Measurement of the $WZ$ and $ZZ$ production cross sections using eptonic final states in $8.6\ \text{fb}^{ -1}$ of $p\bar p$ collisions

Abstract

We study the processes $p\bar p \rightarrow WZ \rightarrow ℓ^{±}\nu ℓ^{+}l^{-}$ and $p\bar p \rightarrow ZZ \rightarrow ℓ^{+}ℓ^{−}\nu\bar\nu$, where $ℓ=e$ or $\mu$. Using $8.6 \text{ fb}^{−1}$ of integrated luminosity collected by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron collider, we measure the $WZ$ production cross section to be $4.50^{+0.63}_{−0.66} \text{pb}$ which is consistent with, but slightly larger than, the prediction of the standard model. The $ZZ$ cross section is measured to be $1.64±0.46 \text{pb}$, in agreement with a prediction of the standard model. Combination with an earlier analysis of the $ZZ→ℓ^{+}ℓ^{−}ℓ^{+}ℓ^{−}$ channel yields a $ZZ$ cross section of $1.44^{+0.35}_{−0.34} \text{pb}$.