Fits Of Parton Distribution Functions Research Articles

Proton PDFs with nonlinear corrections from gluon recombination

We present numerical studies of the leading nonlinear corrections to the Dokshitzer-Gribov-Lipatov-Altarelli-Parisi evolution equations of parton distribution functions (PDFs) resulting from gluon recombination. The effect of these corrections is to reduce the pace of evolution at small momentum fractions x while slightly increasing it at intermediate x. By implementing the nonlinear evolution in the framework, we have carried out fits of proton PDFs using data on lepton-proton deep inelastic scattering from HERA, BCDMS, and NMC. While we find no evidence for the presence of nonlinearities, they cannot be entirely excluded either, and we are able to set limits for their strength. In terms of the recombination scale Qr, which plays a similar role as the saturation scale in the dipole picture of the proton, we find that Qr≲2.5 GeV. We also quantify the impact of the nonlinear terms for the longitudinal structure function at the Electron-Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Electron Collider and find that these measurements could provide stronger constraints on the projected effects. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Hide and seek: how PDFs can conceal new physics

The interpretation of LHC data, and the assessment of possible hints of new physics, require the precise knowledge of the proton structure in terms of parton distribution functions (PDFs). We present a systematic methodology designed to determine whether and how global PDF fits might inadvertently ‘fit away’ signs of new physics in the high-energy tails of the distributions. We showcase a scenario for the High-Luminosity LHC, in which the PDFs may completely absorb such signs of new physics, thus biasing theoretical predictions and interpretations. We discuss strategies to single out the effects in this scenario, and disentangle the inconsistencies that stem from them. Our study brings to light the synergy between the high luminosity programme at the LHC and future low-energy non-LHC measurements of large-x sea quark distributions. The analysis code used in this work is made public so that any users can test the robustness of the signal associated to a given BSM model against absorption by the PDFs.

Inclusion of QED corrections in PDFs fits

The need of percent precision in high energy physics requires the inclusion of QED effects in theoretical predictions, including the contribution of photon-initiated processes. In this contribution we present ongoing work towards extending the NNPDF4.0 NNLO determination of parton distribution functions (PDFs) with QED effects and a photon PDF. We study the impact of QED effects in the NNPDF4.0 fit, compare our results with NNPDF3.1QED and other recent QED PDF fits, and we assess the impact of the photon PDF for representative LHC processes.

The inclusion of theory errors in PDF fits

We present ongoing work towards incorporating the missing higher-order uncertainty (MHOU) determined through scale variations in the assessment of parton distribution functions (PDFs). Our PDFs fitting employs the NNPDF4.0 methodology and our theory covariance matrix framework to account for theory errors. This approach relies on the integration of MHOUs and their correlations via a theory covariance matrix. We validate our estimation and assess the impact of theory errors on the PDFs and on LHC phenomenology.

Approximate N^{3}LO parton distribution functions with theoretical uncertainties: MSHT20aN^3LO PDFs

We present the first global analysis of parton distribution functions (PDFs) at approximate N^{3}LO in the strong coupling constant alpha _{s}, extending beyond the current highest NNLO achieved in PDF fits. To achieve this, we present a general formalism for the inclusion of theoretical uncertainties associated with the perturbative expansion in the strong coupling. We demonstrate how using the currently available knowledge surrounding the next highest order (N^{3}LO) in alpha _{s} can provide consistent, justifiable and explainable approximate N^{3}LO (aN^{3}LO) PDFs. This includes estimates for uncertainties due the currently unknown N^{3}LO ingredients, but also implicitly some missing higher order uncertainties (MHOUs) beyond these. Specifically, we approximate the splitting functions, transition matrix elements, coefficient functions and K-factors for multiple processes to N^{3}LO. Crucially, these are constrained to be consistent with the wide range of already available information about N^{3}LO to match the complete result at this order as accurately as possible. Using this approach we perform a fully consistent approximate N^{3}LO global fit within the MSHT framework. This relies on an expansion of the Hessian procedure used in previous MSHT fits to allow for sources of theoretical uncertainties. These are included as nuisance parameters in a global fit, controlled by knowledge and intuition based prior distributions. We analyse the differences between our aN^{3}LO PDFs and the standard NNLO PDF set, and study the impact of using aN^{3}LO PDFs on the LHC production of a Higgs boson at this order. Finally, we provide guidelines on how these PDFs should be used in phenomenological investigations.

