Direct Measurement of the $W$ Production Charge Asymmetry in $\ppbar$ Collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 1.96$ TeV

We present the first direct measurement of the $W$ production charge asymmetry as a function of the $W$ boson rapidity $\yW$ in $\ppbar$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 1.96$ $\TeV$. We use a sample of $\wenu$ events in data from 1 $\ifb$ of integrated luminosity collected using the CDF II detector. In the region $|\yW| <$ 3.0, this measurement is capable of constraining the ratio of up and down quark momentum distributions in the proton more directly than in previous measurements of the asymmetry that are a function of the charged-lepton pseudorapidity.