CMS: Measurement of double-differential cross sections for top quark pair production in pp collisions at √s = 8 TeV and impact on parton distribution functions

Authors

S. Chatrchyan
Ekaterina Avdeeva, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Kenneth Bloom, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
S. Bose, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Jamila Butt, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Daniel R. Claes, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Aaron Dominguez, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
M. Eads, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln,Follow
R. Gonzalez Suarez, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
P. Jindal, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
J. Keller, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
D. Knowlton, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Ilya Kravchenko, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Jose Lazo-Flores, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Helena Malbouisson, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Sudhir Malik, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
F. Meier, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln,Follow
Gregory Snow, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2017

Citation

Eur. Phys. J. C (2017) 77:459

Comments

© CERN for the benefit of the CMS collaboration 2017.

Open access

DOI 10.1140/epjc/s10052-017-4984-5

Abstract

Normalized double-differential cross sections for top quark pair (tt) production are measured in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the CMS experiment at the LHC. The analyzed data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb⁻¹. The measurement is performed in the dilepton e^±μ^∓ final state. The tt cross section is determined as a function of various pairs of observables characterizing the kinematics of the top quark and tt system. The data are compared to calculations using perturbative quantum chromodynamics at next-to-leading and approximate next-to-next-to-leading orders. They are also compared to predictions of Monte Carlo event generators that complement fixed-order computations with parton showers, hadronization, and multiple-parton interactions. Overall agreement is observed with the predictions, which is improved when the latest global sets of proton parton distribution functions are used. The inclusion of the measured tt cross sections in a fit of parametrized parton distribution functions is shown to have significant impact on the gluon distribution.