1,706 research outputs found
Bayesian Analysis
After making some general remarks, I consider two examples that illustrate
the use of Bayesian Probability Theory. The first is a simple one, the
physicist's favorite "toy," that provides a forum for a discussion of the key
conceptual issue of Bayesian analysis: the assignment of prior probabilities.
The other example illustrates the use of Bayesian ideas in the real world of
experimental physics.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, Workshop on Confidence Limits, CERN, 17-18
January, 200
Strategy for discovering a low-mass Higgs boson at the Fermilab Tevatron
We have studied the potential of the CDF and DZero experiments to discover a
low-mass Standard Model Higgs boson, during Run II, via the processes
-> WH -> , -> ZH ->
and -> ZH ->. We
show that a multivariate analysis using neural networks, that exploits all the
information contained within a set of event variables, leads to a significant
reduction, with respect to {\em any} equivalent conventional analysis, in the
integrated luminosity required to find a Standard Model Higgs boson in the mass
range 90 GeV/c**2 < M_H < 130 GeV/c**2. The luminosity reduction is sufficient
to bring the discovery of the Higgs boson within reach of the Tevatron
experiments, given the anticipated integrated luminosities of Run II, whose
scope has recently been expanded.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, 7 tables, to appear in Physical Review D, Minor
fixes and revision
Analysis Description Languages for the LHC
An analysis description language is a domain specific language capable of
describing the contents of an LHC analysis in a standard and unambiguous way,
independent of any computing framework. It is designed for use by anyone with
an interest in, and knowledge of, LHC physics, i.e., experimentalists,
phenomenologists and other enthusiasts. Adopting analysis description languages
would bring numerous benefits for the LHC experimental and phenomenological
communities ranging from analysis preservation beyond the lifetimes of
experiments or analysis software to facilitating the abstraction, design,
visualization, validation, combination, reproduction, interpretation and
overall communication of the analysis contents. Here, we introduce the analysis
description language concept and summarize the current efforts ongoing to
develop such languages and tools to use them in LHC analyses.Comment: Accepted contribution to the proceedings of The 8th Annual Conference
on Large Hadron Collider Physics, LHCP2020, 25-30 May, 2020, onlin
Reference priors for high energy physics
Bayesian inferences in high energy physics often use uniform prior
distributions for parameters about which little or no information is available
before data are collected. The resulting posterior distributions are therefore
sensitive to the choice of parametrization for the problem and may even be
improper if this choice is not carefully considered. Here we describe an
extensively tested methodology, known as reference analysis, which allows one
to construct parametrization-invariant priors that embody the notion of minimal
informativeness in a mathematically well-defined sense. We apply this
methodology to general cross section measurements and show that it yields
sensible results. A recent measurement of the single top quark cross section
illustrates the relevant techniques in a realistic situation
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