Ingo Schienbein

nCTEQ15: Global analysis of nuclear parton distributions with uncertainties in the CTEQ framework

We present the new nCTEQ15 set of nuclear parton distribution functions with uncertainties. This fit extends the CTEQ proton PDFs to include the nuclear dependence using data on nuclei all the way up to 208^Pb. The uncertainties are determined using the Hessian method with an optimal rescaling of the eigenvectors to accurately represent the uncertainties for the chosen tolerance criteria. In addition to the Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS) and Drell-Yan (DY) processes, we also include inclusive pion production data from RHIC to help constrain the nuclear gluon PDF. Furthermore, we investigate the correlation of the data sets with specific nPDF flavor components, and asses the impact of individual experiments. We also provide comparisons of the nCTEQ15 set with recent fits from other groups.

PyR@TE ☆: Renormalization group equations for general gauge theories

Abstract Although the two-loop renormalization group equations for a general gauge field theory have been known for quite some time, deriving them for specific models has often been difficult in practice. This is mainly due to the fact that, albeit straightforward, the involved calculations are quite long, tedious and prone to error. The present work is an attempt to facilitate the practical use of the renormalization group equations in model building. To that end, we have developed two completely independent sets of programs written in Python and Mathematica , respectively. The Mathematica scripts will be part of an upcoming release of SARAH 4. The present article describes the collection of Python routines that we dubbed PyR@TE which is an acronym for “Python Renormalization group equations At Two-loop for Everyone”. In PyR@TE, once the user specifies the gauge group and the particle content of the model, the routines automatically generate the full two-loop renormalization group equations for all (dimensionless and dimensionful) parameters. The results can optionally be exported to LaTeXxa0and Mathematica , or stored in a Python data structure for further processing by other programs. For ease of use, we have implemented an interactive mode for PyR@TE in form of an IPython Notebook . As a first application, we have generated with PyR@TE the renormalization group equations for several non-supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model and found some discrepancies with the existing literature. Program summary Program title: PyR@TE Catalogue identifier: AERV_v1_0 Program summary URL: http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AERV_v1_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen’s University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: Standard CPC licence, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.html No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 924959 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 495197 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: Python. Computer: Personal computer. Operating system: Tested on Fedora 15, MacOS 10 and 11, Ubuntu 12. Classification: 11.1. External routines: SymPy, PyYAML, NumPy, IPython, SciPy Nature of problem: Deriving the renormalization group equations for a general quantum field theory. Solution method: Group theory, tensor algebra Running time: Tens of seconds per model (one-loop), tens of minutes (two-loop)

Probing gluon and heavy-quark nuclear PDFs with γ + Q production in pA collisions

We present a detailed phenomenological study of direct photon production in association with a heavy-quark jet in pA collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at next-to-leading order in QCD. The dominant contribution to the cross-section comes from the gluon-heavy-quark (gQ) initiated subprocess, making γ + Q production a process very sensitive to both the gluon and the heavy-quark parton distribution functions (PDFs). Additionally, the RHIC and LHC experiments are probing complementary kinematic regions in the momentum fraction x carried by the target partons. Thus, the nuclear production ratio

On the intrinsic bottom content of the nucleon and its impact on heavy new physics at the LHC

R_{pA}^{gamma + Q}

Parton distributions and lattice QCD calculations: a community white paper

can provide strong constraints, over a broad x-range, on the poorly determined nuclear parton distribution functions which are extremely important for the interpretation of results in heavy-ion collisions.

Inclusive B-meson production at small p_T in the general-mass variable-flavor-number scheme

A bstractHeavy quark parton distribution functions (PDFs) play an important role in several Standard Model and New Physics processes. Most analyses rely on the assumption that the charm and bottom PDFs are generated perturbatively by gluon splitting and do not involve any non-perturbative degrees of freedom. It is clearly necessary to test this hypothesis with suitable QCD processes. Conversely, a non-perturbative, intrinsic heavy quark parton distribution has been predicted in the literature. We demonstrate that to a very good approximation the scale-evolution of the intrinsic heavy quark content of the nucleon is governed by non-singlet evolution equations. This allows us to analyze the intrinsic heavy quark distributions without having to resort to a full-fledged global analysis of parton distribution functions. We exploit this freedom to model intrinsic bottom distributions which are so far missing in the literature in order to estimate the impact of this non-perturbative contribution to the bottom-quark PDF, and on parton-parton luminosities at the LHC. This technique can be applied to the case of intrinsic charm, albeit within the limitations outlined in the following.

LHC phenomenology of general SU(2)xSU(2)xU(1) models

In the framework of quantum chromodynamics (QCD), parton distribution functions (PDFs) quantify how the momentum and spin of a hadron are divided among its quark and gluon constituents. Two main approaches exist to determine PDFs. The first approach, based on QCD factorization theorems, realizes a QCD analysis of a suitable set of hard-scattering measurements, often using a variety of hadronic observables. The second approach, based on first-principle operator definitions of PDFs, uses lattice QCD to compute directly some PDF-related quantities, such as their moments. Motivated by recent progress in both approaches, in this document we present an overview of lattice-QCD and global-analysis techniques used to determine unpolarized and polarized proton PDFs and their moments. We provide benchmark numbers to validate present and future lattice-QCD calculations and we illustrate how they could be used to reduce the PDF uncertainties in current unpolarized and polarized global analyses. This document represents a first step towards establishing a common language between the two communities, to foster dialogue and to further improve our knowledge of PDFs.

Spin physics at a fixed-target experiment at the LHC (AFTER@LHC)

We calculate the cross section for the inclusive production of

Vector boson production in pPb and PbPb collisions at the LHC and its impact on nCTEQ15 PDFs

B