Transverse energy-energy correlations in next-to-leading order in as at the LHC

Abstract

This contribution summarizes the computation of the transverse energy-energy correlation (EEC) and its asymmetry (AEEC) in next-to-leading order (NLO) in as in proton-proton collisions at the LHC with the center-of-mass energy Ec.m. = 7 TeV [1]. These correlations are shown to be insensitive to the QCD factorization- and the renormalization-scales, structure functions of the proton, and for a judicious choice of the jet-size, also the underlying minimum bias events. Hence they can be used to precisely test QCD in hadron colliders and determine the strong coupling as(MZ). We illustrate these features by showing the as(MZ)-dependence of the transverse EEC and the AEEC in the anticipated range 0.11 = as(MZ) = 0.13, comparing it with the attendant theoretical uncertainties.