Pinning down the large-x gluon with NNLO top-quark pair differential distributions

Michał Czakon, Nathan P. Hartland, Alexander Mitov, Emanuele R. Nocera, Juan Rojo

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

168 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Top-quark pair production at the LHC is directly sensitive to the gluon PDF at large x. While total cross-section data is already included in several PDF determinations, differential distributions are not, because the corresponding NNLO calculations have become available only recently. In this work we study the impact on the large-x gluon of top-quark pair differential distributions measured by ATLAS and CMS at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV. Our analysis, performed in the NNPDF3.0 framework at NNLO accuracy, allows us to identify the optimal combination of LHC top-quark pair measurements that maximize the constraints on the gluon, as well as to assess the compatibility between ATLAS and CMS data. We find that differential distributions from top-quark pair production provide significant constraints on the large-x gluon, comparable to those obtained from inclusive jet production data, and thus should become an important ingredient for the next generation of global PDF fits.
Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of High Energy Physics
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Nov 2016

Bibliographical note

42 pages, 21 figures, 11 tables, this version match the version accepted for publication in JHEP

Keywords

  • hep-ph
  • hep-ex

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Pinning down the large-x gluon with NNLO top-quark pair differential distributions'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this