Parton distributions need representative sampling

In global QCD fits of parton distribution functions (PDFs), a large part of the estimated uncertainty on the PDFs originates from the choices of parametric functional forms and fitting methodology. We argue that these types of uncertainties can be underestimated with common PDF ensembles in high-stake measurements at the Large Hadron Collider and Tevatron. A fruitful approach to quantify these uncertainties is to view them as arising from sampling of allowed PDF solutions in a multidimensional parametric space. This approach applies powerful insights gained in recent statistical studies of large-scale population surveys and quasi-Monte Carlo integration methods. In particular, PDF fits may be affected by the big data paradox, which stipulates that more experimental data do not automatically raise the accuracy of PDFs---close attention to the data quality and sampling of possible PDF solutions is as essential. To test if the sampling of the PDF uncertainty of an experimental observable is truly representative of all acceptable solutions, we introduce a technique (``a hopscotch scan'') based on a combination of parameter scans and stochastic sampling. With this technique, we examine the PDF uncertainty on key LHC cross sections at 13 TeV obtained with the public NNPDF4.0 fitting code, while accounting for the likelihood distribution. We show that the uncertainties on the charm distribution at a large momentum fraction $x$ and gluon PDF at small $x$ are enlarged. In PDF ensembles obtained in the analytic minimization (Hessian) formalism, the tolerance on the PDF uncertainty must be based on sufficiently complete sampling of PDF functional forms and choices of the experiments.

Machine learning of log-likelihood functions in global analysis of parton distributions

Modern analysis on parton distribution functions (PDFs) requires calculations of the log-likelihood functions from thousands of experimental data points, and scans of multi-dimensional parameter space with tens of degrees of freedom. In conventional analysis the Hessian approximation has been widely used for the estimation of the PDF uncertainties. The Lagrange Multiplier (LM) scan while being a more faithful method is less used due to computational limitations, and is the main focus of this study. We propose to use Neural Networks (NNs) and machine learning techniques to model the profile of the log-likelihood functions or cross sections for multi-dimensional parameter space in order to overcome those limitations which work beyond the quadratic approximations and meanwhile ensures efficient scans of the full parameter space. We demonstrate the efficiency of the new approach in the framework of the CT18 global analysis of PDFs by constructing NNs for various target functions, and performing LM scans on PDFs and cross sections at hadron colliders. We further study the impact of the NOMAD dimuon data on constraining PDFs with the new approach, and find enhanced strange-quark distributions and reduced PDF uncertainties. Moreover, we show how the approach can be used to constrain new physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM) by a joint fit of both PDFs and Wilson coefficients of operators in the SM effective field theory.

PineAPPL: NLO EW corrections for PDF processes

Modern parton distribution function (PDF) determinations either neglect higher-order corrections in the electroweak (EW) coupling or implement them approximately for a subset of PDF processes. We present a new tool, PineAPPL, which supports perturbative correction in arbitrary powers of the EW and strong coupling constant, and stores theoretical predictions independently of the used PDFs in so-called interpolation grids. These are the foundation of any PDF determination, and will allow us to perform a PDF fit taking into account EW corrections for all processes consistently. Apart from PDF determinations PineAPPL can also be used in precision phenomenology to study the impact of different choices of PDF sets, without rerunning the time-consuming computation. As an application of this tool we show Drell-Yan (DY) lepton-pair production were larger effects of NLO EW corrections can be seen that will potentially influence the PDF fit and comment about which observables are particularly suited and NLO EW PDF fit and which are not.

The PDF4LHC21 combination of global PDF fits for the LHC Run III* *We dedicate this paper to the memory of James Stirling, Dick Roberts and Jon Pumplin, all of whom sadly died in the past few years. All three were instrumental in the development and evolution of PDF fitting, Jon for the CTEQ-TEA collaboration and James and Dick for the

A precise knowledge of the quark and gluon structure of the proton, encoded by the parton distribution functions (PDFs), is of paramount importance for the interpretation of high-energy processes at present and future lepton–hadron and hadron–hadron colliders. Motivated by recent progress in the PDF determinations carried out by the CT, MSHT, and NNPDF groups, we present an updated combination of global PDF fits: PDF4LHC21. It is based on the Monte Carlo combination of the CT18, MSHT20, and NNPDF3.1 sets followed by either its Hessian reduction or its replica compression. Extensive benchmark studies are carried out in order to disentangle the origin of the differences between the three global PDF sets. In particular, dedicated fits based on almost identical theory settings and input datasets are performed by the three groups, highlighting the role played by the respective fitting methodologies. We compare the new PDF4LHC21 combination with its predecessor, PDF4LHC15, demonstrating their good overall consistency and a modest reduction of PDF uncertainties for key LHC processes such as electroweak gauge boson production and Higgs boson production in gluon fusion. We study the phenomenological implications of PDF4LHC21 for a representative selection of inclusive, fiducial, and differential cross sections at the LHC. The PDF4LHC21 combination is made available via the LHAPDF library and provides a robust, user-friendly, and efficient method to estimate the PDF uncertainties associated to theoretical calculations for the upcoming Run III of the LHC and beyond.

