A new generation of parton distribution functions with increased precision and quantitative estimates of uncertainties is presented. This work signiflcantly extends previous CTEQ and other global analyses on two fronts: (i) a full treatment of available experimental correlated systematic errorsforbothnewandolddata sets; (ii) asystematic and pragmatic treatment of uncertainties of the parton distributions and their physical predictions, using a recently developed eigenvector-basis approach to the hessian method. The new gluon distribution is considerably harder than that of previous standard flts. A numberofphysicsissues,particularlyrelatingtothebehaviorofthegluondistribution,are addressedinmorequantitativetermsthanbefore. Extensiveresultsontheuncertaintiesof parton distributions at various scales, and on parton luminosity functions at the Tevatron RunII and the LHC, are presented. The latter provide the means to quickly estimate the uncertainties of a wide range of physical processes at these high-energy hadron colliders, basedoncurrentknowledgeofthepartondistributions. Inparticular, theuncertaintieson the production cross sections of the W, Z at the Tevatron and the LHC are estimated to be§4% and§5%, respectively, and that of a light Higgs at the LHC to be§5%.

/pdf/new-generation-of-parton-distributions-with-uncertainties-4f8pm2a8i5.pdf

New generation of parton distributions with uncertainties from global QCD analysis

We present updated leading-order, next-to-leading order and next-to-next-to-leading order parton distribution functions (“MSTW 2008”) determined from global analysis of hard-scattering data within the standard framework of leading-twist fixed-order collinear factorisation in the $\overline{\mathrm{MS}}$
 
scheme. These parton distributions supersede the previously available “MRST” sets and should be used for the first LHC data taking and for the associated theoretical calculations. New data sets fitted include CCFR/NuTeV dimuon cross sections, which constrain the strange-quark and -antiquark distributions, and Tevatron Run II data on inclusive jet production, the lepton charge asymmetry from W decays and the Z rapidity distribution. Uncertainties are propagated from the experimental errors on the fitted data points using a new dynamic procedure for each eigenvector of the covariance matrix. We discuss the major changes compared to previous MRST fits, briefly compare to parton distributions obtained by other fitting groups, and give predictions for the W and Z total cross sections at the Tevatron and LHC.

/pdf/parton-distributions-for-the-lhc-4lvvi85r8i.pdf

Parton distributions for the LHC

We propose a method for matching the next-to-leading order (NLO) calculation of a given QCD process with a parton shower Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. The method has the following features: fully exclusive events are generated, with hadronization according to the MC model; total exclusive rates are accurate to NLO; NLO results for distributions are recovered upon expansion in ?s; hard emissions are treated as in NLO computations while soft/collinear emissions are handled by the MC simulation, with the same logarithmic accuracy as the MC; and matching between the hard- and soft/collinear-emission regions is smooth. A fraction of events with negative weight is generated, but unweighting remains possible with reasonable efficiency. The method is clarified using a simple toy model, and illustrated by application to the hadroproduction of W+W? pairs.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1126-6708/2002/06/029/pdf

Matching NLO QCD computations and parton shower simulations

HERWIG is a general-purpose Monte Carlo event generator, which includes the simulation of hard lepton-lepton, lepton-hadron and hadron-hadron scattering and soft hadron-hadron collisions in one package. It uses the parton-shower approach for initial- and final-state QCD radiation, including colour coherence effects and azimuthal correlations both within and between jets. This article updates the description of HERWIG published in 1992, emphasising the new features incorporated since then. These include, in particular, the matching of first-order matrix elements with parton showers, a more correct treatment of heavy quark decays, and a wide range of new processes, including many predicted by the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, with the option of R-parity violation. At the same time we offer a brief review of the physics underlying HERWIG, together with details of the input and control parameters and the output data, to provide a self-contained guide for prospective users of the program.

