Measurement of the inclusive W± and Z/γ∗ cross sections in the e and μ decay channels in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Abstract

The production cross sections of the inclusive Drell-Yan processes W-+/- -> l nu and Z/gamma* -> ll (l = e, mu) are measured in proton-proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector. The cross sections are reported integrated over a fiducial kinematic range, extrapolated to the full range, and also evaluated differentially as a function of the W decay lepton pseudorapidity and the Z boson rapidity, respectively. Based on an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb(-1) collected in 2010, the precision of these measurements reaches a few percent. The integrated and the differential W-+/- and Z/gamma* cross sections in the e and mu channels are combined, and compared with perturbative QCD calculations, based on a number of different parton distribution sets available at next-to-next-to-leading order.