Precision measurement and interpretation of inclusive W+, W− and Z/γ∗ production cross sections with the ATLAS detector

Abstract

Altres ajuts: We thank CERN for the very successful operation of the LHC, as well as the support staff from our institutions without whom ATLAS could not be operated efficiently. We acknowledge the support of MINECO, Spain and EPLANET, ERC, ERDF, FP7, Horizon 2020 and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, European Union and CERCA Programme Generalitat de Catalunya. Funded by SCOAP3. ; High-precision measurements by the ATLAS Collaboration are presented of inclusive , and () Drell-Yan production cross sections at the LHC. The data were collected in proton-proton collisions at with an integrated luminosity of . Differential and cross sections are measured in a lepton pseudorapidity range . Differential cross sections are measured as a function of the absolute dilepton rapidity, for , for three intervals of dilepton mass, , extending from 46 to . The integrated and differential electron- and muon-channel cross sections are combined and compared to theoretical predictions using recent sets of parton distribution functions. The data, together with the final inclusive scattering cross-section data from H1 and ZEUS, are interpreted in a next-to-next-to-leading-order QCD analysis, and a new set of parton distribution functions, ATLAS-epWZ16, is obtained. The ratio of strange-to-light sea-quark densities in the proton is determined more accurately than in previous determinations based on collider data only, and is established to be close to unity in the sensitivity range of the data. A new measurement of the CKM matrix element is also provided.