Impact of PDF uncertainties at large x on heavy boson production

TL;DR

This paper investigates how uncertainties in parton distribution functions at large x, especially from nuclear corrections in deuterium data, affect the predicted production rates of W, Z, and heavy bosons in high-energy hadron collisions.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the impact of large-x PDF uncertainties on heavy boson production, highlighting the importance of nuclear correction effects at high rapidities.

Findings

Nuclear corrections significantly influence W and Z production at high rapidities.

PDF uncertainties become more critical for heavier W' and Z' bosons at large masses and rapidities.

Effects are observed in both LHC and Tevatron collision scenarios.

Abstract

We explore the sensitivity of W and Z boson production in hadronic collisions to uncertainties in parton distribution functions (PDFs) at large x arising from uncertainties in nuclear corrections when using deuterium data in global QCD fits. The W and Z differential cross sections show increasing influence of nuclear corrections at high boson rapidities, particularly for the d quark, which is diluted somewhat in the decay lepton rapidity distributions. The effects of PDF uncertainties on heavy W' and Z' bosons beyond the Standard Model become progressively more important for larger boson masses or rapidities, both in p-p collisions at the LHC and in p-pbar scattering at the Tevatron.