QED parton distribution functions in the MSHT20 fit

We present the MSHT20qed set of parton distribution functions (PDFs). These are obtained from the MSHT20 global analysis via a refit including QED corrections to the DGLAP evolution at {{{mathcal {O}}}}(alpha ),{{{mathcal {O}}}}(alpha alpha _S) and mathcal{O}(alpha ^2), and containing the photon PDF of the proton. As in the previous MMHT15qed study we use an input distribution for the photon that is derived from the LUXqed formulation, and find good consistency for the photon PDF with that of MMHT15qed, as well as with other recent sets. We also present a set of QED corrected neutron PDFs and accompanying photon distribution, and provide the photon PDF of the nucleons separated into elastic and inelastic contributions. We assess the general expectations for the impact of photon-initiated (PI) corrections to processes entering PDF fits, and review the effect of QED corrections on the other partons and on the fit quality, where electroweak corrections (including PI production) are appropriately added to the cross sections wherever possible. We explore the phenomenological implications of this set by comparing to a variety of benchmark cross sections, finding small but significant corrections due to the inclusion of QED effects in the PDFs.

Testing parton distribution functions with t -channel single-top-quark production

The production of single top-quarks in the t-channel at hadron colliders imposes strong analytic constraints on parton distribution functions (PDFs) through its double deeply inelastic scattering (DDIS) form. We exploit this to provide novel consistency checks between LO, NLO and NNLO PDF fits and propose to include it as a constraint in future PDF fits. Furthermore, while it is well-known that the b-quark PDF is highly sensitive to the b-quark mass, we show that the treatment of this systematic uncertainty is still incomplete, fragmented or outright missing at the moment. Consequently, we conclude that the b-quark mass uncertainty is the dominant but so far broadly neglected theory uncertainty for this process.

Probing nucleon strange and charm distributions with lattice QCD

We present the first lattice-QCD calculation of the unpolarized strange and charm parton distribution functions using large-momentum effective theory. We use a lattice ensemble with ($2+1+1$) flavors of highly improved staggered quarks generated by the MILC Collaboration, with lattice spacing $a\ensuremath{\approx}0.12\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{fm}$ and ${M}_{\ensuremath{\pi}}\ensuremath{\approx}310\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{MeV}$, and clover valence fermions with two valence pion masses: 310 and 690 MeV. We use momentum-smeared sources to improve the signal up to nucleon boost momentum ${P}_{z}=2.15\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$, and determine nonperturbative renormalization factors in regularization independent momentum subtraction scheme. We compare our lattice results with the matrix elements obtained from matching the parton distribution functions (PDFs) from CT18NNLO and NNPDF3.1NNLO global fits. Our data support the assumptions of strange-antistrange and charm-anticharm symmetry that are commonly used in global PDF fits.

An open-source machine learning framework for global analyses of parton distributions

We present the software framework underlying the NNPDF4.0 global determination of parton distribution functions (PDFs). The code is released under an open source licence and is accompanied by extensive documentation and examples. The code base is composed by a PDF fitting package, tools to handle experimental data and to efficiently compare it to theoretical predictions, and a versatile analysis framework. In addition to ensuring the reproducibility of the NNPDF4.0 (and subsequent) determination, the public release of the NNPDF fitting framework enables a number of phenomenological applications and the production of PDF fits under user-defined data and theory assumptions.

Correlation of theoretical uncertainties in PDF fits and theoretical uncertainties in predictions

We show how to account for correlations between theoretical uncertainties incorporated in parton distribution function (PDF) fits, and the theoretical uncertainties in the predictions made using these PDFs. We demonstrate by explicit calculations, both analytical and numerical, that these correlations can lead to corrections to the central values of the predictions, and reductions in both the PDF uncertainties and the theoretical uncertainties in the prediction. We illustrate our results with predictions for top production rapidity distributions and the Higgs total cross-section at the LHC, using the NLO NNPDF3.1 PDF set which incorporates missing higher order uncertainties. We conclude that the inclusion of correlations can increase both the accuracy and precision of predictions involving PDFs, particularly for processes with data already included in the PDF fit.

Nucleon gluon distribution function from 2 + 1 + 1-flavor lattice QCD

The parton distribution functions (PDFs) provide process-independent information about the quarks and gluons inside hadrons. Although the gluon PDF can be obtained from a global fit to experimental data, it is not constrained well in the large-[Formula: see text] region. Theoretical gluon-PDF studies are much fewer than those of the quark PDFs. In this work, we present the first lattice-QCD results that access the [Formula: see text]-dependence of the gluon unpolarized PDF of the nucleon. The lattice calculation is carried out with nucleon momenta up to 2.16 GeV, lattice spacing [Formula: see text] fm, and with valence pion masses of 310 and 690 MeV. We use reduced Ioffe-time distributions to cancel the renormalization and implement a one-loop perturbative pseudo-PDF gluon matching. We neglect mixing of the gluon operator with the quark singlet sector. Our matrix-element results in coordinate space are consistent with those obtained from the global PDF fits of CT18 NNLO and NNPDF3.1 NNLO. Our fitted gluon PDFs at both pion masses are consistent with global fits in the [Formula: see text] region.

