Measurement of W+W- and ZZ production cross sections in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV

TL;DR

This paper reports the first measurements of W+W- and ZZ production cross sections at 8 TeV proton-proton collisions, confirming consistency with Standard Model predictions using CMS data.

Contribution

It provides the first measurements of diboson production cross sections at 8 TeV, using leptonic decay modes in CMS data, with results aligning with theoretical expectations.

Findings

Measured W+W- cross section: 69.9 pb

Measured ZZ cross section: 8.4 pb

Results agree with Standard Model predictions

Abstract

The W+W- and ZZ production cross sections are measured in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV with the CMS experiment at the LHC in data samples corresponding to an integrated luminosity of up to 5.3 inverse femtobarns. The measurements are performed in the leptonic decay modes W+W- to l' nu l'' nu and ZZ to 2l 2l', where l = e, mu and l'(l'') = e, mu, tau. The measured cross sections sigma(pp to W+W-) = 69.9 +/- 2.8 (stat.) +/- 5.6 (syst.) +/- 3.1 (lumi.) pb and sigma(pp to ZZ) = 8.4 +/- 1.0 (stat.) +/- 0.7 (syst.) +/- 0.4 (lumi.) pb, for both Z bosons produced in the mass region 60 < m[Z] < 120 GeV, are consistent with standard model predictions. These are the first measurements of the diboson production cross sections at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV.