Understanding and constraining the PDF uncertainties in a W boson mass measurement with forward muons at the LHC

Abstract

Precision electroweak tests are a powerful probe of physics beyond the Standard Model, but the sensitivity is limited by the precision with which the $W$ boson mass ($M_W$) has been measured. The Parton Distribution Function (PDF) uncertainties are a potential limitation for measurements of $M_W$ with LHC data. It has recently been pointed out that, thanks to LHCb's unique forward rapidity acceptance, a new measurement of $M_W$ by LHCb can improve this situation. Here we report on a detailed study on the mechanism driving the PDF uncertainty in the LHCb measurement of $M_W$, and propose an approach which should reduce this uncertainty by roughly a factor of two using LHCb Run 2 data.

18 pages, 17 figures, submitted to EPJC

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• PYTHIA 6.4 Physics and Manual
• Parton distributions in the LHC era: MMHT 2014 PDFs
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• About the rapidity and helicity distributions of the W bosons produced at LHC

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