Modelling Wt and tWZ production at NLO for ATLAS analyses

The generation of single top production in the $Wt$ channel at NLO gives rise to doubly-resonant diagrams that overlap with $t \bar t$, and similarly for associated production with a $Z$ or Higgs boson. Several methods exist to remove this overlap, thus avoiding double counting and separating the two processes. In Diagram Removal 1, the amplitudes of doubly-resonant diagrams are set to zero, which also removes the interference of $Wt$ with $t \bar t$. If a measurement is performed in a region where this interference is not negligible, it would be of interest to take it into account. Another method, Diagram Subtraction, preserves the interference. However, it relies upon momentum reshuffling, which introduces uncertainties to the prediction. An alternative method, Diagram Removal 2, does not involve reshuffling and preserves the interference by subtracting the amplitude squared of the doubly-resonant diagrams from the total. The predictions of Diagram Removal 2 from MG5_aMC@NLO are compared with other predictions for $Wt$ and $tWZ$ production in the context of analyses at the ATLAS experiment. Implications of using Diagram Removal 2 are discussed, both for measurements of single top processes and when $Wt$ or $tWZ$ are treated as a background. Differential distributions are shown, investigating in what regions the predictions differ the most.Comment: Conference: The 9th International Workshop of Top Quark Physics 2016 5 pages including title page, 7 figure

The Recoil Proton Polarization: a new discriminative DVCS observable

Generalized parton distributions describe the correlations between the longitudinal momentum and the transverse position of quarks and gluons in a nucleon. They can be constrained by measuring photon leptoproduction observables, arising from the interference between Bethe-Heitler and Deeply virtual Compton scattering processes. At leading-twist/leading-order, the amplitude of the latter is parameterized by complex integrals of the GPDs {H, E, \~H, \~E} . As data collected on an unpolarized or longitudinally polarized target constrains H and \~H, E is poorly known as it requires data collected with a transversely polarized target, which is very challenging to implement in fixed target experiments. The only alternative considered so far has been DVCS on a neutron with a deuterium target, while assuming isospin symmetry and absence of final-state interactions. Today, we introduce the polarization of the recoil proton as a new DVCS observable, highly sensitive to E, which appears feasible for an experimental study at a high-luminosity facility such as Jefferson Lab

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements