How to use SANC to improve the PHOTOS Monte Carlo simulation of bremsstrahlung in leptonic W-Boson decays

Using the SANC system we study the one-loop electroweak standard model predictions, including virtual and real photon emission, for the decays of the on-shell vector boson, W --> L ANTI-NU (GAMMA). The complete one-loop corrections and exact photon emission matrix element are taken into account. For the phase-space integration, the Monte Carlo technique is used. This provides a useful element, first for the evaluation of the theoretical uncertainty of PHOTOS. Later we analyse the source of the differences between SANC and PHOTOS and we calculate the additional weight, which once installed, improves predictions of PHOTOS simulations. We can conclude that, after the correction of the weight is implemented, the theoretical uncertainty of PHOTOS simulations due to an incomplete first-order matrix element is reduced to below alpha/pi, for observables not tagging the photon in a direct way, and to 10% otherwise. This is interesting for applications in the phenomenology of the ongoing LEP2 and future LC and LHC experimental studies.Comment: Submitted to Acta Physica Polonica. 8 pages, 5 figure

PHOTOS Monte Carlo for precision simulation of QED in decays - History and properties of the project

Because of properties of QED, the bremsstrahlung corrections to decays of particles or resonances can be calculated, with a good precision, separately from other effects. Thanks to the widespread use of event records such calculations can be embodied into a separate module of Monte Carlo simulation chains, as used in High Energy Experiments of today. The PHOTOS Monte Carlo program is used for this purpose since nearly 20 years now. In the following talk let us review the main ideas and constraints which shaped the program version of today and enabled it widespread use. We will concentrate specially on conflicting requirements originating from the properties of QED matrix elements on one side and degrading (evolving) with time standards of event record(s). These issues, quite common in other modular software applications, become more and more difficult to handle as precision requirements become higher.Comment: Prepared for XI International Workshop on Advanced Computing and Analysis Techniques in Physics Research, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, April 23 200

Comparison of SANC with KORALZ and PHOTOS

Using the SANC system we study the one-loop electroweak standard model prediction, including virtual and real photon emissions, for the decays of on-shell vector and scalar bosons B --> f anti-f (gamma), where B is a vector boson, Z or W, or a Standard Model Higgs. The complete one-loop corrections and exact photon emission matrix element are taken into account. For the phase-space integration, the Monte Carlo technique is used. For Z decay the QED part of the calculation is first cross-checked with the exact one-loop QED prediction of KORALZ. For Higgs boson and W decays, a comparison is made with the approximate QED calculation of PHOTOS Monte Carlo. This provides a useful element for the evaluation of the theoretical uncertainty of PHOTOS, very interesting for its application in ongoing LEP2 and future LC and LHC phenomenology.Comment: Submitted to Acta Physica Polonica. 9 pages, 6 figure

Scalar QED, NLO and PHOTOS Monte Carlo

Recently, due to improvement at experiments, QED bremsstrahlung in B meson decays into pair of scalars (\pi's and/or K's) is of phenomenological interest. In practical application where experimental acceptance must be taken into account, PHOTOS Monte Carlo is often used for simulation of these QED effects. Phenomenologically sound predictions, valid over all phase space can not be obtained for complex objects, with the scalar QED alone. We will nonetheless use scalar QED to test the performance of PHOTOS. We present the analytical form of the kernel used in the older versions of PHOTOS, and the exact one with respect to first order scalar QED. Matrix element and phase space jacobians are factorized in the final weight. In this paper we also present aspects of program design, that are related to phase space generation, especially when mass terms become significant. The discussed effects are way beyond the direct phenomenological interest of today. We use this opportunity to present some foundations of the program organization that assure its precision, which may be useful for future extensions. An agreement of better than 0.01% with independent calculations of scalar QED is demonstrated

PHOTOS Monte Carlo for precision simulation of QED in decays

Because of properties of QED, the bremsstrahlung corrections to decays of particles or resonances can be calculated, with a good precision, separately from other effects. Thanks to the widespread use of event records such calculations can be embodied into a separate module of Monte Carlo simulation chains, as used in High Energy Experiments of today. The PHOTOS Monte Carlo program is used for this purpose since nearly 20 years now. In the following talk let us review the main ideas and constraints which shaped the program version of today and enabled it widespread use. We will concentrate specially on conflicting requirements originating from the properties of QED matrix elements on one side and degrading (evolving) with time standards of event record(s). These issues, quite common in other modular software applications, become more and more difficult to handle as precision requirements become higher

