We compute the interference between the resonant process $ppto H(rightarrow gammagamma)+2 text{ jets}$ and the corresponding continuum background at leading order in QCD. For the Higgs signal, we include gluon fusion (GF) and vector boson fusion (VBF
) production channels, while for the background we consider all tree-level contributions, including pure EW effects (${cal O}(alpha_{QED}^4)$) and QCD contributions (${cal O}(alpha_{QED}^2 alpha_{s}^2)$), plus the loop-induced gluon-initiated process. After convolution with the experimental mass resolution, the main effect of the interference is to shift the position of the mass peak, as in the inclusive GF case studied previously. The apparent mass shift is small in magnitude but strongly dependent on the Higgs width, potentially allowing for a measurement of, or bound on, the width itself. In the $H(rightarrow gammagamma)+2 text{ jets}$ channel, the VBF and GF contributions generate shifts of opposite signs which largely cancel, depending on the sets of cuts used, to as little as 5 MeV (toward a lower Higgs mass). The small magnitude of the shift makes this channel a good reference mass for measuring the inclusive mass shift of around 60 MeV in the Standard Model.
In this contribution we present recent progress in the computation of next-to-leading order (NLO) QCD corrections for the production of an electroweak vector boson in association with jets at hadron colliders. We focus on results obtained using the v
irtual matrix element library BLACKHAT in conjunction with SHERPA, focusing on results relevant to understanding the background to top production.
We review recent NLO QCD results for W,Z + 3-jet production at hadron colliders, computed using BlackHat and SHERPA. We also include some new results for Z + 3-jet production at the LHC at 7 TeV. We report new progress towards the NLO cross section f
or W + 4-jet production. In particular, we show that the virtual matrix elements produced by BlackHat are numerically stable. We also show that with an improved integrator and tree-level matrix elements from BlackHat, SHERPA produces well-behaved real-emission contributions. As an illustration, we present the real-emission contributions -- including dipole-subtraction terms -- to the p_T distribution of the fourth jet, for a single subprocess with the maximum number of gluons.
Using BlackHat in conjunction with SHERPA, we have computed next-to-leading order QCD predictions for a variety of distributions in Z,gamma*+1,2,3-jet production at the Tevatron, where the Z boson or off-shell photon decays into an electron-positron
pair. We find good agreement between the NLO results for jet p_T distributions and measurements by CDF and D0. We also present jet-production ratios, or probabilities of finding one additional jet. As a function of vector-boson p_T, the ratios have distinctive features which we describe in terms of a simple model capturing leading logarithms and phase-space and parton-distribution-function suppression.
Using the method of maximal cuts, we obtain a form of the three-loop four-point scattering amplitude of N=8 supergravity in which all ultraviolet cancellations are made manifest. The Feynman loop integrals that appear have a graphical representation
with only cubic vertices, and numerator factors that are quadratic in the loop momenta, rather than quartic as in the previous form. This quadratic behavior reflects cancellations beyond those required for finiteness, and matches the quadratic behavior of the three-loop four-point scattering amplitude in N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory. By direct integration we confirm that no additional cancellations remain in the N=8 supergravity amplitude, thus demonstrating that the critical dimension in which the first ultraviolet divergence occurs at three loops is D_c=6. We also give the values of the three-loop divergences in D=7,9,11. In addition, we present the explicitly color-dressed three-loop four-point amplitude of N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory.
We give a representation of the parity-even part of the planar two-loop six-gluon MHV amplitude of N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory, in terms of loop-momentum integrals with simple dual conformal properties. We evaluate the integrals numerically in order
to test directly the ABDK/BDS all-loop ansatz for planar MHV amplitudes. We find that the ansatz requires an additive remainder function, in accord with previous indications from strong-coupling and Regge limits. The planar six-gluon amplitude can also be compared with the hexagonal Wilson loop computed by Drummond, Henn, Korchemsky and Sokatchev in arXiv:0803.1466 [hep-th]. After accounting for differing singularities and other constants independent of the kinematics, we find that the Wilson loop and MHV-amplitude remainders are identical, to within our numerical precision. This result provides non-trivial confirmation of a proposed n-point equivalence between Wilson loops and planar MHV amplitudes, and suggests that an additional mechanism besides dual conformal symmetry fixes their form at six points and beyond.
