Measurement of the $Z/\gamma^*$ boson transverse momentum distribution in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

TL;DR

This paper reports a detailed measurement of the Z/γ* boson transverse momentum distribution in proton-proton collisions at 7 TeV using ATLAS data, providing insights into QCD predictions and parton shower modeling.

Contribution

First measurement of Z/γ* boson transverse momentum spectrum up to 800 GeV at 7 TeV with ATLAS, including rapidity bin analysis and comparison to theoretical models.

Findings

Measured normalized differential cross sections up to 800 GeV

Compared results with perturbative and resummed QCD calculations

Constrained parton shower parameters in Monte Carlo generators

Abstract

This paper describes a measurement of the $Z/\gamma^*$ boson transverse momentum spectrum using ATLAS proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV at the LHC. The measurement is performed in the $Z/\gamma^* \rightarrow e^+e^-$ and $Z/\gamma^* \rightarrow \mu^+\mu^-$ channels, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb$^{-1}$. Normalized differential cross sections as a function of the $Z/\gamma^*$ boson transverse momentum are measured for transverse momenta up to 800 GeV. The measurement is performed inclusively for $Z/\gamma^*$ rapidities up to 2.4, as well as in three rapidity bins. The channel results are combined, compared to perturbative and resummed QCD calculations and used to constrain the parton shower parameters of Monte Carlo generators.