aMC@NLO Matching

The aMC@NLO package [Fri02] attempts to automate the MC@NLO matching procedure [Fri02].
MC@NLO interprets the parton shower as NLO subtraction method, and removes unwanted parton-
shower contributions by extending the subtraction scheme used to generate NLO fixed-order
results. Upon showering, an NLO accurate prediction for inclusive observables is achieved. This
makes MC@NLO a convenient NLO+PS matching scheme. A consistent extended subtraction in
the NLO fixed-order result makes analytic knowledge of the shower emission probability necessary.
Once this is known, interfacing the (parton-shower specific) NLO calculation with the shower is
straightforward.

To allow for a fast, automatic generation of shower subtractions that are used in the fixed-order
calculation, Pythia allows to generate emissions with a "global" recoil scheme, in which the recoil of
an emission is shared among all final state particles. When using aMC@NLO, this global recoil
must be switched on. Please see Timelike Showers for details and options.

A minimal set of settings necessary for a consistent treatment of aMC@NLO inputs is

SpaceShower:pTmaxMatch = 1

SpaceShower:pTmaxFudge = 1.

TimeShower:pTmaxMatch = 1

TimeShower:pTmaxFudge = 1.

SpaceShower:MEcorrections = off

TimeShower:MEcorrections = off

TimeShower:globalRecoil = on

TimeShower:weightGluonToQuark = 1

and further (process-specific) settings related global recoils.

Some comments are in order. The settings SpaceShower:pTmaxMatch = 1,

SpaceShower:pTmaxFudge = 1., TimeShower:pTmaxMatch = 1,
TimeShower:pTmaxFudge = 1. are included to ensure that the correct parton shower starting
scale (i.e. the scale set when generating the subtractions in MC@NLO) is used within Pythia. Note
that the last three options are default in Pythia8, and that the first option differs from the default
only if the input state does not contain final state partons.

Matrix element corrections to the parton shower splitting kernels have to be switched off by
SpaceShower:MEcorrections = off and TimeShower:MEcorrections = off . This is
necessary because the matrix element corrections are not suitable for showers in the global recoil
scheme, and because it is not viable to include process-specific shower probabilities in an
automatic framewrok like aMC@NLO.

TimeShower:globalRecoil = on is necessary. Formally, it is allowed to switch back to a local

recoil treatment beyond the first proposed emission of any of the hard scattering partons in Born-
type events. Pythia offers three choices at which stage the global recoil is dropped in favour of a
local strategy. It is necessary to supplement the setting TimeShower:globalRecoil = on by
additional settings specifying which global recoil strategy should be used. As these choices are up
to the user, please consult Timelike Showers for details on these options.

Finally, TimeShower:weightGluonToQuark = 1 is not default any longer, but was it at the time
the subtractions were first implemented, and so is required for consistency until further notice.