Top and Higgs: Recent Theory developments

I review recent theory developments in the computation of Higgs production in association with top quarks, as well as the modelling of the corresponding backgrounds. In addition to progress within the Standard model I discuss higher-order corrections for the $t\bar{t}H$ process in the presence of new interactions.Comment: Talk given at the 10th International Workshop on Top Quark Physics (TOP 2017), 17th-22nd September, Braga, Portugal, to appear in the proceeding

Electroweak gauge boson polarisation at the LHC

We study the polarisation of gauge bosons produced at the LHC. Polarisation effects for W bosons manifest themselves in the angular distributions of the lepton and in the distributions of lepton transverse momentum and missing transverse energy. The distributions also depend on the selection cuts, with kinematic effects competing with polarisation effects. The polarisation is discussed for a range of different processes producing W bosons: W+jets, W from top (single and pair) production, W pair production and W production in association with a Z or Higgs boson. The relative contributions of the different polarisation states varies from process to process, reflecting the dynamics of the underlying hard-scattering process. We also present results for the polarisation of the Z boson produced in association with QCD jets at the LHC, and comment on the differences between W and Z production.Comment: 27 pages, 25 figure

Top-quark mass effects in double and triple Higgs production in gluon-gluon fusion at NLO

The observation of double and triple scalar boson production at hadron colliders could provide key information on the Higgs self couplings and the potential. As for single Higgs production the largest rates for multiple Higgs production come from gluon-gluon fusion processes mediated by a top-quark loop. However, at variance with single Higgs production, top-quark mass and width effects from the loops cannot be neglected. Computations including the exact top-quark mass dependence are only available at the leading order, and currently predictions at higher orders are obtained by means of approximations based on the Higgs-gluon effective field theory (HEFT). In this work we present a reweighting technique that, starting from events obtained via the MC@NLO method in the HEFT, allows to exactly include the top-quark mass and width effects coming from one- and two-loop amplitudes. We describe our approach and apply it to double Higgs production at NLO in QCD, computing the needed one-loop amplitudes and using approximations for the unknown two-loop ones. The results are compared to other approaches used in the literature, arguing that they provide more accurate predictions for distributions and for total rates as well. As a novel application of our procedure we present predictions at NLO in QCD for triple Higgs production at hadron colliders.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figure

Scalar production and decay to top quarks including interference effects at NLO in QCD in an EFT approach

Scalar and pseudo-scalar resonances decaying to top quarks are common predictions in several scenarios beyond the standard model (SM) and are extensively searched for by LHC experiments. Challenges on the experimental side require optimising the strategy based on accurate predictions. Firstly, QCD corrections are known to be large both for the SM QCD background and for the pure signal scalar production. Secondly, leading order and approximate next-to-leading order (NLO) calculations indicate that the interference between signal and background is large and drastically changes the lineshape of the signal, from a simple peak to a peak-dip structure. Therefore, a robust prediction of this interference at NLO accuracy in QCD is necessary to ensure that higher-order corrections do not alter the lineshapes. We compute the exact NLO corrections, assuming a point-like coupling between the scalar and the gluons and consistently embedding the calculation in an effective field theory within an automated framework, and present results for a representative set of beyond the SM benchmarks. The results can be further matched to parton shower simulation, providing more realistic predictions. We find that NLO corrections are important and lead to a significant reduction of the uncertainties. We also discuss how our computation can be used to improve the predictions for physics scenarios where the gluon-scalar loop is resolved and the effective approach is less applicable.Comment: 32 pages, 17 figures; accepted versio

Higgs and Z boson associated production via gluon fusion in the SM and the 2HDM

We analyse the associated production of Higgs and $Z$ boson via heavy-quark loops at the LHC in the Standard Model and beyond. We first review the main features of the Born $2\to 2$ production, and in particular discuss the high-energy behaviour, angular distributions and $Z$ boson polarisation. We then consider the effects of extra QCD radiation as described by the $2 \to 3$ loop matrix elements, and find that they dominate at high Higgs transverse momentum. We show how merged samples of 0-- and 1--jet multiplicities, matched to a parton shower can provide a reliable description of differential distributions in $ZH$ production. In addition to the Standard Model study, results in a generic two-Higgs-doublet-model are obtained and presented for a set of representative and experimentally viable benchmarks for $Zh^0$, $ZH^0$ and $ZA^0$ production. We observe that various interesting features appear either due to the resonant enhancement of the cross-section or to interference patterns between resonant and non-resonant contributions.Comment: 29 pages, 12 figure

Higgs production in association with a top-antitop pair in the Standard Model Effective Field Theory at NLO in QCD

We present the results of the computation of the next-to-leading order QCD corrections to the production cross section of a Higgs boson in association with a top-antitop pair at the LHC, including the three relevant dimension-six operators ($O_{t \varphi }, O_{\varphi G}, O_{tG}$) of the standard model effective field theory. These operators also contribute to the production of Higgs bosons in loop-induced processes at the LHC, such as inclusive Higgs, $Hj$ and $HH$ production, and modify the Higgs decay branching ratios for which we also provide predictions. We perform a detailed study of the cross sections and their uncertainties at the total as well as differential level and of the structure of the effective field theory at NLO including renormalisation group effects. Finally, we show how the combination of information coming from measurements of these production processes will allow to constrain the three operators at the current and future LHC runs. Our results lead to a significant improvement of the accuracy and precision of the deviations expected from higher-dimensional operators in the SM in both the top-quark and the Higgs-boson sectors and provide a necessary ingredient for performing a global EFT fit to the LHC data at NLO accuracy.Comment: typos in figures 7 & 12 correcte

Higgs pair production via gluon fusion in the Two-Higgs-Doublet Model

We study the production of Higgs boson pairs via gluon fusion at the LHC in the Two-Higgs-Doublet Model. We present predictions at NLO accuracy in QCD, matched to parton showers through the MC@NLO method. A dedicated reweighting technique is used to improve the NLO calculation upon the infinite top-mass limit. We perform our calculation within the MadGraph5_aMC@NLO framework, along with the 2HDM implementation based on the NLOCT package. The inclusion of the NLO corrections leads to large K-factors and significantly reduced theoretical uncertainties. We examine the seven 2HDM Higgs pair combinations using a number of representative 2HDM scenarios. We show how the model-specific features modify the Higgs pair total rates and distribution shapes, leading to trademark signatures of an extended Higgs sector.Comment: 39 pages, 10 figures, 11 tables, matching published versio