Measurements of inclusive W and Z boson production cross sections in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV are presented, based on 2.9 inverse picobarns of data recorded by the CMS detector at the LHC. The measurements, performed in the electron and muon decay channels, are combined to give sigma(pp to WX) times B(W to muon or electron + neutrino) = 9.95 \pm 0.07(stat.) \pm 0.28(syst.) \pm 1.09(lumi.) nb and sigma(pp to ZX) times B(Z to oppositely charged muon or electron pairs) = 0.931 \pm 0.026(stat.) \pm 0.023(syst.) \pm 0.102(lumi.) nb. Theoretical predictions, calculated at the next-to-next-to-leading order in QCD using recent parton distribution functions, are in agreement with the measured cross sections. Ratios of cross sections, which incur an experimental systematic uncertainty of less than 4%, are also reported.

A search for Z bosons in the mu^+mu^- decay channel has been performed in PbPb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre of mass energy = 2.76 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC, in a 7.2 inverse microbarn data sample. The number of opposite-sign muon pairs observed in the 60--120 GeV/c2 invariant mass range is 39, corresponding to a yield per unit of rapidity (y) and per minimum bias event of (33.8 ± 5.5 (stat) ± 4.4 (syst)) 10^{-8}, in the |y|<2.0 range. Rapidity, transverse momentum, and centrality dependencies are also measured. The results agree with next-to-leading order QCD calculations, scaled by the number of incoherent nucleon-nucleon collisions.

A measurement of inclusive W and Z production cross sections in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV 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 inverse picobarns. The measured inclusive cross sections are sigma(pp-> WX) B(W-> l nu) = 10.30 +/- 0.02 (stat.) +/- 0.10 (syst.) +/- 0.10 (th.) +/- 0.41 (lumi.) nb and sigma(pp -> ZX) 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 [sigma(pp->WX) B(W-> l nu)]/[sigma(pp-> ZX) B(Z->l^+l^-)] = 10.54 +/- 0.07 (stat.) +/- 0.08 (syst.) +/- 0.16 (th.) and [sigma(pp->W^+X) B(W^+ -> l^+nu)] / [sigma(pp->W^- X) B(W^- -> l^- nu)] = 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.

The production of a Z boson, decaying to two charged leptons, in association with jets in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is measured. Data recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC are used that correspond to an integrated luminosity of 2.19 fb$^{-1}$. The cross section is measured as a function of the jet multiplicity and its dependence on the transverse momentum of the Z boson, the jet kinematic variables (transverse momentum and rapidity), the scalar sum of the jet momenta, which quantifies the hadronic activity, and the balance in transverse momentum between the reconstructed jet recoil and the Z boson. The measurements are compared with predictions from four different calculations. The first two merge matrix elements with different parton multiplicities in the final state and parton showering, one of which includes one-loop corrections. The third is a fixed-order calculation with next-to-next-to-leading order accuracy for the process with a Z boson and one parton in the final state. The fourth combines the fully differential next-to-next-to-leading order calculation with next-to-next-to-leading logarithm resummation and parton showering.

Measurements of the differential cross section for the Drell-Yan process, based on proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment, are presented. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 2.8 (2.3) fb$^{-1}$ in the dimuon (dielectron) channel. The total and fiducial cross section measurements are presented as a function of dilepton invariant mass in the range 15 to 3000 GeV, and compared with the perturbative predictions of the standard model. The measured differential cross sections are in good agreement with the theoretical calculations.

Results are reported on a search for decays of a pseudoscalar A boson into a Z boson and a light scalar h boson, where the Z boson decays into a pair of oppositely-charged electrons or muons, and the h boson decays into b anti-b. The search is based on data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy sqrt(s)=8 TeV collected with the CMS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns. The h boson is assumed to be the standard model-like Higgs boson with a mass of 125 GeV. With no evidence for signal, upper limits are obtained on the product of the production cross section and the branching fraction of the A boson in the Zh channel. Results are also interpreted in the context of two Higgs doublet models.

A search for a heavy Higgs boson in the H to WW and H to ZZ decay channels is reported. The search is based upon proton-proton collision data samples corresponding to an integrated luminosity of up to 5.1 inverse femtobarns at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and up to 19.7 inverse femtobarns at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC. Several final states of the H to WW and H to ZZ decays are analyzed. The combined upper limit at the 95% confidence level on the product of the cross section and branching fraction exclude a Higgs boson with standard model-like couplings and decays in the range 145 < m[H] < 1000 GeV. We also interpret the results in the context of an electroweak singlet extension of the standard model.

Four-lepton production in proton-proton collisions, $\mathrm{pp}\to (\mathrm{Z}/ \gamma^*)(\mathrm{Z}/\gamma^*) \to 4\ell$, where $\ell = \mathrm{e}$ or $\mu$, is studied at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. The ZZ production cross section, $\sigma(\mathrm{pp} \to \mathrm{Z}\mathrm{Z}) = 17.2 \pm 0.5\text{ (stat) }\pm 0.7\text{ (syst) }\pm 0.4(\mathrm{theo}) \pm 0.4\text{ (lumi)}$ pb, measured using events with two opposite-sign, same-flavor lepton pairs produced in the mass region $60 < m_{\ell^+\ell^-} < $120 GeV, is consistent with standard model predictions. Differential cross sections are measured and are well described by the theoretical predictions. The Z boson branching fraction to four leptons is measured to be $\mathcal{B}(\mathrm{Z}\to 4\ell) = 4.8 \pm 0.2\text{ (stat) }\pm 0.2\text{ (syst) } \pm 0.1\text{ (theo) }\pm 0.1\text{ (lumi) }\times 10^{-6}$ for events with a four-lepton invariant mass in the range 80 $ < m_{4\ell} < $ 100 GeV and a dilepton mass $m_{\ell\ell} > $4 GeV for all opposite-sign, same-flavor lepton pairs. The results agree with standard model predictions. The invariant mass distribution of the four-lepton system is used to set limits on anomalous ZZZ and ZZ$\gamma$ couplings at 95% confidence level: $-0.0012 < f_4^\mathrm{Z} < 0.0010$, $-0.0010 < f_5^\mathrm{Z} < 0.0013$, $-0.0012 < f_4^{\gamma} < 0.0013$, $-0.0012 < f_5^{\gamma} < 0.0013$.

Cross sections for the production of a Z boson in association with jets in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 8 TeV are measured using a data sample collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC corresponding to 19.6 inverse femtobarns. Differential cross sections are presented as functions of up to three observables that describe the jet kinematics and the jet activity. Correlations between the azimuthal directions and the rapidities of the jets and the Z boson are studied in detail. The predictions of a number of multileg generators with leading or next-to-leading order accuracy are compared with the measurements. The comparison shows the importance of including multi-parton contributions in the matrix elements and the improvement in the predictions when next-to-leading order terms are included.

The production of Z bosons in pPb collisions at sqrt(s[NN]) = 5.02 TeV is studied by the CMS experiment via the electron and muon decay channels. The inclusive cross section is compared to pp collision predictions, and found to scale with the number of elementary nucleon-nucleon collisions. The differential cross sections as a function of the Z boson rapidity and transverse momentum are measured. Though they are found to be consistent within uncertainty with theoretical predictions both with and without nuclear effects, the forward-backward asymmetry suggests the presence of nuclear effects at large rapidities. These results provide new data for constraining nuclear parton distribution functions.