Could MT2 be a singularity variable?

The algebraic singularity method is a framework for analyzing collider events with missing energy. It provides a way to draw out a set of singularity variables that can catch singular features originating from the projection of full phase space onto the observable phase space of measured particle momenta. It is a promising approach applicable to various physics processes with missing energy but still requires more studies for use in practice. Meanwhile, in the double-sided decay topology with an invisible particle on each side, the MT2 variable has been known to be a useful collider observable for measuring particle masses from missing energy events or setting signal regions of collider searches. We investigate the relation between the two different types of kinematic variables in double-sided decay topology. We find that the singularity variables contain the MT2 variable in many cases, although the former is not a strict superset of the latter.

Two-loop leading-colour QCD helicity amplitudes for Higgs boson production in association with a bottom-quark pair at the LHC

We compute the two-loop QCD helicity amplitudes for the production of a Higgs boson in association with a bottom quark pair at a hadron collider. We take the approximations of leading colour and work in the five flavour scheme, where the bottom quarks are massless while the Yukawa coupling is non-zero. We extract analytic expressions from multiple numerical evaluations over finite fields and present the results in terms of an independent set of special functions that can be reliably evaluated over the full phase space.

Measurements of $${\Xi \left( 1530\right) ^{0}} $$ and $${\overline{\Xi }\left( 1530\right) ^{0}} $$ production in proton–proton interactions at $$\sqrt{s_{NN}}$$ = 17.3 $$\text{ GeV }$$ in the NA61/SHINE experiment

Double-differential yields of $${\Xi \left( 1530\right) ^{0}} $$ Ξ 1530 0 and $${\overline{\Xi }\left( 1530\right) ^{0}} $$ Ξ ¯ 1530 0 resonances produced in p+p interactions were measured at a laboratory beam momentum of 158 $$\text{ GeV }\!/\!c$$ GeV / c . This measurement is the first of its kind in p+p interactions below LHC energies. It was performed at the CERN SPS by the NA61/SHINE collaboration. Double-differential distributions in rapidity and transverse momentum were obtained from a sample of $$26\times 10^6$$ 26 × 10 6 inelastic events. The spectra are extrapolated to full phase space resulting in mean multiplicity of $${\Xi \left( 1530\right) ^{0}} $$ Ξ 1530 0 ($$6.73 \pm 0.25\pm 0.67)\times 10^{-4}$$ 6.73 ± 0.25 ± 0.67 ) × 10 - 4 and $${\overline{\Xi }\left( 1530\right) ^{0}} $$ Ξ ¯ 1530 0 ($$2.71 \pm 0.18\pm 0.18)\times 10^{-4}$$ 2.71 ± 0.18 ± 0.18 ) × 10 - 4 . The rapidity and transverse momentum spectra and mean multiplicities were compared to predictions of string-hadronic and statistical model calculations.

Measurements of $${\Xi }{^-} $$ and $$\overline{\Xi }{^+} $$ production in proton–proton interactions at $$\sqrt{s_{NN}}$$ = 17.3 $$\hbox {Ge}\hbox {V}$$ in the NA61/SHINE experiment

The production of $$\Xi (1321)^{-}$$ Ξ ( 1321 ) - and $$\overline{\Xi }(1321)^{+}$$ Ξ ¯ ( 1321 ) + hyperons in inelastic p+p interactions is studied in a fixed target experiment at a beam momentum of 158 $$\hbox {Ge}\hbox {V}\!/\!c$$ Ge / c . Double differential distributions in rapidity $${y}$$ y and transverse momentum $$p_{T}$$ p T are obtained from a sample of 33M inelastic events. They allow to extrapolate the spectra to full phase space and to determine the mean multiplicity of both $${\Xi }{^-} $$ Ξ - and $$\overline{\Xi }{^+} $$ Ξ ¯ + . The rapidity and transverse momentum spectra are compared to transport model predictions. The $${\Xi }{^-} $$ Ξ - mean multiplicity in inelastic p+p interactions at 158 $$\hbox {Ge}\hbox {V}\!/\!c$$ Ge / c is used to quantify the strangeness enhancement in A+A collisions at the same centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair.

