We present novel predictions for the production of W+W− pairs in hadron collisions that are next-to-next-to-leading order accurate and consistently matched to a parton shower (NNLOPS). All diagrams that lead to the process pp→e−νˉeμ+νμ+X are taken into account, thereby including spin correlations and off-shell effects. For the first time full NNLOPS accuracy is achieved for a 2→4 process. We find good agreement, at the 1σ level, with the W+W− rates measured by ATLAS and CMS. The importance of NNLOPS predictions is evident from differential distributions sensitive to soft-gluon effects and from the large impact (10% and more) of including next-to-next-to-leading order corrections on top of MiNLO. We define a charge asymmetry for the W bosons and the leptons in W+W− production at the LHC, which is sensitive to the W polarizations and hence can be used as a probe of new physics.
@article{arxiv.1805.09857,
title = {NNLOPS accurate predictions for $W^+W^-$ production},
author = {Emanuele Re and Marius Wiesemann and Giulia Zanderighi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1805.09857},
year = {2019}
}