Measurement of Inclusive W and Z Boson Production Cross Sections in pp Collisions at √s=8 TeV

Abstract

A measurement of total and fiducial inclusive W and Z boson production cross sections in pp collisions at s√=8 TeV is presented. Electron and muon final states are analyzed in a data sample collected with the CMS detector corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 18.2±0.5 pb−1. The measured total inclusive cross sections times branching fractions are σ(pp→WX)×B(W→ℓν)=12.21±0.03(stat)±0.24(syst)±0.32(lum) nb and σ(pp→ZX)×B(Z→ℓ+ℓ−)=1.15±0.01(stat)±0.02(syst)±0.03(lum) nb for the dilepton mass in the range of 60—120 GeV. The measured values agree with next-to-next-to-leading-order QCD cross section calculations. Ratios of cross sections are reported with a precision of 2%. This is the first measurement of inclusive W and Z boson production in proton-proton collisions at s√=8 TeV.