Validation of the Simulation of Collision Events at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper reviews the validation procedures for particle physics event simulations at the LHC, emphasizing the importance of step-by-step validation and agreement with experimental data within uncertainties.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive summary of validation methods for LHC event simulations, highlighting the importance of systematic validation for accurate data analysis.

Findings

Simulation agrees with data within uncertainties

Validation covers a wide range of processes

Systematic uncertainties are assigned based on validation

Abstract

The procedures of validating simulation of particle physics events at the LHC are summarized. Because of the strongly fluctuating particle content of LHC events and detector interactions, particle based Monte Carlo methods are an indispensable tool for data analysis. Simulation in particle physics is founded on factorization and thus its global validation can be realized by validating each individual step in the simulation. This can be accomplished by adopting results of previous measurements, in - situ studies and models. Important in particle physics is to quantify how well simulation is validated such that a systematic uncertainty can be assigned to a measurement. The simulation is tested for a wide range of processes and agrees with data within the assigned uncertainties.