Measurement of inclusive W and Z boson production cross sections in pp collisions at s =8TeV

A measurement of total and fiducial inclusive W and Z boson production cross sections in pp collisions at s=8TeV is presented. Electron and muon final states are analyzed in a data sample collected with the CMS detector corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 18.2±0.5pb-1. The measured total inclusive cross sections times branching fractions are σ(pp→WX)×B(W→ν)=12.21±0.03(stat)±0. 24(syst)±0.32(lum)nb and σ(pp→ZX)×B(Z→+-)=1. 15±0.01(stat)±0.02(syst)±0.03(lum)nb for the dilepton mass in the range of 60 - 120 GeV. The measured values agree with next-to-next-to-leading-order QCD cross section calculations. Ratios of cross sections are reported with a precision of 2%. This is the first measurement of inclusive W and Z boson production in proton-proton collisions at s=8TeV. © 2014 CERN, for the CMS Collaboration.