The Z boson a_T distribution at hadron colliders

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new variable for analyzing the Z boson transverse momentum at hadron colliders, offering experimental advantages and improved measurement accuracy at low transverse momentum.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical all-orders perturbative estimate of the new variable at next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy and compares it to the standard $p_T$ distribution.

Findings

The new variable has better experimental properties at low $p_T$.

Resummation results agree with fixed-order estimates at two-loop level.

The study enhances understanding of Z boson transverse momentum measurements.

Abstract

We provide a theoretical study of a novel variable introduced in Ref. \cite{WV} to study the transverse momentum of the Z boson at hadron colliders. The variable we consider has experimental advantages over the standard $p_T$ distribution enabling more accurate measurement at low $p_T$. We provide an all orders perturbative estimate for this variable at the next-to--leading logarithmic accuracy and compare the results to those for the standard $p_T$ distribution. We test our resummation, at the two-loop level, by comparing its expansion to fixed-order perturbative estimates and find agreement with our expectations.