Transverse momentum cross section of $e^+e^-$ pairs in the $Z$-boson region from $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV

TL;DR

This paper presents a precise measurement of the transverse momentum cross section of electron-positron pairs in the Z-boson mass region from proton-antiproton collisions at 1.96 TeV, comparing results with quantum chromodynamics predictions.

Contribution

It provides the first high-precision measurement of the $e^+e^-$ pair transverse momentum distribution in the Z-boson region at Tevatron energies, testing QCD calculations.

Findings

Reasonable agreement between measurement and QCD predictions.

Measurement precision enables refinement of transverse momentum distribution models.

Comparison with both fixed-order and resummed QCD calculations.

Abstract

The transverse momentum cross section of $e^+e^-$ pairs in the $Z$-boson mass region of 66-116 GeV/$c^2$ is precisely measured using Run II data corresponding to 2.1 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity recorded by the Collider Detector at Fermilab. The cross section is compared with quantum chromodynamic calculations. One is a fixed-order perturbative calculation at ${\cal O}(\alpha_s^2)$, and the other combines perturbative predictions at high transverse momentum with the gluon resummation formalism at low transverse momentum. Comparisons of the measurement with calculations show reasonable agreement. The measurement is of sufficient precision to allow refinements in the understanding of the transverse momentum distribution.