Parton Distributions at a 100 TeV Hadron Collider

TL;DR

This paper discusses the importance of understanding proton parton distribution functions (PDFs) for a future 100 TeV collider, highlighting the challenges and new phenomena expected at such high energies.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of PDF coverage, uncertainties, and novel phenomena like massless top quarks and photon processes at 100 TeV.

Findings

Mapped PDF kinematic coverage in (x,Q^2) plane

Quantified PDF uncertainties at 100 TeV

Identified new phenomena such as massless top quark and photon-initiated processes

Abstract

The determination of the parton distribution functions (PDFs) of the proton will be an essential input for the physics program of a future 100 TeV hadron collider. The unprecedented center-of-mass energy will require knowledge of PDFs in currently unexplored kinematical regions such as the ultra low-x region or the region of multi-TeV momentum transfers. In this contribution we briefly summarise the studies presented in the PDF section of the upcoming report on "Physics at a 100 TeV pp collider: Standard Model processes". First we map the PDF kinematical coverage in the $(x,Q^2)$ plane, quantify PDF uncertainties, and compute ratios of PDF luminosities between 100 TeV and 14 TeV. Then we show how the extreme kinematics of such collider lead to a number of remarkable PDF-related phenomena such as the top quark as a massless parton, an increased role of photon-initiated processes and the possible need of PDFs with high-energy resummation.