Unbiased global determination of parton distributions and their uncertainties at NNLO and at LO

We present updated leading-order, next-to-leading order and next-to-next-to-leading order parton distribution functions ("MSTW 2008") determined from global analysis of hard-scattering data within the standard framework of leading-twist fixed-order collinear factorisation in the MSbar scheme. These parton distributions supersede the previously available "MRST" sets and should be used for the first LHC data-taking and for the associated theoretical calculations. New data sets fitted include CCFR/NuTeV dimuon cross sections, which constrain the strange quark and antiquark distributions, and Tevatron Run II data on inclusive jet production, the lepton charge asymmetry from W decays and the Z rapidity distribution. Uncertainties are propagated from the experimental errors on the fitted data points using a new dynamic procedure for each eigenvector of the covariance matrix. We discuss the major changes compared to previous MRST fits, briefly compare to parton distributions obtained by other fitting groups, and give predictions for the W and Z total cross sections at the Tevatron and LHC.

We extract new parton distribution functions (PDFs) of the proton by global analysis of hard scattering data in the general-mass framework of perturbative quantum chromodynamics. Our analysis includes new theoretical developments together with the most recent collider data from deep-inelastic scattering, vector boson production, and single-inclusive jet production. Due to the difficulty in fitting both the DO Run-II W lepton asymmetry data and some fixed-target DIS data, we present two families of PDFs, CT10 and CT10W, without and with these high-luminosity W lepton asymmetry data included in the global analysis. With both sets of PDFs, we study theoretical predictions and uncertainties for a diverse selection of processes at the Fermilab Tevatron and the CERN Large Hadron Collider.

A new generation of parton distribution functions with increased precision and quantitative estimates of uncertainties is presented. This work significantly extends previous CTEQ and other global analyses on two fronts: (i) a full treatment of available experimental correlated systematic errors for both new and old data sets; (ii) a systematic and pragmatic treatment of uncertainties of the parton distributions and their physical predictions, using a recently developed eigenvector-basis approach to the Hessian method. The new gluon distribution is considerably harder than that of previous standard fits. A number of physics issues, particularly relating to the behavior of the gluon distribution, are addressed in more quantitative terms than before. Extensive results on the uncertainties of parton distributions at various scales, and on parton luminosity functions at the Tevatron RunII and the LHC, are presented. The latter provide the means to quickly estimate the uncertainties of a wide range of physical processes at these high-energy hadron colliders, based on current knowledge of the parton distributions. In particular, the uncertainties on the production cross sections of the \(W,Z\) at the Tevatron and the LHC are estimated to be \(\pm 4%\) and \(\pm 5%\) respectively, and that of a light Higgs at the LHC to be \(\pm 5%\).