Partonic Cross Sections Research Articles

Drell–Yan lepton-pair production: qT resummation at N4LL accuracy

We consider Drell–Yan lepton pairs produced in hadronic collisions. We present high-accuracy QCD predictions for the transverse-momentum (qT) distribution and fiducial cross sections in the small qT region. We resum to all perturbative orders the logarithmically enhanced contributions up to the next-to-next-to-next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (N4LL) accuracy and we include the hard-virtual coefficient at the next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (N3LO) (i.e. O(αS3)) with an approximation of the N4LO coefficients. The massive axial-vector and vector contributions up to three loops have also been consistently included. The resummed partonic cross section is convoluted with approximate N3LO parton distribution functions. We show numerical results at LHC energies of resummed qT distributions for Z/γ⁎,W± production and decay, including the W± and Z/γ⁎ ratio, estimating the corresponding uncertainties from missing higher orders corrections and from incomplete or missing perturbative information coefficients at N4LL and N4LO. Our resummed calculation has been encoded in the public numerical program DYTurbo.

Transverse momentum decorrelation of the flow vector in Pb–Pb collisions at sqrt{s_{_{textrm{NN}}}} = 5.02 TeV

Anisotropic flow, typically defined as the azimuthal correlations of the produced particles with respect to the common symmetry plane over a large kinematic, has been a popular approach in the last three decades to explore the properties of hot and dense QCD matter in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. These flow studies are usually based on the multi-particle correlations method, assuming that multi-particle correlations can be factorized into the product of flow coefficients. However, recent LHC measurements, based on new four-particle correlation observables, show evidence of flow angle decorrelation and flow magnitude decorrelation. These decorrelations break the assumption of the common symmetry plane and factorization. In this paper, we perform systematic studies to investigate the decorrelation with A Multi-Phase Transport (AMPT) model. We examine different tunings of the initial conditions, partonic cross sections, and hadronic interactions, revealing that the decorrelations are mainly driven by the initial geometry fluctuations while weakly influenced by the system’s dynamic evolution. Comparison to experimental data and the AMPT calculations presented in this paper promotes a new possibility to further constraints on the initial conditions of the heavy-ion collisions.

Parton distributions with scale uncertainties: a Monte Carlo sampling approach

We present the MCscales approach for incorporating scale uncertainties in parton distribution functions (PDFs). The new methodology builds on the Monte Carlo sampling for propagating experimental uncertainties into the PDF space that underlies the NNPDF approach, but it extends it to the space of factorisation and renomalisation scales. A prior probability is assigned to each scale combinations set in the theoretical predictions used to obtain each PDF replica in the Monte Carlo ensemble and a posterior probability is obtained by selecting replicas that satisfy fit-quality criteria. Our approach allows one to exactly match the scale variations in the PDFs with those in the computation of the partonic cross sections, thus accounting for the full correlations between the two. We illustrate the opportunities for phenomenological exploration made possible by our methodology for a variety of LHC observables. Sets of PDFs enriched with scale information are provided, along with a set of tools to use them.

Hybrid kT -factorization and impact factors at NLO

In the hybrid kT -factorization formula, one initial-state parton momentum is space-like and carries non-vanishing transverse components, while the other is on-shell. We promote this factorization formula to next-to-leading order. Studying the partonic cross section, we identify all soft and collinear divergencies in the real and virtual contribution, and recognize that all non-cancelling ones can be attributed to PDF evolution, evolution kernel, and target impact factors. In result, we construct a framework that may be used to compute NLO impact factors in general. In particular, we recover known expressions for inclusive NLO quark-and gluon impact factor corrections.

High-energy emissions of light mesons plus heavy flavor at the LHC and the Forward Physics Facility

The study of the dynamics of strong interactions in the high-energy regime is a core line of frontier researches at the LHC as well as at new-generation colliding facilities. Here, the enhancement of energy logarithms due to diffractive semihard final states spoils the convergence of the perturbative series in the QCD running coupling, thus calling for an improvement of the pure collinear factorization that accounts for an all-order resummation of these large logarithmic contributions. Motivated by the recent discovery that inclusive emissions of heavy-flavored particles allow for clear signals of a stabilization of high-energy resummed differential distributions under higher-order corrections and scale variations, we provide novel predictions of rapidity and azimuthal-angle observables for the inclusive hadroproduction of a light meson ($\ensuremath{\eta}$ or ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}$) in association with a heavy-flavored hadron (${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}}_{c}$ or $b$-flavored hadron). We calculate our observables in a hybrid high-energy and collinear factorization framework, where next-to-leading Balitsky-Fadin-Kuraev-Lipatov-resummed partonic cross sections are convoluted with collinear parton distributions and fragmentation functions. We consider kinematic ranges typically covered by acceptances of LHC detectors, and new ones coming from the combined tag of an ultra-forward particle at the future Forward Physics Facility and of a central one at ATLAS via a tight timing-coincidence setup. By performing a detailed study on uncertainties associated to collinear inputs via a replica-driven analysis, as well as on ones intrinsically coming from the high-energy resummation, we highlight the challenges and the steps required to gauge the feasibility of precision studies of our processes.

