Study of $Z$ bosons produced in association with charm in the forward region
hep-ex
/ Authors
LHCb collaboration, R. Aaij, A. S. W. Abdelmotteleb, C. Abellán Beteta, F. J. Abudinen Gallego, T. Ackernley, B. Adeva, M. Adinolfi, H. Afsharnia, C. Agapopoulou
and 999 more authors
C. A. Aidala, S. Aiola, Z. Ajaltouni, S. Akar, J. Albrecht, F. Alessio, M. Alexander, A. Alfonso Albero, Z. Aliouche, G. Alkhazov, P. Alvarez Cartelle, S. Amato, J. L. Amey, Y. Amhis, L. An, L. Anderlini, A. Andreianov, M. Andreotti, F. Archilli, A. Artamonov, M. Artuso, K. Arzymatov, E. Aslanides, M. Atzeni
/ Abstract
Events containing a $Z$ boson and a charm jet are studied for the first time in the forward region of proton-proton collisions. The data sample used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of $6 \, {\rm fb}^{-1}$ collected at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the LHCb detector. In events with a $Z$ boson and a jet, the fraction of charm jets is determined in intervals of $Z$-boson rapidity in the range $2.0 < y(Z) < 4.5$. A sizable enhancement is observed in the forward-most $y(Z)$ interval, which could be indicative of a valence-like intrinsic-charm component in the proton wave function.