Topological classification of vector boson scattering using neural networks at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

A fiducial cross section measurement is presented of the electroweak production of two jets in association with a high-energy photon and a leptonically decaying W or Z vector boson. The measurement was performed on 20.24 fb-1 of proton-proton collision data with a center of mass energy of 8 TeV collected in 2012 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The optimization and implementation of a neural network classifier is described to select the vector boson scattering processes of interest from the dominant QCD background. The application of a neural network classifier as a generic topological selector of vector boson scattering events across different diboson final states is also discussed, the study of which can probe the nature of Higgs boson's role in electroweak symmetry breaking.