Non-leptonic decays of bileptons

We provide a detailed analysis of the decays of doubly-charged bilepton gauge bosons Y±±, as predicted in models based on a SU(3)C×SU(3)L×U(1)X symmetry. In addition to the decay modes into same-sign lepton pairs, which were already investigated in scenarios wherein each branching ratio was about one third, there are, depending on the mass spectrum, possible non-leptonic decays which reduce the leptonic rates. These non-leptonic decays are typically into a light quark (antiquark) and a heavy TeV-scale antiquark (quark), which carries double lepton number and decays via virtual bileptons. We choose two benchmark points to represent the particle spectrum and present a phenomenological analysis of such decays. We find that, while the LHC statistics are too low, even in the high-luminosity phase, they can lead to a visible signal at a future 100 TeV hadron collider (FCC-hh). A more exhaustive exploration with a rigorous inclusion of tagging efficiencies, detector simulations and higher-order corrections to the partonic cross section, aiming at assessing the reach of LHC and FCC-hh for bileptons as a function of the model parameters, as well as a recast of four-top searches in terms of the bilepton model, are deferred to future work.

Threshold resummation of new partonic channels at next-to-leading power

Collider observables involving heavy particles are subject to large logarithmic terms near threshold, which must be summed to all orders in perturbation theory to obtain sensible results. Relatively recently, this resummation has been extended to next-to-leading power in the threshold variable, using a variety of approaches. In this paper, we consider partonic channels that turn on only at next-to-leading power, and show that it is possible to resum leading logarithms using well-established diagrammatic techniques in Quantum Chromodynamics. We first consider deep inelastic scattering, where we reproduce the results of a recent study using an effective theory approach. Next, we consider the quark-gluon channel in both Drell-Yan and Higgs boson production, showing that an explicit all-order form for the leading logarithmic partonic cross section can be obtained. Our results agree with previous conjectures based on fixed-order results.

High-energy EFT probes with fully differential Drell-Yan measurements

We study the potential of fully-differential measurements of high-energy dilepton cross-sections at the LHC to probe heavy new physics encapsulated in dimension-6 interaction operators. The assessment is performed in the seven-dimensional parameter space of operators that induce energy-growing corrections to the Standard Model partonic cross-sections at the interference level, and in the two-dimensional subspace associated with the W and Y parameters. A considerable sensitivity improvement is found relative to single-differential measurements, owing to the possibility of probing at the interference level more directions in the seven-dimensional parameter space. The reduction of parton distribution function uncertainties in the fully-differential fit is also found to play a significant role. The results are interpreted in the minimal Z′ new-physics model, providing a concrete illustration of the advantages of the fully-differential analysis. We find that high-energy dilepton measurements can extend the Z′ exclusion and discovery potential well beyond the reach of direct searches in a large region of the parameter space.

Virtual corrections to gg \u2192 ZH via a transverse momentum expansion

We compute the next-to-leading virtual QCD corrections to the partonic cross section of the production of a Higgs boson in association with a Z boson in gluon fusion. The calculation is based on the recently introduced method of evaluating the amplitude via an expansion in terms of a small transverse momentum. We generalize the method to the case of different masses in the final state and of a process not symmetric in the forward-backward direction exchange. Our analytic approach gives a very good approximation (better than percent) of the partonic cross section in the center of mass energy region up to ∼ 750 GeV, where at the LHC ∼ 98% of the total hadronic cross section is concentrated.

