We present an implementation of the so-called CKKW-L merging scheme for
combining multi-jet tree-level matrix elements with parton showers. The
implementation uses the transverse-momentum-ordered shower with interleaved
multiple interactions as implemented in PYTHIA8. We validate our procedure
using e+e--annihilation into jets and vector boson production in hadronic
collisions, with special attention to details in the algorithm which are
formally sub-leading in character, but may have visible effects in some
observables. We find substantial merging scale dependencies induced by the
enforced rapidity ordering in the default PYTHIA8 shower. If this rapidity
ordering is removed the merging scale dependence is almost negligible. We then
also find that the shower does a surprisingly good job of describing the
hardness of multi-jet events, as long as the hardest couple of jets are given
by the matrix elements. The effects of using interleaved multiple interactions
as compared to more simplistic ways of adding underlying-event effects in
vector boson production are shown to be negligible except in a few sensitive
observables. To illustrate the generality of our implementation, we also give
some example results from di-boson production and pure QCD jet production in
hadronic collisions.Comment: 44 pages, 23 figures, as published in JHEP, including all changes
recommended by the refere