Inclusive Electroweak measurements in the muon channel with pp collisions at [the square root of] s=7 TeV

In this thesis, we perform the measurement of the production of W and Z bosons in proton-proton collisions at [the square root of]s = 7 TeV with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In the LHC, W and Z bosons are produced at a high rate, providing for large yields, which along with the clean signature of W boson decay into a muon and neutrino and the Z boson decay into two muons, allow for precision measurement of their production within the first year of operation. Deviation of these values from standard model predictions gives a clear indication of new physics interactions occurring at the LHC. We present the measurement of the inclusive W--> [mu] [epsilon] and Z --> [mu]+ [mu]- cross sections along with the W boson charge ratio (W+/W-) and the W/Z production ratio in the muon channel using the first data corresponding to 35.9 pb-1 of proton proton collisions at [the square root of]s = 7 TeV. Measured values of ... are in agreement with the most advanced NNLO predictions. These are currently the most precise Electroweak measurements at the LHC.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Harris, Philip Coleman

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Steven Nahn.

• Physics.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77485

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/77485