NNLO QCD predictions of electron charge asymmetry for inclusive pp → W + X production in forward region at 13 and 14 TeV

Abstract

This paper presents perturbative QCD predictions of the electron charge asymmetry for inclusive production in proton-proton (pp) collisions. Perturbative QCD calculations are performed at next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) accuracy using different parton distribution function (PDF) models at 8, 13, and 14 TeV center-of-mass energies of CERN LHC pp collisions. NNLO calculations are performed for electrons with transverse momenta above 20 GeV in the forward electron pseudorapidity region . NNLO predictions are first compared at 8 TeV with the measurements of the LHCb experiment at the LHC for the / cross section ratio and charge asymmetry distributions. The 8 TeV predictions using NNPDF3.1, CT14, and MMHT2014 PDF sets are reported to be in good agreement with the LHCb data for the entire region, justifying the extension of the calculations to 13 and 14 TeV energies. The charge asymmetry predictions at NNLO accuracy are reported in the forward bins at 13 and 14 TeV and compared among NNPDF3.1, CT14, and MMHT2014 PDF sets. Overall, the predicted differential cross-section and charge asymmetry distributions based on different PDF sets are found to be consistent with each other for the entire region. The charge asymmetry distributions are shown to be more sensitive to discriminate among different PDF models in terms of the 14 TeV predictions.