Measurement of the inclusive W and Z production cross sections in pp collisions at √ s = 7 TeV with the CMS experiment

Abstract

A measurement of inclusive W and Z production cross sections in pp collisions at √s = 7TeV is presented. The electron and muon decay channels are analyzed in a data sample collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 pb-1. The measured inclusive cross sections are σ(pp → WX) × ß(W → lν) = 10.31 × 0.02 (stat.) × 0.09 (syst.) × 0.10 (th.) × 0.41 (lumi.) nb and σ(pp → ZX) x B(Z → l +l- = 0.974 × 0.007 (stat.) × 0.007 (syst.) × 0.018 (th.) × 0.039 (lumi.) nb, limited to the dilepton invariant mass range 60 to 120 GeV. The luminosity-independent cross section ratios are (σ(pp → WX) × B(W → lv))/(σ(pp → ZX) × B(Z → l+l-)) = 10.54 × 0.07 (stat.) × 0.08 (syst.) × 0.16 (th.) and (σ(pp → W+X) × B(W+ → l+ν))/(σ(pp → W-X) × B(W- → l-v̄)) = 1.421×0.006 (stat.) ×0.014 (syst.) ×0.029 (th.). The measured values agree with next-to-next-to-leading order QCD cross section calculations based on recent parton distribution functions. Copyright CERN.