Parton Distributions and the LHC: W and Z Production

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how uncertainties in parton distribution functions affect W and Z boson production predictions at the LHC, highlighting the potential of these measurements to refine our understanding of parton distributions.

Contribution

It systematically studies the dependence of W and Z production cross sections on parton distribution uncertainties at the LHC.

Findings

Variations in gluon, strong coupling, and sea quarks affect cross section predictions.

W and Z production measurements can test and improve parton distribution models.

Abstract

W and Z bosons will be produced copiously at the LHC proton-proton collider. We study the parton distribution dependence of the total production cross sections and rapidity distributions, paying particular attention to the uncertainties arising from uncertainties in the parton distributions themselves. Variations in the gluon, the strong coupling, the sea quarks and the overall normalisation are shown to lead to small but non-negligible variations in the cross section predictions. Ultimately, therefore, the measurement of these cross sections will provide a powerful cross check on our knowledge of parton distributions and their evolution.