Universal Interface of TAUOLA Technical and Physics Documentation

Because of their narrow width, tau decays can be well separated from their production process. Only spin degrees of freedom connect these two parts of the physics process of interest for high energy collision experiments. In the following, we present a Monte Carlo algorithm which is based on that property. The interface supplements events generated by other programs, with tau decays. Effects of spin, genuine weak corrections or of new physics may be taken into account at the time when a tau decay is generated and written into an event record.Comment: 1+44 pages, 17 eps figure

Constrained invariant mass distributions in cascade decays. The shape of the "mqllm_{qll}-threshold" and similar distributions

Considering the cascade decay $D\to c C \to c b B \to c b a A$ in which $D,C,B,A$ are massive particles and $c,b,a$ are massless particles, we determine for the first time the shape of the distribution of the invariant mass of the three massless particles $m_{abc}$ for the sub-set of decays in which the invariant mass $m_{ab}$ of the last two particles in the chain is (optionally) constrained to lie inside an arbitrary interval, $m_{ab} \in [ m_{ab}^\text{cut min}, m_{ab}^\text{cut max}]$. An example of an experimentally important distribution of this kind is the ``$m_{qll}$ threshold'' -- which is the distribution of the combined invariant mass of the visible standard model particles radiated from the hypothesised decay of a squark to the lightest neutralino via successive two body decay,: \squark \to q \ntlinoTwo \to q l \slepton \to q l l \ntlinoOne , in which the experimenter requires additionally that $m_{ll}$ be greater than ${m_{ll}^{max}}/\sqrt{2}$. The location of the ``foot'' of this distribution is often used to constrain sparticle mass scales. The new results presented here permit the location of this foot to be better understood as the shape of the distribution is derived. The effects of varying the position of the $m_{ll}$ cut(s) may now be seen more easily.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Invariant mass distributions in cascade decays

We derive analytical expressions for the shape of the invariant mass distributions of massless Standard Model endproducts in cascade decays involving massive New Physics (NP) particles, D -> Cc -> Bbc -> Aabc, where the final NP particle A in the cascade is unobserved and where two of the particles a, b, c may be indistinguishable. Knowledge of these expressions can improve the determination of NP parameters at the LHC. The shape formulas are composite, but contain nothing more complicated than logarithms of simple expressions. We study the effects of cuts, final state radiation and detector effects on the distributions through Monte Carlo simulations, using a supersymmetric model as an example. We also consider how one can deal with the width of NP particles and with combinatorics from the misidentification of final state particles. The possible mismeasurements of NP masses through `feet' in the distributions are discussed. Finally, we demonstrate how the effects of different spin configurations can be included in the distributions.Comment: 39 pages, 14 figures (colour), JHEP clas

Matching NLO parton shower matrix element with exact phase space: case of W -> l nu (gamma) and gamma^* -> pi^+pi^-(gamma)

The PHOTOS Monte Carlo is often used for simulation of QED effects in decay of intermediate particles and resonances. Momenta are generated in such a way that samples of events cover the whole bremsstrahlung phase space. With the help of selection cuts, experimental acceptance can be then taken into account. The program is based on an exact multiphoton phase space. Crude matrix element is obtained by iteration of a universal multidimensional kernel. It ensures exact distribution in the soft photon region. Algorithm is compatible with exclusive exponentiation. To evaluate the program's precision, it is necessary to control the kernel with the help of perturbative results. If available, kernel is constructed from the exact first order matrix element. This ensures that all terms necessary for non-leading logarithms are taken into account. In the present paper we will focus on the W -> l nu and gamma^* -> pi^+ pi^- decays. The Born level cross sections for both processes approach zero in some points of the phase space. A process dependent compensating weight is constructed to incorporate the exact matrix element, but is recommended for use in tests only. In the hard photon region, where scalar QED is not expected to be reliable, the compensating weight for gamma^* decay can be large. With respect to the total rate, the effect remains at the permille level. It is nonetheless of interest. The terms leading to the effect are analogous to some terms appearing in QCD. The present paper can be understood either as a contribution to discussion on how to match two collinear emission chains resulting from charged sources in a way compatible with the exact and complete phase space, exclusive exponentiation and the first order matrix element of QED (scalar QED), or as the practical study of predictions for accelerator experiments.Comment: 24 page