DOI 10.1007/s100520000324
Parton distributions and the LHC: W and Zproduction
A. D. Martin1 - R. G. Roberts2 - W. J. Stirling1,3 - R. S. Thorne4
1 Department of Physics, University of Durham,
Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
2 Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton,
Didcot, Oxon, OX11 0QX, UK
3 Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Durham, Durham, DH1
3LE, UK
4 Jesus College, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3DW, UK
Received: 23 November 1999 / Published online: 6 April 2000 - © Springer-Verlag 2000
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.
Copyright Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2000
