Flavored jets with exact anti- k_t kinematics and tests of infrared and collinear safety

We propose extensions of the anti-kt and Cambridge/Aachen hierarchical jet clustering algorithms that are designed to retain the exact jet kinematics of these algorithms, while providing an infrared-and-collinear-safe definition of jet flavor at any fixed order in perturbation theory. Central to our approach is a new technique called interleaved flavor neutralization (IFN), whereby the treatment of flavor is integrated with, but distinct from, the kinematic clustering. IFN allows flavor information to be meaningfully accessed at each stage of the clustering sequence, which enables a consistent assignment of flavor both to individual jets and to their substructure. We validate the IFN approach using a dedicated framework for fixed-order tests of infrared and collinear safety, which also reveals unanticipated issues in earlier approaches to flavored jet clustering. We briefly explore the phenomenological impact of IFN with anti-kt jets for benchmark tasks at the Large Hadron Collider.