The role of the threshold variable in soft-gluon resummation of the toverline{t}h production process

We study the role of the scale of the threshold variable in soft-gluon threshold resummation. We focus on the computation of the resummed total cross section, the final-state invariant-mass distribution, and transverse-momentum distribution of the Higgs boson when produced in association with a top-anti-top quark pair for the Large Hadron Collider operating at 13 TeV. We show that different choices for the scale of the threshold variable result in differences at next-to-leading power, i.e. contributions that are down by one power of the threshold variable. These contributions are noticeable numerically, although their effect on the resummed observables lies within the scale uncertainty of those observables. The average central results, obtained after combining several central- scale choices, agree remarkably well for different choices of the threshold variable. However, different threshold choices do affect the resulting scale uncertainty. To compute our results, we introduce a novel numerical method that we call the deformation method, which aids the stabilization of the inverse Mellin transform in cases where the analytical Mellin transform of the partonic cross section is unknown. We show that this method leads to a factor of 10 less function evaluations, while gaining a factor of 4 − 5 in numerical precision when compared to the standard method.

Light quark Yukawas in triboson final states

Triple heavy vector boson production, pp → VVV (V = W, Z), has recently been observed for the first time. We propose that precision measurements of this process provide an excellent probe of the first generation light quark Yukawa couplings. Modified quark interactions with the off-shell Higgs in this process lead to a rapid growth of the partonic cross sections with energy, which manifests in an enhanced pT distribution of the final state leptons and quarks. We quantify this effect and estimate the present and future 2σ sensitivity to the up, down, and strange Yukawas. In particular, we find that HL-LHC can reach mathcal{O}(400) sensitivity to the down Yukawa relative to the Standard Model value, improving the current sensitivity in this process by a factor of 10, and which can be further improved to mathcal{O}(30) at FCC-hh. This is competitive with and complementary to constraints from global fits and other on-shell probes of the first generation Yukawas. The triboson sensitivity at HL-LHC corresponds to probing dimension-6 SMEFT operators suppressed by an mathcal{O}(1) TeV scale, similarly to other LHC Higgs probes.

Noncancellation of infrared singularities in collisions of massive quarks

We discuss the infrared structure of processes with massive quarks in the initial state. It is well known that, starting from next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD, such processes exhibit a violation of the Bloch-Nordsieck theorem, in that the sum of real and virtual contributions to partonic cross sections contains uncanceled infrared singularities. The main purpose of this paper is to present a simple physical argument that elucidates the origin of these singularities and simplifies the derivation of infrared-singular contributions to heavy-quark initiated cross sections.

Virtual corrections to gg \u2192 ZH in the high-energy and large-mt limits

We compute the next-to-leading order virtual corrections to the partonic cross-section of the process gg → ZH, in the high-energy and large-mt limits. We use Padé approximants to increase the radius of convergence of the high-energy expansion in {m}_t^2/s , {m}_t^2/t and {m}_t^2/u and show that precise results can be obtained down to energies which are fairly close to the top quark pair threshold. We present results both for the form factors and the next-to-leading order virtual cross-section.

Top pair production at ultra-high energies

The top quark, the heaviest quark and, indeed, the heaviest elementary particle known today, constitutes a novel probe of the long-lived medium in quark-gluon phase which, as expected, can be produced even in light nuclei collisions at ultra-high energies. Some distinctive features are considered for particle production in the top sector in ultra-high energy domain. The antitop-top pair production is studied within the quantum chromodynamics and effective field theory approach used for calculations of total partonic cross sections. Predictions for all observables are computed at NNLO in quantum chromodynamics and at LO in effective field theory. These quantitative results can be important for both the future collider experiments at center-of-mass energy frontier and the improvement of the phenomenological models for development of the cosmic ray cascades in ultra-high energy domain. Thus the study allows the better understanding of heavy particle production and emphasizes the exciting interrelation between the high-energy physics on accelerators and ultra-high energy cosmic ray measurements.

Can overline{mathrm{MS}} parton distributions be negative?

It is common lore that Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs) in the overline{mathrm{MS}} factorization scheme can become negative beyond leading order due to the collinear subtraction which is needed in order to define partonic cross sections. We show that this is in fact not the case and next-to-leading order (NLO) overline{mathrm{MS}} PDFs are actually positive in the perturbative regime. In order to prove this, we modify the subtraction prescription, and perform the collinear subtraction in such a way that partonic cross sections remain positive. This defines a factorization scheme in which PDFs are positive. We then show that positivity of the PDFs is preserved when transforming from this scheme to overline{mathrm{MS}} , provided only the strong coupling is in the perturbative regime, such that the NLO scheme change is smaller than the LO term.

