First Measurement of the <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>Z</mml:mi><mml:mo stretchy="false">→</mml:mo><mml:msup><mml:mrow><mml:mi>μ</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:msup><mml:msup><mml:mrow><mml:mi>μ</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mo>−</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math> Angular Coefficients in the Forward Region of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mi>p</mml:mi><mml:mi>p</mml:mi></mml:math> Collisions at <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:msqrt><mml:mrow><mml:mi>s</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msqrt><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn>13</mml:mn><mml:mtext> </mml:mtext><mml:mtext> </mml:mtext><mml:mi>TeV</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math>
R. Aaij, A. S. W. Abdelmotteleb, C. Abellán Beteta, F. Abudinén, T. Ackernley, B. Adeva, M. Adinolfi, H. Afsharnia, C. Agapopoulou, C. Aidala, S. Aiola, Z. Ajaltouni, S. Akar, J. Albrecht, F. Alessio, M. Alexander, A. Alfonso Albero, Zakariya Aliouche, G. Alkhazov, P. Álvarez Cartelle, S. Amato, J. L. Amey, Y. Amhis, L. An, L. Anderlini, M. Andersson, A. Andreianov, M. Andreotti, D. Andreou, D. Ao, F. Archilli, A. Artamonov, M. Artuso, Kenenbek Arzymatov, E. Aslanides, M. Atzeni, B. Audurier, S. Bachmann, Marie Bachmayer, J. J. Back, P. Baladrón Rodríguez, V. Balagura, W. Baldini, J. Baptista Leite, M. Barbetti, R. J. Barlow, S. Barsuk, W. Barter, M. Bartolini, F. Baryshnikov, J. M. Basels, G. Bassi, B. Batsukh, A. Battig, A. Bay, A. Beck, M. Becker, F. Bedeschi, I. Bediaga, A. Beiter, V. Belavin, S. Belin, V. Bellée, K. Belous, I. Belov, I. Belyaev, G. Bencivenni, E. Ben-Haim, A. Berezhnoy, R. Bernet, D. Berninghoff, H. C. Bernstein, C. Bertella, A. Bertolin, C. Betancourt, F. Betti, Ia. Bezshyiko, S. Bhasin, J. Bhom, L. Bian, M. S. Bieker, N. V. Biesuz, S. Bifani, P. Billoir, A. Biolchini, M. Birch, F. C. R. Bishop, A. Bitadze, A. Bizzeti, M. Bjørn, M. P. Blago, T. Blake, F. Blanc, S. Blusk, D. Bobulska, J. A. Boelhauve, O. Boente García, T. Boettcher, A. S. Boldyrev, A. Bondar
Abstract
The first study of the angular distribution of ${\ensuremath{\mu}}^{+}{\ensuremath{\mu}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ pairs produced in the forward rapidity region via the Drell-Yan reaction $pp\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}^{*}/Z+X\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\ensuremath{\ell}}^{+}{\ensuremath{\ell}}^{\ensuremath{-}}+X$ is presented, using data collected with the LHCb detector at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $5.1\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{fb}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. The coefficients of the five leading terms in the angular distribution are determined as a function of the dimuon transverse momentum and rapidity. The results are compared to various theoretical predictions of the $Z$-boson production mechanism and can also be used to probe transverse-momentum-dependent parton distributions within the proton.