First Measurement of the Ratio of Central-Electron to Forward-Electron W Partial Cross Sections in p-pbar Collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV

TL;DR

This paper reports the first measurement of the ratio of W boson production cross sections involving central and forward electrons in proton-antiproton collisions at 1.96 TeV, providing insights into parton distribution functions.

Contribution

It presents the first measurement of the ratio of central-electron to forward-electron W partial cross sections, combining data from different detector regions.

Findings

Measured W cross section times branching ratio: 2796 pb.

Ratio of central to forward W cross sections: 0.925.

Results agree with theoretical predictions from CTEQ and MRST PDFs.

Abstract

We present a measurement of sigma(p-pbar -> W) x B(W->enu) at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV, using electrons identified in the forward region (1.2 <|eta|<2.8) of the CDF II detector in 223 pb-1 of data. We measure sigma x B = 2796 +-13(stat)+95-90(syst)+-162(lum)pb. Combining this result with a previous CDF measurement obtained using electrons in the central region (|eta|<1), we present the first measurement of the ratio of central-electron to forward-electron W partial cross sections R_exp=0.925+-0.006(stat)+-0.032(syst), consistent with theoretical predictions using Coordinated Theoretical-Experimental Preoject on QCD (CTEQ) and Martin-Roberts-Stirling-Thorne (MRST) parton distribution functions.