Reaching NNLOPS accuracy with POWHEG and MiNLO

We describe how a simulation of Higgs boson production accurate at next-to-next-to-leading order and matched to a parton shower can be built by combining the POWHEG and MiNLO methods and using HNNLO results as input.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to the proceedings of the LC13 Workshop, September 16-20, 2013, ECT*, Trento, Ital

Single-top production with the POWHEG method

We describe briefly the POWHEG method and present results for single-top s- and t-channel production at hadron colliders.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to the proceedings of the XVIII International Workshop on Deep-Inelastic Scattering and Related Subjects, DIS 2010, April 19-23, 2010, Firenze, Ital

Simplified dark matter top-quark interactions at the LHC

Stringent limits on the interactions between dark matter (DM) and the standard model can be set by studying how initial-state or final-state particles recoil against missing transverse energy (MET). In this work, we improve, extend and correct LHC constraints on the interactions between DM and top quarks that are mediated by the exchange of spin-0 s-channel resonances. A comparison of the LHC run-1 sensitivity of the two main search channels is presented, which shows that mono-jet searches are typically more restrictive than the MET + tbar t searches. We furthermore explore the reach of the 14 TeV LHC. The collider constraints are compared to the restrictions arising from direct and indirect detection as well as the DM relic abundance, and we also reflect on effective field theory interpretations of the LHC exclusions.Comment: 29 pages, 11 figures; v4: conflict with CERN-PH-TH number fixe

Determining the structure of dark-matter couplings at the LHC

The latest LHC mono-jet searches place stringent bounds on the pp -> chibar chi cross section of dark matter. Further properties such as the dark matter mass or the precise structure of the interactions between dark matter and the standard model can however not be determined in this manner. We point out that measurements of the azimuthal angle correlations between the two jets in 2 j + chibar chi events may be used to disentangle whether dark matter pair production proceeds dominantly through tree or loop diagrams. Our general observation is illustrated by considering theories in which dark matter interacts predominantly with the top quark. We show explicitly that in this case the jet-jet azimuthal angle difference is a gold-plated observable to probe the Lorentz structure of the couplings of dark matter to top quarks, thus testing the CP nature of the particle mediating these interactions.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures; v2: discussion of signal and background cross sections added, labelling of plots improved, typos fixed and references updated; matches version published in PR

QCD effects in mono-jet searches for dark matter

LHC searches for missing transverse energy in association with a jet allow to place strong bounds on the interactions between dark matter and quarks. In this article, we present an extension of the POWHEG BOX capable of calculating the underlying cross sections at the next-to-leading order level. This approach enables us to consistently include the effects of parton showering and to apply realistic experimental cuts. We find significant differences from a fixed-order analysis that neglects parton showering effects. In particular, next-to-leading order corrections do not lead to a significant enhancement of the mono-jet cross section once a veto on additional jets is imposed. Nevertheless, these corrections reduce the theoretical uncertainties of the signal prediction and therefore improve the reliability of the derived bounds. We present our results in terms of simple rescaling factors, which can be directly applied to existing experimental analyses and discuss the impact of changing experimental cuts.Comment: Added KITP affiliations, fixed 2 very minor typos, matches version published in JHE

NNLOPS accurate Drell-Yan production

We present a next-to-next-to-leading order accurate description of Drell-Yan lepton pair production processes through $\gamma^*/Z$ or $W$ exchange that includes consistently parton shower effects. Results are obtained by upgrading the vector-boson plus one jet NLO calculation in POWHEG with the MiNLO procedure and by applying an appropriate reweighting procedure making use of the DYNNLO program. We compare to existing data and to accurate resummed calculations.Comment: 31 pages, 17 figures, 1 tabl

NNLOPS simulation of Higgs boson production

We detail a simulation of Higgs boson production via gluon fusion, accurate at next-to-next-to-leading order in the strong coupling, including matching to a parton shower, yielding a fully exclusive, hadron-level description of the final-state. The approach relies on the POWHEG method for merging the NLO Higgs plus jet cross-section with the parton shower, and on the MINLO method to simultaneously achieve NLO accuracy for inclusive Higgs boson production. The NNLO accuracy is reached by a reweighting procedure making use of the HNNLO program.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures. Very minor clarifications in the text for v