Measurement of the ϕ∗η distribution of muon pairs with masses between 30 and 500 GeV in 10.4 fb−1 of pp¯ collisions

Abstract

We present a measurement of the distribution of the variable ϕ∗η for muon pairs with masses between 30 and 500 GeV, using the complete run II data set collected by the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron proton-antiproton collider. This corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 10.4 fb−1 at s√=1.96 TeV. The data are corrected for detector effects and presented in bins of dimuon rapidity and mass. The variable ϕ∗η probes the same physical effects as the Z/γ∗ boson transverse momentum, but is less susceptible to the effects of experimental resolution and efficiency. These are the first measurements at any collider of the ϕ∗η distributions for dilepton masses away from the Z→ℓ+ℓ− boson mass peak. The data are compared to QCD predictions based on the resummation of multiple soft gluons.