Measurement of the production cross section for Z/γ^* in association with jets in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS Detector

Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE). Edifici Cn, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), E-08193, Bellaterra (Barcelona) Spain

^a e-mail: evelin.meoni@cern.ch

Abstract

We present results on the production of jets of particles in association with a Z/γ^* boson, in proton-proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The analysis includes the full 2010 data set, collected with a low rate of multiple proton-proton collisions in the accelerator, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 pb⁻¹. Inclusive jet cross sections in Z/γ^* events, with Z/γ^* decaying into electron or muon pairs, are measured for jets with transverse momentum p_T > 30 GeV and jet rapidity |y| < 4.4. The measurements are compared to next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations, and to predictions from different Monte Carlo generators implementing leading-order matrix elements supplemented by parton showers.