3,338 research outputs found
Dominant QCD Backgrounds in Higgs Boson Analyses at the LHC: A Study of pp -> t anti-t + 2 jets at Next-To-Leading Order
We report the results of a next-to-leading order simulation of top quark pair
production in association with two jets. With our inclusive cuts, we show that
the corrections with respect to leading order are negative and small, reaching
11%. The error obtained by scale variation is of the same order. Additionally,
we reproduce the result of a previous study of top quark pair production in
association with a single jet.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl
Assault on the NLO Wishlist: pp -> tt bb
We present the results of a next-to-leading order calculation of QCD
corrections to the production of an on-shell top-anti-top quark pair in
association with two flavored b-jets. Besides studying the total cross section
and its scale dependence, we give several differential distributions. Where
comparable, our results agree with a previous analysis. While the process under
scrutiny is of major relevance for Higgs boson searches at the LHC, we use it
to demonstrate the ability of our system built around Helac-Phegas to tackle
complete calculations at the frontier of current studies for the LHC. On the
technical side, we show how the virtual corrections are efficiently computed
with Helac-1Loop, based on the OPP method and the reduction code CutTools,
using reweighting and Monte Carlo over color configurations and polarizations.
As far as the real corrections are concerned, we use the recently published
Helac-Dipoles package. In connection with improvements of the latter, we give
the last missing integrated dipole formulae necessary for a complete
implementation of phase space restriction dependence in the massive dipole
subtraction formalism.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables. References added, version to appear
in JHE
Non-Gaussian Geostatistical Modeling using (skew) t Processes
We propose a new model for regression and dependence analysis when addressing
spatial data with possibly heavy tails and an asymmetric marginal distribution.
We first propose a stationary process with marginals obtained through scale
mixing of a Gaussian process with an inverse square root process with Gamma
marginals. We then generalize this construction by considering a skew-Gaussian
process, thus obtaining a process with skew-t marginal distributions. For the
proposed (skew) process we study the second-order and geometrical
properties and in the case, we provide analytic expressions for the
bivariate distribution. In an extensive simulation study, we investigate the
use of the weighted pairwise likelihood as a method of estimation for the
process. Moreover we compare the performance of the optimal linear predictor of
the process versus the optimal Gaussian predictor. Finally, the
effectiveness of our methodology is illustrated by analyzing a georeferenced
dataset on maximum temperatures in Australi
Helac-nlo
Based on the OPP technique and the HELAC framework, HELAC-1LOOP is a program
that is capable of numerically evaluating QCD virtual corrections to scattering
amplitudes. A detailed presentation of the algorithm is given, along with
instructions to run the code and benchmark results. The program is part of the
HELAC-NLO framework that allows for a complete evaluation of QCD NLO
corrections.Comment: minor text revisions, version to appear in Comput.Phys.Commu
Unifying compactly supported and Matern covariance functions in spatial statistics
The Matern family of covariance functions has played a central role in spatial statistics for decades, being a flexible parametric class with one parameter determining the smoothness of the paths of the underlying spatial field. This paper proposes a family of spatial covariance functions, which stems from a reparameterization of the generalized Wendland family. As for the Matern case, the proposed family allows for a continuous parameterization of the smoothness of the underlying Gaussian random field, being additionally compactly supported.More importantly, we show that the proposed covariance family generalizes the Matern model which is attained as a special limit case. This implies that the (reparametrized) Generalized Wendland model is more flexible than the Matern model with an extra-parameter that allows for switching from compactly to globally supported covariance functions.Our numerical experiments elucidate the speed of convergence of the proposed model to the Matern model. We also inspect the asymptotic distribution of the maximum likelihood method when estimating the parameters of the proposed covariance models under both increasing and fixed domain asymptotics. The effectiveness of our proposal is illustrated by analyzing a georeferenced dataset of mean temperatures over a region of French, and performing a re-analysis of a large spatial point referenced dataset of yearly total precipitation anomalies. (C) 2022 Published by Elsevier Inc
A selective view of climatological data and likelihood estimation
This article gives a narrative overview of what constitutes climatological data and their typical features, with a focus on aspects relevant to statistical modeling. We restrict the discussion to univariate spatial fields and focus on maximum likelihood estimation. To address the problem of enormous datasets, we study three common approximation schemes: tapering, direct misspecification, and composite likelihood for Gaussian and nonGaussian distributions. We focus particularly on the so-called 'sinh-arcsinh distribution', obtained through a specific transformation of the Gaussian distribution. Because it has flexible marginal distributions - possibly skewed and/or heavy-tailed - it has a wide range of applications. One appealing property of the transformation involved is the existence of an explicit inverse transformation that makes likelihood-based methods straightforward. We describe a simulation study illustrating the effects of the different approximation schemes. To the best of our knowledge, a direct comparison of tapering, direct misspecification, and composite likelihood has never been made previously, and we show that direct misspecification is inferior. In some metrics, composite likelihood has a minor advantage over tapering. We use the estimation approaches to model a high-resolution global climate change field. All simulation code is available as a Docker container and is thus fully reproducible. Additionally, the present article describes where and how to get various climate datasets. (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND licens
Improved Decision-Making through a DEMATEL and Fuzzy Cognitive Maps-Based Framework
The decision-making process is highly demanding. There has been an increasing tendency to incorporate human thinking, individual experience about a problem, and pure mathematical approaches. Here, a novel integrated approach is investigated and proposed to develop an advanced hybrid decision-support system based on the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) and fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs). Indeed, knowledge acquisition and elicitation may present distortions and difficulties finding a consensus and an interpretation. Thus, the proposed combined approach aims to examine in depth the potential to improve FCMs' outcomes by integrating FCM with the DEMATEL approach. The combined methodology achieves at avoiding some of the drawbacks, such as the lack of a standardized FCM theoretical model. Thus, it provides advanced comparative analysis and results in better interpretation of the decision-making process. It is highlighted that the traditional FCM approach does not allow distinguishing the whole number of defined scenarios, in contrast to the hybrid one presented here, which increases the ability of users to make correct decisions. Combining the two approaches provides new capabilities to FCMs in grouping experts' knowledge, while the DEMATEL approach contributes to refining the strength of concepts' connections
Insights on the Anion Effect in N-heterocyclic Carbene Based Dinuclear Gold(I) Catalysts
Dinuclear bisNHC (bis(N-heterocyclic carbene)) gold(I) complexes 3 a and 4 a of general formula [Au2Br2(bisNHC)] were tested as catalysts in the cycloisomerization of N-(prop-2-yn-1-yl)benzamide and in the hydromethoxylation of 3-hexyne in the presence of silver(I) activators bearing different counteranions. The catalytic performance of mononuclear NHC complexes (1 a, 2 a) in the same reactions was also studied. The results highlighted the fundamental role of both NHC ligand and counterion in the catalytic cycles and activation process: dinuclear catalysts exhibit higher initial activity even under milder conditions but suffer in terms of stability with respect to mono NHCs. Furthermore, a new dinuclear bisNHC gold(I) complex 4 b of general formula [Au2(OTs)2(bisNHC)] (OTs=p-toluenesulfonate) was successfully synthesized and characterized by means of NMR and ESI-MS analyses
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