High order QCD predictions for inclusive production of $W$ bosons in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$$=13$ TeV

TL;DR

This paper provides high-order QCD predictions for W boson production in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV, including cross sections and asymmetries, with detailed analysis of theoretical uncertainties and PDF model impacts.

Contribution

It offers next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) QCD predictions for W boson production observables at 13 TeV, incorporating modern PDF models and analyzing scale uncertainties.

Findings

NNLO QCD corrections increase cross section predictions by about 4-6%.

NNLO reduces scale variation uncertainty by a factor of 3.5.

Predictions vary depending on the PDF set used.

Abstract

Predictions of fiducial cross sections, differential cross sections and lepton charge asymmetry are presented for the production of $W^{\pm}$ bosons with leptonic decay up to next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in perturbative QCD. Differential cross sections of $W^{\pm}$ bosons and W boson lepton charge asymmetry are computed as a function of lepton pseudorapidity for a defined fiducial region in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV. Numerical results of fiducial $W^{\pm}$ cross section predictions are presented with the latest modern PDF models at next-to-leading order (NLO) and NNLO. It is found that the CT14 and NNPDF 3.0 predictions with NNLO QCD corrections are about 4$\%$ higher than the NLO CT14 and NNPDF 3.0 predictions while MMHT 2014 predictions with NLO QCD corrections are smaller than its NNLO QCD predictions by approximately 6$\%$. In addition, the NNLO QCD corrections reduce the scale variation uncertainty on the cross section by a factor of 3.5. The prediction of central values and considered uncertainties are obtained using FEWZ 3.1 program.