Stochastically sampling color configurations

Abstract

Parton shower algorithms are key components of theoretical predictions for high-energy collider physics. Work toward more accurate parton shower algorithms is thus pursued along many different avenues. The systematic treatment of subleading color corrections in parton shower algorithms is, however, technically challenging and remains elusive. In this article, we present an efficient and numerically stable algorithm to sample color configurations at fixed NC=3, using the correct color factor including subleading corrections with a parton shower. The algorithm is implemented as stand-alone program that can be interfaced to the Pythia event generator. Preliminary comparisons to Large Electron-Positron Collider data are presented.