Modelling hadronic interactions in HEP MC generators

TL;DR

This paper reviews how high-energy physics event generators, especially PYTHIA, model complex hadronic interactions, combining theoretical calculations with phenomenological models to match recent LHC data.

Contribution

It provides a summary of the main concepts and recent developments in modeling soft and inclusive hadron interactions within MC generators like PYTHIA.

Findings

Insights into the modeling of soft hadronic interactions

Discussion of recent LHC data impacts on models

Overview of combining perturbative and non-perturbative approaches

Abstract

HEP event generators aim to describe high-energy collisions in full exclusive detail. They combine perturbative matrix elements and parton showers with dynamical models of less well-understood phenomena such as hadronization, diffraction, and the so-called underlying event. We briefly summarise some of the main concepts relevant to the modelling of soft/inclusive hadron interactions in MC generators, in particular PYTHIA, with emphasis on questions recently highlighted by LHC data.