Spatial Mass

Abstract

In analogy to the transverse mass constructed from two objects, we define the spatial mass constructed from the input objects 3-vector momenta. This observable is insensitive to jet mass scale and resolution uncertainties when constructed from small-radius hadronic jets. Thus it improves the effective resolution on multijet masses for searches and measurements in hadronic final states. To illustrate the efficacy of the spatial mass, we consider a top quark mass measurement at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in the 3-jet final state. The reduction in uncertainty comes with a negligible cost in sensitivity.