Physics with jets in $p\bar p$ collisions

Abstract

We discuss the possibilities for extracting information on the parton density functions and the strong coupling constant from one- and two-jet events at the Fermilab TEVATRON. First we study the inclusive two-jet triply differential cross section $d^3\sigma/dE_Td\eta_1d\eta_2$. Different $\eta_1$ and $\eta_2$ pseudorapidity regions are directly related to the parton momentum fractions at leading order and the shape of the triply differential distribution at fixed transverse energy $E_T$ is a particularly powerful tool for constraining the parton distributions at small to moderate $x$ values. Second, we consider the one-jet inclusive transverse energy distribution where there is impressive agreement between theory and experiment over a wide range of transverse energy. By equating the next-to-leading order theoretical prediction for a given set of input parton densities with the published CDF data, the evolution of the strong coupling constant at scale $\mu$ can be studied between $\mu \sim 50~$GeV and $\mu \sim 400~$GeV. This evolution is in agreement with QCD and corresponds to $\alpha_s(M_Z)$ = 0.121 for the MRSA parameterisation.