We overview progress in the development of general-purpose CTEQ PDFs. The preprint is based on four talks presented by H.-L. Lai and P. Nadolsky at the 17th International Workshop on Deep Inelastic Scattering and Related Subjects (DIS 2009).
The latest CTEQ6.6 parton distributions, obtained by global analysis of hard scattering data in the framework of general-mass perturbative QCD, are employed to study theoretical predictions and their uncertainties for significant processes at the Fer
milab Tevatron and CERN Large Hadron Collider. The previously observed increase in predicted cross sections for the standard-candle W and Z boson production processes in the general-mass scheme (compared to those in the zero-mass scheme) is further investigated and quantified. A novel method to constrain PDF uncertainties in LHC observables, by effectively exploiting PDF-induced correlations with benchmark standard model cross sections, is presented. Using this method, we show that the top-antitop pair cross section can potentially serve as a standard candle observable for the LHC processes dominated by initial-state gluon scattering. Among other benefits, precise measurements of $tbar{t}$ cross sections would reduce PDF uncertainties in predictions for single-top quark and Higgs boson production in the standard model and minimal supersymmetric standard model.
A fully differential calculation in perturbative quantum chromodynamics is presented for the production of massive photon pairs at hadron colliders. All next-to-leading order perturbative contributions from quark-antiquark, gluon-(anti)quark, and glu
on-gluon subprocesses are included, as well as all-orders resummation of initial-state gluon radiation valid at next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy. The region of phase space is specified in which the calculation is most reliable. Good agreement is demonstrated with data from the Fermilab Tevatron, and predictions are made for more detailed tests with CDF and DO data. Predictions are shown for distributions of diphoton pairs produced at the energy of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Distributions of the diphoton pairs from the decay of a Higgs boson are contrasted with those produced from QCD processes at the LHC, showing that enhanced sensitivity to the signal can be obtained with judicious selection of events.
