Fiducial Drell-Yan production at the LHC improved by transverse-momentum resummation at N$^4$LL+N$^3$LO

Abstract

Drell-Yan production is one of the precision cornerstones of the LHC, serving as calibration for measurements such as the $W$-boson mass. Its extreme precision at the level of 1% challenges theory predictions at the highest level. We present the first independent calculation of Drell-Yan production at order $\alpha_s^3$ in transverse-momentum ($q_T$) resummation improved perturbation theory. Our calculation reaches the state-of-the-art through inclusion of the recently published four loop rapidity anomalous dimension and three loop massive axial-vector contributions. We compare to the most recent data from CMS with fiducial and differential cross-section predictions and find excellent agreement at the percent level. Our resummed calculation including the matching to $Z$+jet production at NNLO is publicly available in the upcoming CuTe-MCFM 10.3 release and allows for theory-data comparison at an unprecedented level.