Measurement of the charge asymmetry of electrons from the decays of $W$ bosons produced in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV

TL;DR

This paper reports a precise measurement of the electron charge asymmetry from W boson decays in proton-antiproton collisions at 1.96 TeV, providing improved constraints on proton parton distribution functions.

Contribution

It presents the most accurate measurement of electron charge asymmetry at the Tevatron, enhancing understanding of proton quark distributions.

Findings

Significant improvement in asymmetry measurement precision.

Constraints on u- and d-quark distribution ratios are tightened.

Numerical data tables are provided for further analysis.

Abstract

At the Fermilab Tevatron proton-antiproton ($p\bar{p}$) collider, high-mass electron-neutrino ($e\nu$) pairs are produced predominantly in the process $p \bar{p} \rightarrow W(\rightarrow e\nu) + X$. The asymmetry of the electron and positron yield as a function of their pseudorapidity constrain the slope of the ratio of the $u$- to $d$-quark parton distributions versus the fraction of the proton momentum carried by the quarks. This paper reports on the measurement of the electron-charge asymmetry using the full data set recorded by the Collider Detector at Fermilab in 2001--2011 and corresponding to 9.1~fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity. The measurement significantly improves the precision of the Tevatron constraints on the parton-distribution functions of the proton. Numerical tables of the measurement are provided.