ATLAS simulation of boson plus jets processes in Run 2

This note describes the ATLAS simulation setup used to model the production of single electroweak bosons ($W$, $Z\gamma^\ast$ and prompt $\gamma$) in association with jets in proton--proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 8 and 13 TeV. Several Monte Carlo generator predictions are compared in regions of phase space relevant for data analyses during the LHC Run-2, or compared to unfolded data distributions measured in previous Run-1 or early Run-2 ATLAS analyses. Comparisons are made for regions of phase space with or without additional requirements on the heavy-flavour content of the accompanying jets, as well as electroweak $Vjj$ production processes. Both higher-order corrections and systematic uncertainties are also discussed.