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

Journal Article · · Journal of High Energy Physics (Online)
 [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Gottingen Univ. (Germany). Inst. of Physics
  2. Nikhef, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
  3. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Dept. of Physics; Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). Inst. of High Energy Physics

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.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Nikhef, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP) (SC-25); European Union (EU); Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO); Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704
OSTI ID:
1412736
Report Number(s):
BNL--114557-2017-JA; KA2401012
Journal Information:
Journal of High Energy Physics (Online), Journal Name: Journal of High Energy Physics (Online) Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 2017; ISSN 1029-8479
Publisher:
Springer BerlinCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (9)

Constraining scalar resonances with top-quark pair production at the LHC journal March 2018
Interference effects in t t ¯ $$ t\overline{t} $$ production at the LHC as a window on new physics journal March 2019
Automated simulations beyond the Standard Model: supersymmetry journal December 2019
Electroweak and QCD corrections to Z and W pole observables in the standard model EFT journal January 2020
Di-Higgs boson peaks and top valleys: Interference effects in Higgs sector extensions journal January 2020
Automated simulations beyond the Standard Model: supersymmetry text January 2019
Interference Effects in $t{\bar t}$ Production at the LHC as a Window on New Physics text January 2019
Automated simulations beyond the Standard Model: supersymmetry text January 2019
Di-Higgs boson peaks and top valleys: Interference effects in Higgs sector extensions text January 2020

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