https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-023-11530-x
Regular Article - Theoretical Physics
NNLO QCD predictions for Z-boson production in association with a charm jet within the LHCb fiducial region
1
Max Planck Institute for Physics, Föhringer Ring 6, 80805, München, Germany
2
Institute for Theoretical Physics, ETH, 8093, Zürich, Switzerland
3
Department of Physics, University of Zürich, 8057, Zürich, Switzerland
4
Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology, Durham University, DH1 3LE, Durham, UK
5
Department of Physics, Durham University, DH1 3LE, Durham, UK
6
Theoretical Physics Department, CERN, 1211, Geneva 23, Switzerland
f
giovanni.stagnitto@physik.uzh.ch
Received:
10
March
2023
Accepted:
18
April
2023
Published online:
27
April
2023
We compute next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) QCD corrections to neutral vector boson production in association with a charm jet at the LHC. This process is studied in the forward kinematics at 
TeV, which may provide valuable constraints on the intrinsic charm component of the proton. A comparison is performed between fixed order and NLO predictions matched to a parton shower showing mutual compatibility within the respective uncertainties. NNLO corrections typically lead to a reduction of theoretical uncertainties by a factor of two and the perturbative convergence is further improved through the introduction of a theory-inspired constraint on the transverse momentum of the vector boson plus jet system. A comparison between these predictions with data will require an alignment of a flavour-tagging procedure in theory and experiment that is infrared and collinear safe.
© The Author(s) 2023
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Funded by SCOAP3. SCOAP3 supports the goals of the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development.
