With the recent discovery of a Higgs-like particle at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), high-energy physics has entered a new era that emphasizes detailed studies of the properties of this new particle and exploration of the energy frontier in search for Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) dynamics. To fully exploit the LHC potential, theoretical predictions for many process must be provided with unprecedented accuracy. A crucial ingredient of these theoretical prediction are the Parton Distributions of the proton (PDFs). While much progress has been achieved in the last years towards improved determinations of PDFs, the requirements for the upcoming 13 TeV Run II at the LHC require to further development of the existing directions in PDF physics, as well as the exploration of completely new avenues, such as PDFs with electroweak effects or PDFs for NLO Monte Carlo event generators. In addition, exploiting the full power of PDF physics to improve BSM prospects requires a direct interaction between PDF and BSM phenomenology.

The primary goal of this workshop is to bring together experts from the theoretical and experimental communities to brainstorm jointly on the status of research on PDFs and to identify the most pressing needs for the LHC Run II before the first data-taking takes place. We expect attendance of experts from all relevant fields: PDF determination and analysis, QCD phenomenology employing PDFs, and the BSM community. We plan to identify which are the most urgent and promising research directions in PDF physics, in order to chart a roadmap for future studies. The outcome of the discussions at the workshop will be summarized in a joint document in which all participants will be encouraged to contribute, and which will be published in the arXiv.

A preliminary list of topics that will be covered include:

- Constraining PDFs with LHC data
- Constraining PDFs with non-LHC experiments
- Impact of PDFs on Higgs boson characterization
- NNLO calculations and PDF analysis
- PDFs beyond NNLO QCD: PDFs at N3LO and Higgs physics
- Benchmark comparisons of PDF analysis
- Theoretical uncertainties in parton distributions
- PDFs beyond fixed order: transverse-momentum-dependent PDFs; PDFs with high-energy and threshold resummations
- PDFs with QED and electroweak corrections
- PDFs for LO/NLO Monte Carlo event generators
- PDFs and precision measurements at the LHC: alphas, W boson and top quark masses, weak mixing angle
- New avenues for the exploration BSM dynamics with PDFs
- Theoretical limits of the QCD factorization and their phenomenological implications
- Tools for PDF determination: DGLAP evolution, structure functions, hadronic cross-sections, fast interfaces
- Specific LHC runs (different beam energies, low pile-up) and detector upgrades for tailored PDF measurements

The workshop will take place at the Centro de Ciencias de Benasque Pedro Pascual, located in Benasque (Spain), between Feb 16 2015 and Feb 20 2015. Benasque is a beautiful village with a famous ski resort, located in the heart of the Pyrenees, close to the Spanish border with France. In addition to the auditorium, the Center offers desk space, ubiquitous blackboards and several meeting areas. To ensure a productive workshop, attendance will be limited to a maximum of 50 participants. In addition, the meeting agenda will be kept very light, leaving plenty of time for discussion among participants.

There will be a single common blackboard seminar per day, and various focused discussion sessions will be organized, lead by an expert on the topic, who will be asked to prepare the discussion and provide material in advance when required.

The registration fees for the conference will be limited to 250 euros, thanks to financial help of the European Research Council Starting Grant 'PDF4BSM: Parton Distributions in the Higgs Boson Era'. Participants will also have to cover their meals and housing expenses. The latter are expected to range between 30 and 99 euros a night (see link to ACCOMODATION RATES in the menu in the right for further details).

Scientific Committee

- Jon Butterworth (University College London)
- Albert De Roeck (CERN and Antwerp)
- Gunther Dissertori (ETH Zurich)
- Stefano Forte (Milano)
- Sasha Glazov (CERN)
- Michelangelo Mangano (CERN)
- Pavel Nadolsky (Southern Methodist University)
- Gavin Salam (CERN)
- Tara Shears (Liverpool)
- Robert Thorne (University College London)

Workshop supported by

Registration fee information

Further Information.

• List of participants.
• Scientific program.
• Pictures.