Electroweak boson production in p–Pb and Pb–Pb collisions at \(\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}=5.02\) TeV with ALICE

Abstract

W and Z bosons are massive weakly-interacting particles, insensitive to the strong interaction. They provide therefore a medium-blind probe of the initial state of the heavy-ion collisions. The final results for the W and Z-boson production in p–Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV are presented. The production cross-section is well described by perturbative calculations but the data cannot further constrain the nuclear modification of the parton distribution functions. The W-boson production is also studied as a function of the collision centrality, and found to be constant within uncertainties.