TauDecay: a library to simulate polarized tau decays via FeynRules and MadGraph5

TauDecay is a library of helicity amplitudes to simulate polarized tau decays, constructed in the FeynRules and MadGraph5 framework. Together with the leptonic mode, the decay library includes the main hadronic modes, \tau \to \nu_{\tau}+\pi, 2\pi, and 3\pi, which are introduced as effective vertices by using FeynRules. The model file allows us to simulate tau decays when the on-shell tau production is kinematically forbidden. We also demonstrate that all possible correlations among the decay products of pair-produced taus through a Z boson and a scalar/pseudoscalar Higgs boson are produced automatically. The program has been tested carefully by making use of the standard tau decay library Tauola.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables; v2: typo in Eq.(20b) corrected, references added, version accepted by EPJC. 'Note added' also included for the brief TauDecay instruction in MadGraph5_aMC@NL

K-ary n-cube based off-chip communications architecture for high-speed packet processors

We present a detailed study of Higgs boson production in association with a single top quark at the LHC, at next-to-leading order accuracy in QCD. We consider total and differential cross sections, at the parton level as well as by matching short distance events to parton showers, for both t-channel and s-channel production. We provide predictions relevant for the LHC at 13 TeV together with a thorough evaluation of the residual uncertainties coming from scale variation, parton distributions, strong coupling constant and heavy quark masses. In addition, for t-channel production, we compare results as obtained in the 4-flavour and 5-flavour schemes, pinning down the most relevant differences between them. Finally, we study the sensitivity to a non-standard-model relative phase between the Higgs couplings to the top quark and to the weak bosons

tWH associated production at the LHC

We study Higgs boson production in association with a top quark and a $W$ boson at the LHC. At NLO in QCD, $tWH$ interferes with $t\bar t H$ and a procedure to meaningfully separate the two processes needs to be employed. In order to define $tWH$ production for both total rates and differential distributions, we consider the diagram removal and diagram subtraction techniques that have been previously proposed for treating intermediate resonances at NLO, in particular in the context of $tW$ production. These techniques feature approximations that need to be carefully taken into account when theoretical predictions are compared to experimental measurements. To this aim, we first critically revisit the $tW$ process, for which an extensive literature exists and where an analogous interference with $t \bar t$ production takes place. We then provide robust results for total and differential cross sections for $tW$ and $tWH$ at 13 TeV, also matching short-distance events to a parton shower. We formulate a reliable prescription to estimate the theoretical uncertainties, including those associated to the very definition of the process at NLO. Finally, we study the sensitivity to a non-Standard-Model relative phase between the Higgs couplings to the top quark and to the $W$ boson in $tWH$ production.Comment: v3: expanded some discussions in the text, improved some plots (results unchanged

Characterising the 750 GeV diphoton excess

We study kinematic distributions that may help characterise the recently observed excess in diphoton events at 750 GeV at the LHC Run 2. Several scenarios are considered, including spin-0 and spin-2 750 GeV resonances that decay directly into photon pairs as well as heavier parent resonances that undergo three-body or cascade decays. We find that combinations of the distributions of the diphoton system and the leading photon can distinguish the topology and mass spectra of the different scenarios, while patterns of QCD radiation can help differentiate the production mechanisms. Moreover, missing energy is a powerful discriminator for the heavy parent scenarios if they involve (effectively) invisible particles. While our study concentrates on the current excess at 750 GeV, the analysis is general and can also be useful for characterising other potential diphoton signals in the future.Comment: 24 pages, 11 figures, 1 table; v2: references added, version to appear in JHE

QED and QCD helicity amplitudes in parton-shower gauge

We introduce photon and gluon propagators in which the scalar polarization component is subtracted systematically by making use of the BRST invariance of the off-shell vector boson created from physical on-shell states. The propagator has the light-cone gauge form, where the spacial component of the gauge vector points along the negative of the off-shell vector boson momentum. We call the gauge as parton-shower gauge, since in collinear configurations the absolute value squared of each Feynman amplitude reproduces all the singular behaviors of the corresponding parton shower in this gauge. We introduce new HELAS codes that can be used to calculate the tree-level helicity amplitudes of arbitrary QED and QCD processes by using MadGraph. The absence of subtle gauge cancellation among Feynman amplitudes allows numerical codes to evaluate singular behaviors accurately, and helps us gaining physical insights on interference patterns.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures; v2: references added; v3: some issues clarified, a reference added, version to appear in EPJ

Higgs characterisation at NLO in QCD: CP properties of the top-quark Yukawa interaction

At the LHC the CP properties of the top-quark Yukawa interaction can be probed through Higgs production in gluon fusion or in association with top quarks. We consider the possibility for both CP-even and CP-odd couplings to the top quark to be present, and study CP-sensitive observables at next-to-leading order (NLO) in QCD, including parton-shower effects. We show that the inclusion of NLO corrections sizeably reduces the theoretical uncertainties, and confirm that di-jet correlations in $H+2$ jet production through gluon fusion and correlations of the top-quark decay products in $t\bar tH$ production can provide sensitive probes of the CP nature of the Higgs interactions.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, 12 tables; v2: references added, version to appear in EPJ