W + W − production at NNLO+PS with MINNLOPS

Abstract We consider W + W − production in hadronic collisions and present the computation of next-to-next-to-leading order accurate predictions consistently matched to parton showers (NNLO+PS) using the MiNNLOPS method. Spin correlations, interferences and off-shell effects are included by calculat...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Daniele Lombardi, Marius Wiesemann, Giulia Zanderighi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2021-11-01
Series:Journal of High Energy Physics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP11(2021)230
Description
Summary:Abstract We consider W + W − production in hadronic collisions and present the computation of next-to-next-to-leading order accurate predictions consistently matched to parton showers (NNLO+PS) using the MiNNLOPS method. Spin correlations, interferences and off-shell effects are included by calculating the full process pp → e + ν e μ − ν ¯ $$ \overline{\nu} $$ μ . This is the first NNLO+PS calculation for W + W − production that does not require an a-posteriori multi-differential reweighting. The evaluation time of the two-loop contribution has been reduced by more than one order of magnitude through a four-dimensional cubic spline interpolation. We find good agreement with the inclusive and fiducial cross sections measured by ATLAS and CMS. Both NNLO corrections and matching to parton showers are important for an accurate simulation of the W + W − signal, and their matching provides the best description of fully exclusive W + W − events to date.
ISSN:1029-8479