Pion valence structure from Ioffe-time parton pseudodistribution functions

We present a calculation of the pion valence quark distribution extracted using the formalism of reduced Ioffe time pseudo-distributions or more commonly known as pseudo-PDFs. Our calculation is carried out on two different 2+1 flavor QCD ensembles using the isotropic-clover fermion action, with lattice dimensions $24^3\times 64$ and $32^3\times 96$ at the lattice spacing of $a=0.127$ fm, and with the quark mass equivalent to a pion mass of $m_\pi \simeq 415$ MeV. We incorporate several combinations of smeared-point and smeared-smeared pion source-sink interpolation fields in obtaining the lattice QCD matrix elements using the summation method. After one-loop perturbative matching and combining the pseudo-distributions from these two ensembles, we extract the pion valence quark distribution using a phenomenological functional form motivated by the global fits of parton distribution functions. We also calculate the lowest four moments of the pion quark distribution through the "OPE without OPE". We present a qualitative comparison between our lattice QCD extraction of the pion valence quark distribution with that obtained from global fits and previous lattice QCD calculations.

Towards a new generation of parton densities with deep learning models

We present a new regression model for the determination of parton distribution functions (PDF) using techniques inspired from deep learning projects. In the context of the NNPDF methodology, we implement a new efficient computing framework based on graph generated models for PDF parametrization and gradient descent optimization. The best model configuration is derived from a robust cross-validation mechanism through a hyperparametrization tune procedure. We show that results provided by this new framework outperforms the current state-of-the-art PDF fitting methodology in terms of best model selection and computational resources usage.

New method for reducing parton distribution function uncertainties in the high-mass Drell-Yan spectrum

Uncertainties in the parametrization of Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs) are becoming a serious limiting systematic uncertainty in Large Hadron Collider (LHC) searches for Beyond the Standard Model physics. This is especially true for measurements at high scales induced by quark and anti-quark collisions, where Drell-Yan continuum backgrounds are dominant. Tools are recently available which enable exploration of PDF fitting strategies and emulate the effects of new data in a future global fit. ePump is such a tool and it is shown that judicious selection of measurable kinematical quantities can reduce the assigned systematic PDF uncertainties by significant factors. This will be made possible by the huge statistical precision of future LHC Standard Model datasets.

On the consistent use of scale variations in PDF fits and predictions

We present an investigation of the theoretical uncertainties in parton distribution functions (PDFs) due to missing higher-order corrections in the perturbative predictions used in the fit, and their relationship to the uncertainties in subsequent predictions made using the PDFs. We consider in particular the standard approach of factorization and renormalization scale variation, and derive general results for the consistent application of these at the PDF fit stage. To do this, we use the fact that a PDF fit may be recast in a physical basis, where the PDFs themselves are bypassed entirely, and one instead relates measured observables to predicted ones. In the case of factorization scale variation we find that in various situations there is a high degree of effective correlation between the variation in the fit and in predicted observables. In particular, including such a variation in both cases can lead to an exaggerated theoretical uncertainty. More generally, a careful treatment of this correlation appears mandatory, at least within the standard scale variation paradigm. For the renormalization scale, the situation is less straightforward, but again we highlight the potential for correlations between related processes in the fit and predictions to enter at the same level as between processes in the fit or prediction alone.

Parton Distribution Functions and Lattice QCD

Recently, there have been rapid developments in lattice-QCD calculations of proton structure, especially in the parton distribution functions (PDFs). We overcame a longstanding obstacle and for the first time in lattice-QCD are able to directly calculate the Bjorken-x dependence of the quark, helicity and transversity distributions. The PDFs are obtained using the large-momentum effective field theory (LaMET) framework where the full Bjorken-x dependence of finite-momentum PDFs, called “quasi-PDFs”, can be calculated on the lattice. The quasi-PDF nucleon matrix elements are renormalized non-perturbatively in RI/MOM-scheme. Following a nonperturbative renormalization of the parton quasi-distribution in a regularization-independent momentum-subtraction scheme, we establish its matching to the $ \overline {{\rm{MS}}} $ PDF and calculate the non-singlet matching coefficient at next-to-leading order in perturbation theory. In this proceeding, I will show the progress that has been made in recent years, highlighting the latest state-of-the art PDF calculations at the physical pion mass. Future impacts on the large-x global PDF fits are also discussed.