Marek Schönherr

Event generation with SHERPA 1.1

In this paper the current release of the Monte Carlo event generator Sherpa, version 1.1, is presented. Sherpa is a general-purpose tool for the simulation of particle collisions at high-energy colliders. It contains a very flexible tree-level matrix-element generator for the calculation of hard scattering processes within the Standard Model and various new physics models. The emission of additional QCD partons off the initial and final states is described through a parton-shower model. To consistently combine multi-parton matrix elements with the QCD parton cascades the approach of Catani, Krauss, Kuhn and Webber is employed. A simple model of multiple interactions is used to account for underlying events in hadron-hadron collisions. The fragmentation of partons into primary hadrons is described using a phenomenological cluster-hadronisation model. A comprehensive library for simulating tau-lepton and hadron decays is provided. Where available form-factor models and matrix elements are used, allowing for the inclusion of spin correlations; effects of virtual and real QED corrections are included using the approach of Yennie, Frautschi and Suura.

QCD Matrix Elements + Parton Showers: The NLO Case

A bstractWe present a process-independent technique to consistently combine next-to-leading order parton-level calculations of varying jet multiplicity and parton showers. Double counting is avoided by means of a modified truncated shower scheme. This method preserves both the fixed-order accuracy of the parton-level result and the logarithmic accuracy of the parton shower. We discuss the renormalisation and factorisation scale dependence of the approach and present results from an automated implementation in the SHERPA event generator using the test case of W -boson production at the Large Hadron Collider. We observe a dramatic reduction of theoretical uncertainties compared to existing methods which underlines the predictive power of our novel technique.

NLO matrix elements and truncated showers

In this publication, an algorithm is presented that combines the ME+PS approach to merge sequences of tree-level matrix elements into inclusive event samples [1] with the Powheg method, which combines exact next-to-leading order matrix element results with the parton shower [2, 3]. It was developed in parallel to the MEnloPS technique discussed in [4] and has been implemented in the event generator Sherpa [5, 6]. The benefits of this approach are exemplified by some first predictions for a number of processes, namely the production of jets in e+e−-annihilation, in deep-inelastic ep scattering, in association with single W, Z or Higgs bosons, and with vector boson pairs at hadron colliders.

A critical appraisal of NLO+PS matching methods

A bstractIn this publication, uncertainties in and differences between the MC@NLO and POWHEG methods for matching next-to-leading order QCD calculations with parton showers are discussed. Implementations of both algorithms within the event generator SHERPA and based on Catani-Seymour subtraction are employed to assess the impact on a representative selection of observables. In the case of MC@NLO a substantial simplification is achieved by using dipole subtraction terms to generate the first emission. A phase space restriction is employed, which allows to vary in a transparent way the amount of non-singular radiative corrections that are exponentiated. Effects on various observables are investigated, using the production of a Higgs boson in gluon fusion, with or without an associated jet, as a benchmark process. The case of H+jet production is presented for the first time in an NLO+PS matched simulation. Uncertainties due to scale choices and non-perturbative effects are explored in the production of W± and Z bosons in association with a jet. Corresponding results are compared to data from the Tevatron and LHC experiments.

Automating the POWHEG method in Sherpa

A new implementation of the Powheg method [1, 2] into the Monte-Carlo event generator Sherpa [3, 4] is presented, focusing on processes with a simple colour structure. Results for a variety of reactions, namely e+e−→ hadrons, deep-inelastic lepton-nucleon scattering, hadroproduction of single vector bosons and of vector boson pairs as well as the production of Higgs bosons in gluon fusion serve as test cases for the successful realisation. The algorithm is highly automated such that for other processes with simple colour topology only virtual matrix elements need to be provided.

NLO QCD matrix elements + parton showers in e + e ! hadrons

A bstractWe present a new approach to combine multiple NLO parton-level calculations matched to parton showers into a single inclusive event sample. The method provides a description of hard multi-jet configurations at next-to leading order in the perturbative expansion of QCD, and it is supplemented with the all-orders resummed modelling of jet fragmentation provided by the parton shower. The formal accuracy of this technique is discussed in detail, invoking the example of electron-positron annihilation into hadrons. We focus on the effect of renormalisation scale variations in particular. Comparison with experimental data from LEP underlines that this novel formalism describes data with a theoretical accuracy that has hitherto not been achieved in standard Monte Carlo event generators.

NLO electroweak automation and precise predictions for W + multijet production at the LHC

A bstractWe present a fully automated implementation of next-to-leading order electroweak (NLO EW) corrections in the OpenLoops matrix-element generator combined with the Sherpa and Munich Monte Carlo frameworks. The process-independent character of the implemented algorithms opens the door to NLO QCD + EW simulations for a vast range of Standard Model processes, up to high particle multiplicity, at current and future colliders. As a first application, we present NLO QCD + EW predictions for the production of positively charged on-shell W bosons in association with up to three jets at the Large Hadron Collider. At the TeV energy scale, due to the presence of large Sudakov logarithms, EW corrections reach the 20-40% level and play an important role for searches of physics beyond the Standard Model. The dependence of NLO EW effects on the jet multiplicity is investigated in detail, and we find that W + multijet final states feature genuinely different EW effects as compared to the case of W + 1 jet.

NLO QCD+EW predictions for V + jets including off-shell vector-boson decays and multijet merging

A bstractWe present next-to-leading order (NLO) predictions including QCD and electroweak (EW) corrections for the production and decay of off-shell electroweak vector bosons in association with up to two jets at the 13 TeV LHC. All possible dilepton final states with zero, one or two charged leptons that can arise from off-shell W and Z bosons or photons are considered. All predictions are obtained using the automated implementation of NLO QCD+EW corrections in the OpenLoops matrix-element generator combined with the Munich and Sherpa Monte Carlo frameworks. Electroweak corrections play an especially important role in the context of BSM searches, due to the presence of large EW Sudakov logarithms at the TeV scale. In this kinematic regime, important observables such as the jet transverse momentum or the total transverse energy are strongly sensitive to multijet emissions. As a result, fixed-order NLO QCD+EW predictions are plagued by huge QCD corrections and poor theoretical precision. To remedy this problem we present an approximate method that allows for a simple and reliable implementation of NLO EW corrections in the MePs@Nlo multijet merging framework. Using this general approach we present an inclusive simulation of vector-boson production in association with jets that guarantees NLO QCD+EW accuracy in all phase-space regions involving up to two resolved jets.

Soft photon radiation in particle decays in SHERPA

In this paper the Yennie–Frautschi–Suura approach is used to simulate real and virtual QED corrections in particle decays. It makes use of the universal structure of soft photon corrections to resum the leading logarithmic QED corrections to all orders, and it allows a systematic correction of this approximate result to exact fixed order results from perturbation theory. The approach has been implemented as a Monte Carlo algorithm, which a posteriori modifies decay matrix elements through the emission of varying numbers of photons. The corresponding computer code is incorporated into the SHERPA event generator framework.

Update of the Binoth Les Houches Accord for a standard interface between Monte Carlo tools and one-loop programs

We present an update of the Binoth Les Houches Accord (BLHA) to standardise the interface between Monte Carlo programs and codes providing one-loop matrix elements.