High-precision measurements by the ATLAS Collaboration are presented of inclusive $W^+\to\ell^+\nu$, $W^-\to\ell^-\bar{\nu}$ and $Z/\gamma^*\to\ell\ell$ ($\ell=e,\mu$) Drell-Yan production cross sections at the LHC. The data were collected in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV with an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb$^{-1}$. Differential $W^+$ and $W^-$ cross sections are measured in a lepton pseudorapidity range $|\eta_{\ell}| = 2.5$. Differential $Z/\gamma^*$ cross sections are measured as a function of the absolute dilepton rapidity, for $|y_{\ell\ell}| < 3.6$, for three intervals of dilepton mass, $m_{\ell\ell}$, extending from 46 to 150 GeV. The integrated and differential electron- and muon-channel cross sections are combined and compared to theoretical predictions using recent sets of parton distribution functions. The data, together with the final inclusive $e^{\pm}p$ scattering cross-section data from H1 and ZEUS, are interpreted in a next-to-next-to-leading-order QCD analysis, and a new set of parton distribution functions, ATLAS-epWZ16, is obtained. The ratio of strange-to-light sea-quark densities in the proton is determined more accurately than in previous determinations based on collider data only, and is established to be close to unity in the sensitivity range of the data. A new measurement of the CKM matrix element $|V_{cs}|$ is also provided.
Differential cross section for the forward $Z/\gamma^* \to ee$ process in the invariant mass region $116 < m_{\ell\ell} < 150$ GeV extrapolated to the common fiducial region. The statistical, uncorrelated systematic, correlated systematic and luminosity uncertainties are given in percent.
The production cross-sections for $W^{\pm}$ and $Z$ bosons are measured using ATLAS data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.0 pb$^{-1}$ collected at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=2.76$ TeV. The decay channels $W \rightarrow \ell \nu$ and $Z \rightarrow \ell \ell $ are used, where $\ell$ can be an electron or a muon. The cross-sections are presented for a fiducial region defined by the detector acceptance and are also extrapolated to the full phase space for the total inclusive production cross-section. The combined (average) total inclusive cross-sections for the electron and muon channels are: \begin{eqnarray} \sigma^{\text{tot}}_{W^{+}\rightarrow \ell \nu}& = & 2312 \pm 26\ (\text{stat.})\ \pm 27\ (\text{syst.}) \pm 72\ (\text{lumi.}) \pm 30\ (\text{extr.})\text{pb} \nonumber, \\ \sigma^{\text{tot}}_{W^{-}\rightarrow \ell \nu}& = & 1399 \pm 21\ (\text{stat.})\ \pm 17\ (\text{syst.}) \pm 43\ (\text{lumi.}) \pm 21\ (\text{extr.})\text{pb} \nonumber, \\ \sigma^{\text{tot}}_{Z \rightarrow \ell \ell}& = & 323.4 \pm 9.8\ (\text{stat.}) \pm 5.0\ (\text{syst.}) \pm 10.0\ (\text{lumi.}) \pm 5.5 (\text{extr.}) \text{pb} \nonumber. \end{eqnarray} Measured ratios and asymmetries constructed using these cross-sections are also presented. These observables benefit from full or partial cancellation of many systematic uncertainties that are correlated between the different measurements.
Measured fiducial cross-section ratio R_{W+/W-} = sigma (W+ -> l+ nu) / sigma (W- -> l- nubar) where l = e, mu.
Forum