Measurement of the WZ production cross section in pp collisions at $$\sqrt{s} = 7$$ s = 7 and 8 $$\,\text{TeV}$$ TeV and search for anomalous triple gauge couplings at $$\sqrt{s} = 8\,\text{TeV} $$ s = 8 TeV

Abstract

Abstract The WZ production cross section is measured by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in proton–proton collision data samples corresponding to integrated luminosities of 4.9 $$\,\text{fb}^{-1}$$ fb - 1 collected at $$\sqrt{s} = 7\,\text{TeV} $$ s = 7 TeV , and 19.6 $$\,\text{fb}^{-1}$$ fb - 1 at $$\sqrt{s} = 8\,\text{TeV} $$ s = 8 TeV . The measurements are performed using the fully-leptonic WZ decay modes with electrons and muons in the final state. The measured cross sections for $$71< m_{\mathrm{Z}} < 111\,\text{GeV} $$ 71 < m Z < 111 GeV are $$\sigma ({\mathrm{p}\mathrm{p}}\rightarrow {\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z}};~\sqrt{s} = 7\,\text{TeV}) = 20.14 \pm 1.32\,\text{(stat)} \pm 0.38\,\text{(theo)} \pm 1.06\,\text{(exp)} \pm 0.44\,\text{(lumi)} $$ σ ( p p → W Z ; s = 7 TeV ) = 20.14 ± 1.32 (stat) ± 0.38 (theo) ± 1.06 (exp) ± 0.44 (lumi) $$\,\text{pb}$$ pb and $$\sigma ({\mathrm{p}\mathrm{p}}\rightarrow {\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z}};~\sqrt{s} = 8\,\text{TeV}) = 24.09 \pm 0.87\,\text{(stat)} \pm 0.80\,\text{(theo)} \pm 1.40\,\text{(exp)} \pm 0.63\,\text{(lumi)} $$ σ ( p p → W Z ; s = 8 TeV ) = 24.09 ± 0.87 (stat) ± 0.80 (theo) ± 1.40 (exp) ± 0.63 (lumi) $$\,\text{pb}$$ pb . Differential cross sections with respect to the $$\mathrm{Z}$$ Z boson $$p_{\mathrm{T}}$$ p T , the leading jet $$p_{\mathrm{T}}$$ p T , and the number of jets are obtained using the $$\sqrt{s} = 8\,\text{TeV} $$ s = 8 TeV data. The results are consistent with standard model predictions and constraints on anomalous triple gauge couplings are obtained.