Measurement of the W -> tau nu(tau) cross section in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

Abstract

The cross section for the production of W bosons with subsequent decay W -> tau nu(tau) is measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The analysis is based on a data sample that was recorded in 2010 at a proton-proton center-of-mass energy of root s = 7 TeV and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb(-1). The cross section is measured in a region of high detector acceptance and then extrapolated to the full phase space. The product of the total W production cross section and the W -> tau nu(tau) branching ratio is measured to be sigma(tot)(W -> tau nu tau) = 11.1 +/- 0.3 (stat) +/- 1.7 (syst) +/- 0.4 (lumi) nb. (C) 2011 CERN. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.