Measurement of the production cross section for Z/gamma* in association with jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

TL;DR

This paper reports on the measurement of the production cross section of Z/gamma* bosons with jets in proton-proton collisions at 7 TeV, comparing results to theoretical predictions and Monte Carlo models.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed measurement of Z/gamma* plus jets production cross sections at 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector, including comparisons to NLO QCD and Monte Carlo models.

Findings

Measured inclusive jet cross sections for pT > 30 GeV and |y| < 4.4.

Good agreement between measurements and NLO QCD calculations.

Discrepancies observed with some Monte Carlo predictions.

Abstract

Results are presented on the production of jets of particles in association with a Z/gamma* boson, in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector. The analysis includes the full 2010 data set, collected with a low rate of multiple proton-proton collisions in the accelerator, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 pb^-1. Inclusive jet cross sections in Z/gamma* events, with Z/gamma* decaying into electron or muon pairs, are measured for jets with transverse momentum pT > 30 GeV and jet rapidity |y| < 4.4. The measurements are compared to next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations, and to predictions from different Monte Carlo generators implementing leading-order matrix elements supplemented by parton showers.