RGIsearch: A C++ program for the determination of Renormalization Group Invariants

RGIsearch is a C++ program that searches for invariants of a user-defined set of renormalization group equations. Based on the general shape of the $\beta$-functions of quantum field theories, RGIsearch searches for several types of invariants that require different methods. Additionally, it supports the computation of invariants up to two-loop level. A manual for the program is given, including the settings and set-up of the program, as well as a test case

Final-state QED Multipole Radiation in Antenna Parton Showers

We present a formalism for a fully coherent QED parton shower. The complete multipole structure of photonic radiation is incorporated in a single branching kernel. The regular on-shell 2 to 3 kinematic picture is kept intact by dividing the radiative phase space into sectors, allowing for a definition of the ordering variable that is similar to QCD antenna showers. A modified version of the Sudakov veto algorithm is discussed that increases performance at the cost of the introduction of weighted events. Due to the absence of a soft singularity, the formalism for photon splitting is very similar to the QCD analogon of gluon splitting. However, since no color structure is available to guide the selection of a spectator, a weighted selection procedure from all available spectators is introduced.Comment: 33 pages, 12 figures. Added subsection 4.3 and some comments and references per reviewer request. Version accepted by JHE

Competing Sudakov Veto Algorithms

We present a way to analyze the distribution produced by a Monte Carlo algorithm. We perform these analyses on several versions of the Sudakov veto algorithm, adding a cutoff, a second variable and competition between emission channels. The analysis allows us to prove that multiple, seemingly different competition algorithms, including those that are currently implemented in most parton showers, lead to the same result. Finally, we test their performance and show that there are significantly faster alternatives to the commonly used algorithms.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figur

Renormalization group invariants in supersymmetric theories: one- and two-loop results

We stress the potential usefulness of renormalization group invariants. Especially particular combinations thereof could for instance be used as probes into patterns of supersymmetry breaking in the MSSM at inaccessibly high energies. We search for these renormalization group invariants in two systematic ways: on the one hand by making use of symmetry arguments and on the other by means of a completely automated exhaustive search through a large class of candidate invariants. At the one-loop level, we find all known invariants for the MSSM and in fact several more, and extend our results to the more constrained pMSSM and dMSSM, leading to even more invariants. Extending our search to the two-loop level we find that the number of invariants is considerably reduced

Phase Space Sampling and Inference from Weighted Events with Autoregressive Flows

We explore the use of autoregressive flows, a type of generative model with tractable likelihood, as a means of efficient generation of physical particle collider events. The usual maximum likelihood loss function is supplemented by an event weight, allowing for inference from event samples with variable, and even negative event weights. To illustrate the efficacy of the model, we perform experiments with leading-order top pair production events at an electron collider with importance sampling weights, and with next-to-leading-order top pair production events at the LHC that involve negative weights.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figure

Collinear Electroweak Radiation in Antenna Parton Showers

We present a first implementation of collinear electroweak radiation in the Vincia parton shower. Due to the chiral nature of the electroweak theory, explicit spin dependence in the shower algorithm is required. We thus use the spinor-helicity formalism to compute helicity-dependent branching kernels, taking special care to deal with the gauge relics that may appear in computation that involve longitudinal polarizations of the massive electroweak vector bosons. These kernels are used to construct a shower algorithm that includes all possible collinear final-state electroweak branchings, including those induced by the Yang-Mills triple vector boson coupling and all Higgs couplings, as well as vector boson emissions from the initial state. We incorporate a treatment of features particular to the electroweak theory, such as the effects of bosonic interference and recoiler effects, as well as a preliminary description of the overlap between electroweak branchings and resonance decays. Some qualifying results on electroweak branching spectra at high energies, as well as effects on LHC physics are presented. Possible future improvements are discussed, including treatment of soft and spin effects, as well as issues unique to the electroweak sector.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figure

Multipole Photon Radiation in the Vincia Parton Shower

We present algorithms that interleave photon radiation from the final state and the initial state with the QCD evolution in the antenna-based Vincia parton shower. One of the algorithms incorporates the complete soft and collinear structure associated with photon emission, but may be computationally expensive, while the other approximates the soft structure at a lower cost. Radiation from fermions and W bosons is included, and a strategy for photon radiation off leptons below the hadronization scale is set up. We show results of the application of the shower algorithms to Drell-Yan and W+W- production at the LHC, showing the impact of the inclusion of the full soft structure and treatment of radiation off W bosons.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Interleaved resonance decays and electroweak radiation in the Vincia parton shower

We propose a framework for high-energy interactions in which resonance decays and electroweak branching processes are interleaved with the QCD evolution in a single common sequence of decreasing resolution scales. The interleaved treatment of resonance decays allows for a new treatment of finite-width effects in parton showers. At scales above their offshellness (i.e., typically Q > γ ), resonances participate explicitly as incoming and outgoing states in branching processes, while they are effectively "integrated out" of the description at lower scales. We implement this formalism, together with a full set of antenna functions for branching processes involving electroweak (W=Z=H) bosons in the Vincia shower module in Pythia 8.3, and study some of the consequences

Soft spin correlations in final-state parton showers

We introduce a simple procedure that resolves the long-standing question of how to account for single-logarithmic spin-correlation effects in parton showers not just in the collinear limit, but also in the soft wide-angle limit, at leading colour. We discuss its implementation in the context of the PanScales family of parton showers, where it complements our earlier treatment of the purely collinear spin correlations. Comparisons to fixed-order matrix elements help validate our approach up to third order in the strong coupling, and an appendix demonstrates the small size of residual subleading-colour effects. To help probe wide-angle soft spin correlation effects, we introduce a new declustering-based non-global spin-sensitive observable, the first of its kind. Our showers provide a reference for its single-logarithmic resummation. The work in this paper represents the last step required for final-state massless showers to satisfy the broad PanScales next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy goals.Comment: 26 pages, 12 figure

Matching and event-shape NNDL accuracy in parton showers

To explore the interplay of NLO matching and next-to-leading logarithmic (NLL) parton showers, we consider the simplest case of γ* and Higgs-boson decays to qq¯¯and gg respectively. Not only should shower NLL accuracy be retained across observables after matching, but for global event-shape observables and the two-jet rate, matching can augment the shower in such a way that it additionally achieves next-to-next-to-double-logarithmic (NNDL) accuracy, a first step on the route towards general NNLL. As a proof-of-concept exploration of this question, we consider direct application of multiplicative matrix-element corrections, as well as simple implementations of MC@NLO and POWHEG-style matching. We find that the first two straightforwardly bring NNDL accuracy, and that this can also be achieved with POWHEG, although particular care is needed in the handover between POWHEG and the shower. Our study involves both analytic and numerical components and we also touch on some phenomenological considerations