Top-Quark Physics at the LHC

We report on the precision determination of the top-quark mass to next-to-next-to-leading order in QCD in well-defined renormalization schemes using data from the Large Hadron Collider for single-top and top-quark pair production. We also discuss the calibration of the so-called Monte Carlo top-quark mass parameter which is determined from a comparison to events with top-quark decay products. The implications of the measured value of the top-quark mass for conclusions about the stability of the electroweak vacuum state of our Universe are illustrated. At future lepton colliders, we provide for the first time matched exclusive calculations valid both at the top threshold and in the continuum, also fully differentially. In addition, we calculate fully off-shell top-pair production (also with an associated Higgs boson) at next-to-leading order in QCD, which allows to extract the top-Yukawa coupling with an unprecedented precision.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures. Part of the final report of the Collaborative Research Center 676 "Particles, Strings and the Early Universe" 2006 - 201

Top-quark pair production at hadron colliders: differential cross section and phenomenological applications with DiffTop

The results of phenomenological studies of top-quark pair production in proton-proton collisions are presented. Differential cross sections are calculated in perturbative QCD at approximate next-to-next-to-leading order ${\cal O}(\alpha_s^4)$ by using methods of threshold resummation beyond the leading logarithmic accuracy. Predictions for the single-particle inclusive kinematics are presented for transverse momentum and rapidity distributions of final-state top quarks. Uncertainties related to the description of proton structure, top-quark mass and strong coupling constant are investigated in detail. The results are compared to the recent measurements by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations at the LHC at the center of mass energy of 7 TeV. The calculation presented here is implemented in the computer code \textsc{Difftop} and can be applied to the general case of heavy-quark pair production at hadron-hadron colliders. For the first time, a fit of parton distribution functions at NNLO is performed by using the differential cross sections of top-quark pair production together with other data sets. The impact of the top-pair production on the precision of the gluon distribution at high scales is illustrated.Comment: 30 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables, regular article. Version accepted for a publication on JHE

Threshold and jet radius joint resummation for single-inclusive jet production

We present the first threshold and jet radius jointly resummed cross section for single-inclusive hadronic jet production. We work at next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy and our framework allows for a systematic extension beyond the currently achieved precision. Longstanding numerical issues are overcome by performing the resummation directly in momentum space within Soft Collinear Effective Theory. We present the first numerical results for the LHC and observe an improved description of the available data. Our results are of immediate relevance for LHC precision phenomenology including the extraction of parton distribution functions and the QCD strong coupling constant.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, minor text changes, PDF uncertainties included and more references added. Replaced to match the published versio

Differential cross sections for top pair production at the LHC

We present results of phenomenological studies for top-quark pair production at the LHC at the center of mass energy $\sqrt{S} = 7$ TeV. The transverse momentum and rapidity distributions for final-state top quarks are calculated in perturbative QCD at approximate next-to-next-to-leading order ${\cal O}(\alpha_s^4)$ by using methods of threshold resummation beyond the leading logarithmic accuracy. The theoretical predictions are obtained by using the computer code \textsc{DiffTop} and are compared to recent measurements by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations. \textsc{Difftop} can be employed in the general case of heavy-quark pair production at hadron-hadron colliders and provides a basis for applications in QCD analyses for parton distribution functions determination.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, Conference proceedings for DIS2014, XXII International Workshop on Deep-Inelastic Scattering and Related Subjects, 28 April - 2 May 2014, Warsaw, Poland, and ICHEP 2014, 37 International Conference on High Energy Physics, 2-9 July 2014, Valencia, Spai

Top-quark production at the LHC: differential cross section and phenomenological applications

We discuss top-quark pair production at hadron colliders and review available calculations of differential top-pair production cross section in perturbative QCD at approximate next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) within the threshold resummation formalism. These calculations are implemented into an open source program under development. We present phenomenological studies at the LHC that include transverse momentum and rapidity distribution of the top quarks at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. Preliminary results obtained with this program are in very good agreement with the recent LHC measurements.Comment: 5 pages, 2 Figures, conference proceeding, DIS2013: XXI International Workshop on Deep-Inelastic Scattering and Related Subjects 22-26 April 2013, Marseilles, Franc

On evolution kernels of twist-two operators

The evolution kernels that govern the scale dependence of the generalized parton distributions are invariant under transformations of the $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathrm R)$ collinear subgroup of the conformal group. Beyond one loop the symmetry generators, due to quantum effects, differ from the canonical ones. We construct the transformation which brings the {\it full} symmetry generators back to their canonical form and show that the eigenvalues (anomalous dimensions) of the new, canonically invariant, evolution kernel coincide with the so-called parity respecting anomalous dimensions. We develop an efficient method that allows one to restore an invariant kernel from the corresponding anomalous dimensions. As an example, the explicit expressions for NNLO invariant kernels for the twist two flavor-nonsinglet operators in QCD and for the planar part of the universal anomalous dimension in $N=4$ SYM are presented.Comment: 12 pages, two figures; The three-loop QCD kernel in electronic form is given in the ancillary fil

QCD threshold corrections for gluino pair production at hadron colliders

We present the complete threshold enhanced predictions in QCD for the total cross section of gluino pair production at hadron colliders at next-to-next-to-leading order. Thanks to the computation of the required one-loop hard matching coefficients our results are accurate to the next-to-next-to-leading logarithm. In a brief phenomenological study we provide predictions for the total hadronic cross sections at the LHC and we discuss the uncertainties arising from scale variations and the parton distribution functions

Anti-kTk_T jet function at next-to-next-to-leading order

Jets constructed via clustering algorithms (e.g., anti-$k_T$, soft-drop) have been proposed for many precision measurements, such as the strong coupling $\alpha_s$ and the nucleon intrinsic dynamics. However, the theoretical accuracy is affected by missing QCD corrections at higher orders for the jet functions in the associated factorization theorems. Their calculation is complicated by the jet clustering procedure. In this work, we propose a method to evaluate jet functions at higher orders in QCD. The calculation involves the phase space sector decomposition with suitable soft subtractions. As a concrete example, we present the quark-jet function using the anti-$k_T$ algorithm with E-scheme recombination at next-to-next-to-leading order.Comment: 12 pages, update the references, add a plot to demonstrate the fully differential nature of the calculated jet function, match the punished versio