NLO electroweak automation and precise predictions for W + multijet production at the LHC
Abstract
We present a fully automated implementation of next-to-leading order electroweak (NLO EW) corrections in the OpenLoops matrix-element generator combined with the Sherpa and Munich Monte Carlo frameworks. The process-independent character of the implemented algorithms opens the door to NLO QCD + EW simulations for a vast range of Standard Model processes, up to high particle multiplicity, at current and future colliders. As a first application, we present NLO QCD + EW predictions for the production of positively charged on-shell W bosons in association with up to three jets at the Large Hadron Collider. At the TeV energy scale, due to the presence of large Sudakov logarithms, EW corrections reach the 20-40% level and play an important role for searches of physics beyond the Standard Model. The dependence of NLO EW effects on the jet multiplicity is investigated in detail, and we find that W + multijet final states feature genuinely different EW effects as compared to the case of W + 1 jet.