b-quark decay in the collinear approximation

The semileptonic decay of a b-quark, b--> c l nu, is considered in the relativistic limit where the decay products are approximately collinear. Analytic results for the double differential lepton energy distributions are given for finite charm-quark mass. Their use for the fast simulation of isolated lepton backgrounds from heavy quark decays is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Phys.Rev.

Next-to-leading order jet distributions for Higgs boson production via weak-boson fusion

The weak-boson fusion process is expected to provide crucial information on Higgs boson couplings at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. The achievable statistical accuracy demands comparison with next-to-leading order QCD calculations, which are presented here in the form of a fully flexible parton Monte Carlo program. QCD corrections are determined for jet distributions and are shown to be modest, of order 5 to 10% in most cases, but reaching 30% occasionally. Remaining scale uncertainties range from order 5% or less for distributions to below +-2% for the Higgs boson cross section in typical weak-boson fusion search regions.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figure

Use of Time Varying Dynamics in Neural Network to Solve Multi-Target Classification

Several types of solutions exist for multiple target tracking. These techniques are computation-intensive and in some cases very difficult to operate online. The authors report on a backpropagation neural network which has been successfully used to identify multiple moving targets using kinematic data (time, range, range-rate and azimuth angle) from sensors to train the network. Preliminary results from simulated scenarios show that neural networks are capable of learning target identification for three targets during the time period used during training and a time period shortly after. This effective classification period can be extended by the use of networks in coordination with smart logic systems

Determination of Higgs-boson couplings at the LHC

We investigate the determination of Higgs boson couplings to gauge bosons and fermions at the LHC from data on Higgs boson production and decay. We demonstrate that very mild theoretical assumptions, which are valid in general multi-Higgs doublet models, are sufficient to allow the extraction of absolute values of the couplings rather than just ratios of the couplings. For Higgs masses below 200 GeV we find accuracies of 10-40% for the Higgs couplings and the total Higgs boson width after several years of LHC running. The sensitivity of the Higgs coupling measurements to deviations from the Standard Model predictions is studied for an MSSM scenario.Comment: 9 pages, contribution to the proceedings of the XXXIXth Rencontres de Moriond, La Thuile, March 200

Robust LHC Higgs Search in Weak Boson Fusion

We demonstrate that an LHC Higgs search in weak boson fusion production with subsequent decay to weak boson pairs is robust against extensions of the Standard Model or MSSM involving a large number of Higgs doublets. We also show that the transverse mass distribution provides unambiguous discrimination of a continuum Higgs signal from the Standard Model.Comment: 12p, 2 figs., additional comments on backgrounds, version to appear in PR

Top Background Extrapolation for H -> WW Searches at the LHC

A leading order (LO) analysis is presented that demonstrates that key top backgrounds to H -> W^+W^- -> l^\pm l^\mp \sla{p}_T decays in weak boson fusion (WBF) and gluon fusion (GF) at the CERN Large Hadron Collider can be extrapolated from experimental data with an accuracy of order 5% to 10%. If LO scale variation is accepted as proxy for the theoretical error, parton level results indicate that the tt~j background to the H -> WW search in WBF can be determined with a theoretical error of about 5%, while the tt~ background to the H -> WW search in GF can be determined with a theoretical error of better than 1%. Uncertainties in the parton distribution functions contribute an estimated 3% to 10% to the total error.Comment: 17 pages, 9 tables, 4 figures; LO caveat emphasized, version to be published in Phys. Rev.

Standard Model Top Quark Asymmetry at the Fermilab Tevatron

Top quark pair production at proton-antiproton colliders is known to exhibit a forward-backward asymmetry due to higher-order QCD effects. We explore how this asymmetry might be studied at the Fermilab Tevatron, including how the asymmetry depends on the kinematics of extra hard partons. We consider results for top quark pair events with one and two additional hard jets. We further note that a similar asymmetry, correlated with the presence of jets, arises in specific models for parton showers in Monte Carlo simulations. We conclude that the measurement of this asymmetry at the Tevatron will be challenging, but important both for our understanding of QCD and for our efforts to model it.Comment: 26 p., 10 embedded figs., comment added, version to appear in PR

Higgs Boson Production in Weak Boson Fusion at Next-to-Leading Order

The weak boson fusion process for neutral Higgs boson production is investigated with particular attention to the accuracy with which the Higgs boson coupling to weak bosons can be determined at CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) energies in final states that contain a Higgs boson plus at least two jets. Using fully differential perturbative matrix elements for the weak boson fusion signal process and for the QCD background processes, we generate events in which a Higgs boson is produced along with two jets that carry large transverse momentum. The effectiveness of different prescriptions to enhance the signal to background ratio is studied, and the expected signal purities are calculated in each case. We find that a simple cut on the rapidity of one final-state jet works well. We determine that an accuracy of delta_g/g ~ 10% on the effective coupling g may be possible after ~ 200 fb^-1 of integrated luminosity is accumulated at the LHC.Comment: 34 pages. Some restructuring of the text, a few sentences and one figure added. Conclusions not altered. To be published in Physical Review

Improved Measurement of ttZ Couplings at the LHC

We consider QCD tt~Z production at the LHC with Z->\bar\nu\nu and all-hadronic tt~ decays, i.e. pp -> p_T(miss)bb~+4 jets, as a tool to measure ttZ couplings. This channel has a significantly larger cross section than those where the Z boson decays leptonically. However, tt~, bb~+4 jet, tt~j and tt~jj production give rise to potentially large backgrounds. We show that these processes can be suppressed to an acceptable level with suitable cuts, and find that adding the p_T(miss)bb~+4 jet channel to the final states used in previous ttZ couplings analyses will improve the sensitivity by 10-60%. We also discuss how the measurement of the ttZ couplings may constrain Little Higgs models.Comment: revtex4, 16 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl