W Production in an Improved Parton-Shower Approach

Abstract

In the description of the production properties of gauge bosons (W+/W-, Z0, gamma) at colliders, the lowest-order graph normally is not sufficient. The contributions of higher orders can be introduced either by an explicit order-by-order matrix-element calculation, by a resummation procedure or by a parton-shower algorithm. Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages. We here introduce a method that allows the parton-shower algorithm to be augmented by higher-order information, thereby offering an economical route to a description of all event properties. It is tested by comparing with the pT spectrum of W bosons at the Tevatron.