Weekly seminars

MW determination at hadron colliders

par Luca Rottoli (Cern)

Europe/Paris
Auditorium (Lapth)

Auditorium

Lapth

9, chemin de Bellevue 74940 ANNECY
Description
The experimental determination of the W-boson mass mW plays a central role in the precision tests of the Standard Model at hadron colliders. Current analyses usually employ a QCD modelling of charged-current Drell-Yan based on parton-shower Monte Carlo event generators, tuned chiefly on the lepton-pair transverse momentum in neutral current Drell-Yan. This approach poses some conceptual issues on the mW determination, since it relies on phenomenological models and does not allow for a meaningful estimate of the theoretical uncertainties. In this talk I will review the recent theoretical progress in the description of Z and W boson production processes, focussing on the transverse momentum spectrum. I will then introduce a new observable relevant for the determination of the W-boson mass. I will discuss the observable's theoretical prediction, presenting results at different orders in QCD. I will show its perturbative stability and discuss the prospects of using it at the LHC to achieve a competitive experimental determination of mW.