Higgs production in bottom quark fusion: matching the 4- and 5-flavour schemes to third order in the strong coupling

We present analytic results for the partonic cross sections for the production of a Higgs boson via the fusion of two bottom quarks at N3LO in QCD perturbation theory in the five-flavour scheme. We combine this perturbative result with NLO accurate predictions in the four-flavour scheme that include the full bottom quark mass dependence by appropriately removing any double-counting stemming from contributions included in both predictions. We thereby obtain state-of-the-art predictions for the inclusive production probability of a Higgs boson via bottom quark fusion at hadron colliders.

NNLO QCD×EW corrections to Z production in the qq¯ channel

We present the first results for the ${\cal O}(\alpha\alpha_s)$ corrections to the total partonic cross section of the process $q\bar q\to Z+X$, with the complete set of contributions, that include photonic and massive weak gauge boson effects. The results are relevant for the precise determination of the hadronic $Z$ boson production cross section. Virtual and real corrections are calculated analytically using the reduction to the master integrals and their evaluation through differential equations. Real corrections are dealt with using the reverse-unitarity method. They require the evaluation of a new set of two-loop master integrals, with up to three internal massive lines. In particular, three of them are expressed in terms of elliptic integrals. We verify the absence, at this perturbative order, of initial state mass singularities proportional to a weak massive virtual correction to the quark-gluon splitting.

Charm hadron azimuthal angular correlations in Au + Au collisions at $$\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} = 200$$ GeV from parton scatterings

The dynamic evolution of the charm hadron in hot quark matter was studied in the framework of a multiphase transport (AMPT) model. We first reproduced the open charm hadron $$D_0 p_{\mathrm{T}}$$ spectrum in Au + Au collisions at $$\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} = 200$$ GeV by triggering the $${\mathrm{c}} {\bar{\mathrm{c}}}$$ production in AMPT, and then the elliptic flow of charm hadrons was described with different parton cascade cross sections. Charm hadron azimuthal angular correlations were proposed, and they are affected by the different parton cross-section parameter applied in the model, which can facilitate our understanding of the loss of collision energy of charm quarks in hot quark medium and can stimulate further experimental studies.

Double Higgs boson production at NLO: combining the exact numerical result and high-energy expansion

We consider the next-to-leading order QCD corrections to Higgs boson pair production, using our recent calculation of the form factors in the high-energy limit. We compute the virtual corrections to the partonic cross section, applying Padé approximations to extend the range of validity of the high-energy expansion. This enables us to compare to the exact numerical calculation in a significant part of the phase space and allows us to extend the virtual matrix element grid, based on the exact numerical calculation, to larger values of the (partonic) transverse momentum of the Higgs boson, which is important for boosted Higgs studies. Improved predictions for hadron colliders with centre-of-mass energies of 14 TeV and 100 TeV are presented. The updated grid is made publicly available.

Exploring the partonic phase at finite chemical potential within an extended off-shell transport approach

We extend the Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach in the partonic sector by explicitly calculating the total and differential partonic scattering cross sections as a function of temperature $T$ and baryon chemical potential $\mu_B$ on the basis of the effective propagators and couplings from the Dynamical QuasiParticle Model (DQPM) that is matched to reproduce the equation of state of the partonic system above the deconfinement temperature $T_c$ from lattice QCD. The ratio of shear viscosity $\eta$ over entropy density $s$, i.e. $\eta/s$, is evaluated using the collisional widths and compared to lQCD calculations for $\mu_B$ = 0 as well. We find only a very modest change of $\eta/s$ with the baryon chemical $\mu_B$. This also holds for a variety of hadronic observables from central A+A and C+Au collisions in the energy range 5 GeV $\leq \sqrt{s_{NN}} \leq$ 200 GeV when implementing the differential cross sections into the PHSD approach. We only observe small differences in the strangeness and antibaryon sector with practically no sensitivity of rapidity and $p_T$ distributions to the $\mu_B$ dependence of the partonic cross sections. Since we find only small traces of a $\mu_B$-dependence in heavy-ion observables - although the effective partonic masses and widths as well as their partonic cross sections clearly depend on $\mu_B$ - this implies that one needs a sizable partonic density and large space-time QGP volume to explore the dynamics in the partonic phase. These conditions are only fulfilled at high bombarding energies where $\mu_B$ is, however, rather low. On the other hand, when decreasing the bombarding energy and thus increasing $\mu_B$, the hadronic phase becomes dominant and accordingly, it will be difficult to extract signals from the partonic dynamics based on "bulk" observables.