Next-to-leading order QCD predictions for top-quark pair production with up to three jets

Abstract

We present theoretical predictions for the production of top-quark pairs with up to three jets at the next-to leading order in perturbative QCD. The relevant calculations are performed with Sherpa and OpenLoops. To address the issue of scale choices and related uncertainties in the presence of multiple scales, we compare results obtained with the standard scale HT/ 2 at fixed order and the MiNLO procedure. Analyzing various cross sections and distributions for tt¯ + 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 jets at the 13 TeV LHC we find a remarkable overall agreement between fixed-order and MiNLO results. The differences are typically below the respective factor-two scale variations, suggesting that for all considered jet multiplicities missing higher-order effects should not exceed the ten percent level.