which describes $tbar{t}j$ production with leptonic decays beyond the Narrow Width Approximation (NWA), and discuss the impact of the off-shell effects through comparisons with NWA. Finally we explore the sensitivity of $tbar{t}j$ in the context of top-quark mass extraction with the template method, considering two benchmark observables as case studies.
A precise measurement of the top quark mass, a fundamental parameter of the Standard Model, is among the most important goals of top quark studies at the Large Hadron Collider. Apart from the standard methods, numerous new observables and reconstruction techniques are employed to improve the overall precision and to provide different sensitivities to various systematic uncertainties. Recently, the normalised inverse invariant mass distribution of the $tbar{t}$ system and the leading extra jet not coming from the top quark decays has been proposed for the $pp to tbar{t}j$ production process, denoted as ${cal R}(m_t^{pole},rho_s)$. In this paper, a thorough study of different theoretical predictions for this observable, however, with top quark decays included, is carried out. We focus on fixed order NLO QCD calculations for the di-lepton top quark decay channel at the LHC with $sqrt{s}=13$ TeV. First, the impact on the extraction of $m_t$ is investigated and afterwards the associated uncertainties are quantified. In one approach we include all interferences, off-shell effects and non-resonant backgrounds. This is contrasted with a different approach with top quark decays in the narrow width approximation. In the latter case, two cases are employed: NLO QCD corrections to the $ppto tbar{t}j$ production process with leading order decays and the more sophisticated case with QCD corrections and jet radiation present also in top quark decays. The top quark mass sensitivity of ${cal R}(m_t^{pole},rho_s)$ is investigated and compared to other observables: the invariant mass of the top anti-top pair, the minimal invariant mass of the $b$-jet and a charged lepton as well as the total transverse momentum of the $tbar{t}j$ system.
We explore the $Jbar{T}$ and $Tbar{J}$ deformations of two-dimensional field theories possessing $mathcal N=(0,1),(1,1)$ and $(0,2)$ supersymmetry. Based on the stress-tensor and flavor current multiplets, we construct various bilinear supersymmetric primary operators that induce the $Jbar{T}/Tbar{J}$ deformation in a manifestly supersymmetric way. Moreover, their supersymmetric descendants are shown to agree with the conventional $Jbar T /Tbar J$ operator on-shell. We also present some examples of $Jbar T /Tbar J$ flows arising from the supersymmetric deformation of free theories. Finally, we observe that all the deformation operators fit into a general pattern which generalizes the Smirnov-Zamolodchikov type composite operators.
We report on our recent work on electroweak corrections to $tbar{t}$ production at hadron colliders. Specifically, we discuss the weak-interaction contributions to the top quark transverse momentum and $t bar{t}$ invariant mass distributions and an induced parity-violating top-spin asymmetry.