NLO QCD corrections to same-sign $T$-odd quark pair production in the littlest Higgs model with $T$-parity at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper calculates the next-to-leading order QCD corrections for same-sign T-odd mirror quark pair production in the littlest Higgs model with T-parity at the 14 TeV LHC, including decay processes and uncertainty analysis.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed NLO QCD correction calculations for T-odd mirror quark pair production in the LHT model at the LHC, with comprehensive uncertainty and distribution analyses.

Findings

NLO QCD corrections reduce theoretical uncertainties significantly.

PDF uncertainties are comparable to scale uncertainties at NLO.

Cross section dependence on LHT parameters is characterized.

Abstract

We present the calculations for the same-sign $T$-odd mirror quark pair production of the first two generations in the littlest Higgs model with $T$-parity (LHT) at the $\sqrt{s}=14~{\rm TeV}$ LHC up to the QCD next-to-leading order (NLO) including the subsequent decays of the $T$-odd mirror quarks. The uncertainties from the factorization/renormalization scale and parton distribution functions (PDFs) are discussed. Our numerical results show that the PDF uncertainty of the NLO QCD corrected cross section for the same-sign $T$-odd mirror quark pair production of the first two generations is comparable with the scale uncertainty, and the combined uncertainty at the QCD NLO is much smaller than that at the LO with the factorization/renormalization scale $\mu$ in the range of $[\mu_0/4,~4\mu_0]$. We also study the dependence of the total cross section on the LHT parameters, and provide the transverse momentum, rapidity, invariant mass and $H_T$ distributions of final products.