NLO QCD corrections to $pp\rightarrow e^+\nu_e\mu^+\nu_\mu jj$ in vector-boson fusion at the LHC

Abstract

We report on studies of next-to-leading order (NLO) QCD corrections to the process $pp\rightarrow e^+\nu_e\mu^+\nu_\mu jj$ which is associated with vector-boson fusion (VBF) production of an intermediate $W^+W^+$ pair. The impact of s-channel diagrams and interference contributions in VBF kinematics is analyzed at leading order (LO) and found to be entirely negligible. The NLO corrections are around 5% of the LO cross section, and the scale dependence is reduced to about ~1%. We introduce a dynamic scale which improves the K factor in the high-energy tails of the distributions.