Measurements of inclusive W and Z cross sections in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV

Abstract

Measurements of inclusive W and Z boson production cross sections in pp collisions at root s = 7 TeV are presented, based on 2 : 9 pb(-1) of data recorded by the CMS detector at the LHC. The measurements, performed in the electron and muon decay channels, are combined to give sigma(pp -> WX) x B (W -> lv) = 9.95 +/- 0.07 (stat.) +/- 0.28 (syst.) +/- 1.09 (lumi.) nb and sigma(pp -> ZX) x B (Z -> l(+)l(-)) = 0.931 +/- 0.026 (stat.) +/- 0.023 (syst.) +/- 0.102 (lumi.) nb, where l stands for either e or mu. Theoretical predictions, calculated at the next-to-next-to-leading order in QCD using recent parton distribution functions, are in agreement with the measured cross sections. Ratios of cross sections, which incur an experimental systematic uncertainty of less than 4%, are also reported.