Drell-Yan Production of W/Z at the LHC with Protons and Heavy Nuclei

Abstract

Drell-Yan W/Z electroweak boson production at the LHC is an essential standard candle which is used for calibration of beam luminosity and detector properties. In addition to proton-proton collisions, the LHC has measured heavy nuclei lead-lead and proton-lead W/Z production. Inclusion of these data sets in future fits can provide discriminating information of the nuclear modifications present in the Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs). We present an ongoing analysis of W/Z production in lead-lead and proton-lead collisions at the LHC using the \texttt{nCTEQ15} nuclear Parton Distribution Functions (nPDFs) including uncertainties. The cross sections are calculated at NLO with the \texttt{FEWZ\ 2.1} program at 2.76 and 5.02 TeV. We identify promising observables for the observation of the nuclear modifications.

Comments: 7 pages, 3 figures, DPF 2015