Matrix Element Method at NLO for (anti-)$\mathbf{k_t}$-jet algorithms

Abstract

In this article, we present a method to calculate a posteriori event weights at next-to-leading-order (NLO) QCD accuracy for a given jet event defined by the (anti-)$k_t$ algorithm relying on the conventional $2\to 1$ recombination. This is an important extension compared to existing Monte-Carlo tools which generate jet events together with the corresponding weight but do not allow one to calculate the weight for a given event. The method can be used to generate unweighted events distributed according to the fixed-order NLO cross section. In addition, the method allows one to calculate NLO accurate weights for events recorded by experiments. The potential of this ability is illustrated by applying the Matrix Element Method (MEM) to single top-quark events generated with POWHEG in combination with Pythia. For the first time, a systematic study of parton shower effects within the MEM is provided. The method is completely general and can be applied to arbitrary LHC processes.