ABCDisCo: Automating the ABCD Method with Machine Learning

Understand

The ABCD method is one of the most widely used data-driven background estimation techniques in high energy physics.

• Cuts on two statistically-independent classifiers separate signal and background into four regions, so that background in the signal region can be estimated simply using the other three control regions.
• Typically, the independent classifiers are chosen "by hand" to be intuitive and physically motivated variables.
• Here, we explore the possibility of automating the design of one or both of these classifiers using machine learning.