Novel methods of constraining the parton distribution function uncertainty in the measurement of the W -boson mass
The measurement of the mass of the W boson is one of the most precise and impactful measurements to test the standard model (SM). Following the discovery of the Higgs boson and the measurement of its mass, all SM parameters are sufficiently well known in order to make precise predictions for electroweak observables such as the W boson mass. These observables receive corrections in extensions of the SM. Experimentally, the dominant uncertainty in the W-boson mass measurement at hadron colliders arises due to parton distribution functions (PDFs). We present novel in situ methods of constraining the PDF variation and of reducing the PDF impact on the W-mass measurement uncertainty at hadron colliders. These methods can exploit the very high-statistics samples of W-boson candidate events at the LHC.
