GPUs for Higgs boson data analysis at the LHC using the Matrix Element Method

The matrix element method utilizes ab initio calculations of probability densities as power- ful discriminants to extract small signals from large backgrounds at hadron collider exper- iments. The computational complexity of this method for final states with many particles and degrees of freedom sets it at a disadvantage compared to supervised classification methods such as decision trees, k nearest-neighbour, or neural networks. We will present a concrete implementation of the matrix element technique in the context of Higgs boson analysis at the LHC employing graphics processing units. Due to the intrinsic paral- lelizability of multidimensional phase space integration, dramatic speedups can be readily achieved, which makes the matrix element technique viable for general usage at collider experiments