Measurement of W± and Z-boson production cross sections in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Article history: Received 31 March 2016 Received in revised form 6 June 2016 Accepted 10 June 2016 Available online 15 June 2016 Editor: W.-D. Schlatter Measurements of the W± → ±ν and Z → + − production cross sections (where ± = e±, μ±) in proton–proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV are presented using data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 81 pb−1. The total inclusive W±-boson production cross sections times the single-lepton-flavour branching ratios are σ tot W+ = 11.83 ±0.02 (stat)±0.32 (sys)±0.25 (lumi) nb and σ tot W− = 8.79 ±0.02 (stat)±0.24 (sys)±0.18 (lumi) nb for W+ and W−, respectively. The total inclusive Z-boson production cross section times leptonic branching ratio, within the invariant mass window 66 <m < 116 GeV, is σ tot Z = 1.981 ± 0.007 (stat)± 0.038 (sys) ± 0.042 (lumi) nb. The W+, W−, and Z-boson production cross sections and cross-section ratios within a fiducial region defined by the detector acceptance are also measured. The cross-section ratios benefit from significant cancellation of experimental uncertainties, resulting in σ fid W+/σ fid W− = 1.295 ±0.003 (stat)±0.010 (sys) and σ fid W±/σ fid Z = 10.31 ±0.04 (stat)±0.20 (sys). Theoretical predictions, based on calculations accurate to next-to-next-to-leading order for quantum chromodynamics and to next-to-leading order for electroweak processes and which employ different parton distribution function sets, are compared to these measurements. © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Funded by SCOAP3.