B2c: Anomalous couplings in the top quark sectors

The goal of this project is to systematically investigate the effects of anomalous couplings in combination with higher order corrections on observables in the top quark sector. A starting point will be the process pp → ttH at NLO QCD, including the relevant dimension-six operators. Subsequently, top quark- and Higgs boson decays will be incorporated, where additional operators will be required. This has the potential to provide information which is complementary to the one obtained from Higgs observables or flavour physics, and therefore is of crucial importance to eliminate flat directions in the coupling parameter space and to uncover potential anomalies related to heavy quarks. The project includes the construction of a state-of-the-art NLO Monte Carlo program within SMEFT for processes involving a top quark pair.

1. anomalous couplings in $t\bar t X$ production ($X=H,\gamma, Z, W^\pm$), combination with NLO QCD corrections
2. inclusion of anomalous couplings in top quark decays in the narrow-width approximation
3. inclusion of full off-shell effects within SMEFT
4. public Monte Carlo event generator for $pp\to t\bar t X$ at NLO with full off-shell effects, within SMEFT