DESY Theory Seminar

Aditya Pathak: Weighing the Top with Energy Correlators

by Aditya Pathak (University of Manchester)

Europe/Berlin
Description

Abstract: Final states in collider experiments are characterized by correlation functions of the energy flow operator E(n_i). These correlation functions typically exhibit a power-law scaling characteristic of asymptotically free Quantum Chromodynamics. In this talk, I will present my recent work where we show that the top quark imprints itself as a peak in the three-point correlation function at an angle m_t^2/p_T^2, determined by the ratio of top mass and its transverse momentum. This provides direct access to one of the most important parameters of the Standard Model in one of the field theoretically simplest observables. I will show that the three-point correlator allows us to simultaneously achieve high sensitivity to the top mass and high insensitivity to soft physics and underlying event contamination. I will contrast this work with my previous work on top mass determination involving a very different kind of measurement using groomed jet mass cross section. I will show how this new approach overcomes many of the typical challenges of jet shapes measurements at the LHC.