Z Production as a Test of Nuclear Effects at the LHC

Abstract

We predict the Z transverse momentum distribution from proton-proton and nuclear collisions at the LHC. After demonstrating that higher-twist nuclear effects are very small, we propose $Z^0$ production as a precision test for leading-twist pQCD in the TeV energy region. We also point out that shadowing may result in unexpected phenomenology at the LHC.

Comments: 4 pages, 3 figures