A proposal for a standard interface between Monte Carlo tools and one-loop programs

TL;DR

This paper proposes a standard interface to integrate one-loop matrix element calculations with existing Monte Carlo tools, enabling more accurate next-to-leading order predictions in high energy physics.

Contribution

It introduces a novel standard interface for combining Monte Carlo tools with one-loop matrix element programs, facilitating next-to-leading order computations.

Findings

Proposal for a standard interface between Monte Carlo tools and one-loop programs

Discussion from the Les Houches workshop on physics at TeV colliders

Enabling phenomenological predictions at NLO level

Abstract

Many highly developed Monte Carlo tools for the evaluation of cross sections based on tree matrix elements exist and are used by experimental collaborations in high energy physics. As the evaluation of one-loop matrix elements has recently been undergoing enormous progress, the combination of one-loop matrix elements with existing Monte Carlo tools is on the horizon. This would lead to phenomenological predictions at the next-to-leading order level. This note summarises the discussion of the next-to-leading order multi-leg (NLM) working group on this issue which has been taking place during the workshop on Physics at TeV colliders at Les Houches, France, in June 2009. The result is a proposal for a standard interface between Monte Carlo tools and one-loop matrix element programs.