/pdf/herwig-6-an-event-generator-for-hadron-emission-reactions-2854fafdiq.pdf

HERWIG 6: an event generator for hadron emission reactions with interfering gluons (including supersymmetric processes)

There is almost universal agreement among astronomers that most of the mass in the Universe and most of the mass in the Galactic halo is dark. Many lines of reasoning suggest that the dark matter consists of some new, as yet undiscovered, weakly-interacting massive particle (WIMP). There is now a vast experimental effort being surmounted to detect WIMPS in the halo. The most promising techniques involve direct detection in low-background laboratory detectors and indirect detection through observation of energetic neutrinos from annihilation of WIMPs that have accumulated in the Sun and/or the Earth. Of the many WIMP candidates, perhaps the best motivated and certainly the most theoretically developed is the neutralino, the lightest superpartner in many supersymmetric theories. We review the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model and discuss prospects for detection of neutralino dark matter. We review in detail how to calculate the cosmological abundance of the neutralino and the event rates for both direct- and indirect-detection schemes, and we discuss astrophysical and laboratory constraints on supersymmetric models. We isolate and clarify the uncertainties from particle physics, nuclear physics, and astrophysics that enter at each step in the calculation. We briefly review other related dark-matter candidates and detection techniques.

Supersymmetric Dark Matter

We present a new analysis of parton distributions of the proton. This incorporates a wide range of new data, an improved treatment of heavy flavours and a re-examination of prompt photon production. The new set (MRST) shows systematic differences from previous sets of partons which can be identified with particular features of the new data and with improvements in the analysis. We also investigate the sensitivities of the results to (i) the uncertainty in the determination of the gluon at large 
$x$
 , (ii) the value of 
$\alpha_S (M_Z^2)$
 and (iii) the minimum 
$Q^2$
 cut on the data that are included in the global fit.

Parton distributions: A New global analysis

We use all the available new precise data for deep inelastic and related hard scattering processes to perform NLO global parton analyses. These new data allow an improved determination of partons and, in particular, the inclusion of the recent measurements of the structure functions at HERA and of the inclusive jets at the Tevatron help to determine the gluon distribution and $\alpha_S$
 better than ever before. We find a somewhat smaller gluon at low x than previous determinations and that $\alpha_S (M_Z^2) = 0.119 \pm 0.002 (\rm expt.) \pm 0.003 (\rm theory)$
 .

/pdf/mrst2001-partons-and-alpha-s-from-precise-deep-inelastic-4591arkotu.pdf

MRST2001: partons and $\alpha_S$ from precise deep inelastic scattering and Tevatron jet data

We perform a global parton analysis of deep inelastic and related hard-scattering data, including ${{\mathcal{O}}}(\alpha_{\rm QED})$
 corrections to the parton evolution. Although the quality of the fit is essentially unchanged, there are two important physical consequences. First, the different DGLAP evolution of u and d type quarks introduces isospin violation, i.e. $u^p \neq d^n$
 , which is found to be unambiguously in the direction to reduce the NuTeV $\sin^2\theta_W$
 anomaly. A second consequence is the appearance of photon parton distributions $\gamma(x,Q^2)$
 of the proton and the neutron. In principle these can be measured at HERA via the deep inelastic scattering processes $e N \to e\gamma X$
 ; our predictions are in agreement with the present data.

Parton distributions incorporating QED contributions

We determine the uncertainties on observables arising from the errors on the experimental data that are fitted in the global MRST2001 parton analysis. By diagonalizing the error matrix we produce sets of partons suitable for use within the framework of linear propagation of errors, which is the most convenient method for calculating the uncertainties. Despite the potential limitations of this approach we find that it can be made to work well in practice. This is confirmed by our alternative approach of using the more rigorous Lagrange multiplier method to determine the errors on physical quantities directly. As particular examples we determine the uncertainties on the predictions of the charged-current deep-inelastic structure functions, on the cross-sections for W production and for Higgs boson production via gluon-gluon fusion at the Tevatron and the LHC, on the ratio of W- to W+ production at the LHC and on the moments of the non-singlet quark distributions. We discuss the corresponding uncertainties on the parton distributions in the relevant x,Q2 domains. Finally, we briefly look at uncertainties related to the fit procedure, stressing their importance and using $\sigma_W$
 , $\sigma_H$
 and extractions of $\alpha_S(M_Z^2)$
 as examples. As a by-product of this last point we present a slightly updated set of parton distributions, MRST2002.

/pdf/uncertainties-of-predictions-from-parton-distributions-i-13q848m33i.pdf

R.G. Roberts

Papers

Parton distributions: A New global analysis

MRST2001: partons and $\alpha_S$ from precise deep inelastic scattering and Tevatron jet data

Parton distributions incorporating QED contributions

Uncertainties of predictions from parton distributions I : experimental errors.

NNLO global parton analysis