Les Houches Guidebook to Monte Carlo Generators for Hadron Collider Physics
M. A. Dobbs, S. Frixione, E. Laenen, K. Tollefson, H. Baer, E. Boos, B. Cox, R. Engel, W. Giele, J. Huston, S. Ilyin, B. Kersevan, F. Krauss, Y. Kurihara, L. Lonnblad, F. Maltoni, M. Mangano, S. Odaka, P. Richardson, A. Ryd, T. Sjostrand, P. Skands, Z. Was, B. R. Webber, D. Zeppenfeld
TL;DR
Addressing the growing landscape of hadron-collider event generation, the paper provides a concise primer on how to simulate high-energy collisions using modular Monte Carlo tools. It clarifies the relationship between event generators and cross section integrators, rooting both in the concept of a hard subprocess and phase-space sampling. The guidebook explains practical methods for turning theoretical predictions into observable predictions, including weighted histograms and unweighted event generation via acceptance-rejection, and notes the role of maximum weight in unweighting. By offering definitions, program abstracts, and implementation pointers, the work helps experimentalists and theorists select appropriate tools while acknowledging limitations and scope.
Abstract
Recently the collider physics community has seen significant advances in the formalisms and implementations of event generators. This review is a primer of the methods commonly used for the simulation of high energy physics events at particle colliders. We provide brief descriptions, references, and links to the specific computer codes which implement the methods. The aim is to provide an overview of the available tools, allowing the reader to ascertain which tool is best for a particular application, but also making clear the limitations of each tool.