Electroweak Higgs plus Three Jet Production at NLO QCD

TL;DR

The paper delivers a full next-to-leading order QCD calculation of electroweak Higgs production in association with three jets (Hjjj), including VBF and Higgs-strahlung contributions with all interferences, implemented in the Matchbox framework of Herwig++. It employs advanced loop-reduction techniques with a complex-mass scheme and performs extensive cross-checks against independent codes. Numerically, NLO corrections are moderate for a central scale of $H_T/2$ and reduce scale uncertainties, while differential distributions exhibit non-uniform K-factors, notably enhancing the high-$p_T$ tail of the third jet. The findings support robust VBF-based Higgs analyses and inform central jet veto strategies, with plans for parton-shower studies and public code release.

Abstract

We calculate next-to-leading order (NLO) QCD corrections to electroweak Higgs plus three jet production. Both vector boson fusion (VBF) and Higgs-strahlung type contributions are included along with all interferences. The calculation is implemented within the Matchbox NLO framework of the Herwig++ event generator.

Figures (6)

• Figure 1: Representative examples of diagrams of $Hjjj$ production via vector boson fusion.
• Figure 2: The $Hjjj$ inclusive total cross section (in fb) at LO (cyan) and at NLO (blue) for the scale choices, $\mu=\xi M_{W}$ (dashed) and $\mu=\xi H_{T}$ (solid). We also show the $K$-factor, $K=\sigma_{NLO}/\sigma_{LO}$ for $\mu=\xi M_{W}$ (dashed) and $\mu=\xi H_{T}$ (solid).
• Figure 3: Rapidity difference differential distribution of the leading jets. Cuts are described in the text. The bands correspond to varying $\mu_F=\mu_R$ by factors 1/2 and 2 around the central value $H_{T}/2$.
• Figure 4: Differential cross section and K factor for the $p_T$ of the Higgs. Cuts are described in the text. The bands correspond to varying $\mu_F=\mu_R$ by factors 1/2 and 2 around the central value $H_{T}/2$.
• Figure 5: Differential cross section and K factor for the $p_T$ of the third hardest jet. Cuts are described in the text. The bands correspond to varying $\mu_F=\mu_R$ by factors 1/2 and 2 around the central value $H_{T}/2$.