Post-hoc reweighting of hadron production in the Lund string model
Benoît Assi, Christan Bierlich, Philip Ilten, Tony Menzo, Stephen Mrenna, Manuel Szewc, Michael K. Wilkinson, Ahmed Youssef, Jure Zupan
SciPost Phys. 19, 104 (2025) · published 20 October 2025
- doi: 10.21468/SciPostPhys.19.4.104
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Abstract
We present a method for reweighting flavor selection in the Lund string fragmentation model. This is the process of calculating and applying event weights enabling fast and exact variation of hadronization parameters on pre-generated event samples. The procedure is post hoc, requiring only a small amount of additional information stored per event, and allowing for efficient estimation of hadronization uncertainties without repeated simulation. Weight expressions are derived from the hadronization algorithm itself, and validated against direct simulation for a wide range of observables and parameter shifts. The hadronization algorithm can be viewed as a hierarchical Markov process with stochastic rejections, a structure common to many complex simulations outside of high-energy physics. This perspective makes the method modular, extensible, and potentially transferable to other domains. We demonstrate the approach in Pythia, including both coverage considerations and timing benefits. For the purpose of this paper, our goal is to develop and demonstrate the the formalism, and we therefore exclude several model variations for baryon production (popcorn model, junction production) needed for proton collisions. These will be the topic of a future paper.
Supplementary Information
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Authors / Affiliations: mappings to Contributors and Organizations
See all Organizations.- 1 Benoît Assi,
- 2 Christan Bierlich,
- 1 Philip Ilten,
- 1 Tony Menzo,
- 1 3 Stephen Mrenna,
- 1 4 Manuel Szewc,
- 1 Michael K. Wilkinson,
- 1 Ahmed Youssef,
- 1 Jure Zupan
- 1 University of Cincinnati [UC]
- 2 Lunds universitet / Lund University
- 3 Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory [Fermilab]
- 4 International Center for Advanced Studies [ICAS]
