Ježo, Tomas, Lindert, Jonas M, Moretti, Niccolo and Pozzorini, Stefano (2018) New NLOPS predictions for tt¯+b -jet production at the LHC. European Physical Journal C, 78. a502 1-30. ISSN 1434-6044

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Abstract

Measurements of tt¯ H production in the H→ bb¯ channel depend in a critical way on the theoretical uncertainty associated with the irreducible tt¯ + b-jet background. In this paper, analysing the various topologies that account for b-jet production in association with a tt¯ pair, we demonstrate that the process at hand is largely driven by final-state g→ bb¯ splittings. We also show that in five-flavour simulations based on tt¯ + multi-jet merging, b-jet production is mostly driven by the parton shower, while matrix elements play only a marginal role in the description of g→ bb¯ splittings. Based on these observations we advocate the use of NLOPS simulations of pp→ tt¯ bb¯ in the four-flavour scheme, and we present a new Powheg generator of this kind. Predictions and uncertainties for tt¯ + b-jet observables at the 13 TeV LHC are presented both for the case of stable top quarks and with spin-correlated top decays. Besides QCD scale variations we consider also theoretical uncertainties related to the Powheg matching method and to the parton shower modelling, with emphasis on g→ bb¯ splittings. In general, matching and shower uncertainties turn out to be remarkably small. This is confirmed also by a consistent comparison against Sherpa+OpenLoops.

Item Type:	Article
Schools and Departments:	School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences > Physics and Astronomy
SWORD Depositor:	Mx Elements Account
Depositing User:	Mx Elements Account
Date Deposited:	25 Oct 2022 10:51
Last Modified:	25 Oct 2022 11:01
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/108654

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