Defiducialization: providing experimental measurements for accurate fixed-order predictions

An experimental procedure is proposed to perform measurements of differential cross sections for vector boson production which can be compared to fixed-order QCD predictions with improved accuracy. The procedure relies on applying theoretical acceptance corrections computed as a function of the transverse momentum of the W/Z boson, $$p_T$$ p T , to the experimental measurement, rather than comparing data directly against fiducial fixed-order predictions. It is demonstrated that, contrary to standard fiducial computations, these acceptance factors vary little at low $$p_T$$ p T , so they can be reliably computed using fixed-order perturbation theory. An example analysis is performed using the ATLAS measurement of the Z-boson production cross section at center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The resulting full phase space measurement of the cross section differential in the boson rapidity is compared to theoretical predictions computed with next-to-next-to leading-order accuracy in QCD. Further extensions of the approach which include different types of measurements and improved theoretical predictions are discussed.

Exploring phase space with Neural Importance Sampling

We present a novel approach for the integration of scattering cross sections and the generation of partonic event samples in high-energy physics. We propose an importance sampling technique capable of overcoming typical deficiencies of existing approaches by incorporating neural networks. The method guarantees full phase space coverage and the exact reproduction of the desired target distribution, in our case given by the squared transition matrix element. We study the performance of the algorithm for a few representative examples, including top-quark pair production and gluon scattering into three- and four-gluon final states.

Force-Field Benchmarking by Alternatives: A Systematic Study of Ten Small α- and β-Proteins

Predicting protein structure from sequence is a central challenge of biochemistry, yet different force fields feature distinct structural biases that are hard to quantify, preventing clear assessment of results. Since structural transitions occur on milliseconds to seconds, sampling is out of reach in almost all routine studies, we inherently rely on local sampled structures, and benchmarks have emphasized the ability to reproduce these local structures. Here we approach the force field bias problem in a different way, via alternatives, by revisiting the old question: How unique is the sequence-structure relationship when studied computationally? To circumvent the sampling problem, the system-bias (specific structure choices affect apparent force field structural preference) and the complexity of tertiary structure, we studied ten small α- and β-proteins (20-35 amino acids) with one helix or sheet. For each of the ten sequences, we then designed alternative β- or α-structures and subjected all 20 proteins to molecular dynamics simulations. We apply this “alternative structure” benchmark to five of the best modern force fields: Amber ff99SB-ILDN, Amber ff99SB*-ILDN, CHARMM22*, CHARMM36, and GROMOS54A8. Surprisingly, we find that all sequences with reported β-structures also feature stable native-like α-structures with all five force fields. In contrast, only the alternative β-1T5Q and to some extent β-1CQ0 and β-1V1D resembled native β-proteins. With full phase space sampling being impossible in almost all cases, our benchmark by alternatives, which samples another local part of phase space in direct comparison, is a useful complement to millisecond benchmarks when these become more common.

Hic sunt dracones: Cartography of the Milky Way spiral arms and bar resonances with Gaia Data Release 2

In this paper we introduce a new method for analysing Milky Way phase-space which allows us to reveal the imprint left by the Milky Way bar and spiral arms on the stars with full phase-space data in Gaia Data Release 2. The unprecedented quality and extended spatial coverage of these data allowed us to discover six prominent stellar density structures in the disc to a distance of 5 kpc from the Sun. Four of these structures correspond to the spiral arms detected previously in the gas and young stars (Scutum-Centaurus, Sagittarius, Local, and Perseus). The remaining two are associated with the main resonances of the Milky Way bar where corotation is placed at around 6.2 kpc and the outer Lindblad resonance beyond the solar radius, at around 9 kpc. For the first time we provide evidence of the imprint left by spiral arms and resonances in the stellar densities not relying on a specific tracer, through enhancing the signatures left by these asymmetries. Our method offers new avenues for studying how the stellar populations in our Galaxy are shaped.

Charged-Particle Multiplicity Moments as Described by Shifted Gompertz Distribution in e+e−, pp¯, and pp Collisions at High Energies

In continuation of our earlier work, in which we analysed the charged particle multiplicities in leptonic and hadronic interactions at different center-of-mass energies in full phase space as well as in restricted phase space using the shifted Gompertz distribution, a detailed analysis of the normalized moments and normalized factorial moments is reported here. A two-component model in which a probability distribution function is obtained from the superposition of two shifted Gompertz distributions, as introduced in our earlier work, has also been used for the analysis. This is the first analysis of the moments with the shifted Gompertz distribution. Analysis has also been performed to predict the moments of multiplicity distribution for the e+e− collisions at s=500 GeV at a future collider.