Scaling properties of inclusive W$^\pm$ production at hadron colliders

Abstract

We consider the hadroproduction of W gauge bosons in their leptonic decay mode. Starting from the leading-order expressions, we show that by defining a suitable scaling variable the centre-of-mass dependence of the cross sections at the LHC energies can be essentially described by a simple power law. The scaling exponent is directly linked to the small-$x$ behaviour of parton distribution functions (PDF) which, at the high virtualities involved in W production, is largely dictated by QCD evolution equations. This entails a particularly simple scaling law for the lepton charge asymmetry and also predicts that measurements in different collision systems (p-p, p-$\bar{\rm p}$, p-Pb Pb-Pb) are straightforwardly related. The expectations are compared with the existing data and a very good overall agreement is observed. It is shown that the PDF uncertainty in certain cross-section ratios between nearby centre-of-mass energies can be significantly reduced by taking the ratios at fixed value of scaling variable instead of fixed rapidity.