Search for: All records

A bstract We present a novel computational approach for extracting localized signals from smooth background distributions. We focus on datasets that can be naturally presented as binned integer counts, demonstrating our procedure on the CERN open dataset with the Higgs boson signature, from the ATLAS collaboration at the Large Hadron Collider. Our approach is based on Gaussian Process (GP) regression — a powerful and flexible machine learning technique which has allowed us to model the background without specifying its functional form explicitly and separately measure the background and signal contributions in a robust and reproducible manner. Unlike functional fits, our GP-regression-based approach does not need to be constantly updated as more data becomes available. We discuss how to select the GP kernel type, considering trade-offs between kernel complexity and its ability to capture the features of the background distribution. We show that our GP framework can be used to detect the Higgs boson resonance in the data with more statistical significance than a polynomial fit specifically tailored to the dataset. Finally, we use Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling to confirm the statistical significance of the extracted Higgs signature. 

Abstract Many measurements at the LHC require efficient identification of heavy-flavour jets, i.e. jets originating from bottom (b) or charm (c) quarks. An overview of the algorithms used to identify c jets is described and a novel method to calibrate them is presented. This new method adjusts the entire distributions of the outputs obtained when the algorithms are applied to jets of different flavours. It is based on an iterative approach exploiting three distinct control regions that are enriched with either b jets, c jets, or light-flavour and gluon jets. Results are presented in the form of correction factors evaluated using proton-proton collision data with an integrated luminosity of 41.5 fb -1 at  √s = 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment in 2017. The closure of the method is tested by applying the measured correction factors on simulated data sets and checking the agreement between the adjusted simulation and collision data. Furthermore, a validation is performed by testing the method on pseudodata, which emulate various mismodelling conditions. The calibrated results enable the use of the full distributions of heavy-flavour identification algorithm outputs, e.g. as inputs to machine-learning models. Thus, they are expected to increase the sensitivity of future physics analyses.