Z-boson production in p-Pb collisions at √sNN = 8.16 TeV and Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV

Abstract Measurement of Z-boson production in p-Pb collisions at $$ \sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} $$ sNN = 8.16 TeV and Pb-Pb collisions at $$ \sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} $$ sNN = 5.02 TeV is reported. It is performed in the dimuon decay channel, through the detection of muons with pseudorapidity−4< ημ< −2.5 and transverse momentum $$ {p}_{\mathrm{T}}^{\mu } $$ pTμ >20 GeV/cin the laboratory frame. The invariant yield and nuclear modification factor are measured for opposite-sign dimuons with invariant mass 60< mμμ<120 GeV/c2and rapidity 2.5< $$ {y}_{\mathrm{cms}}^{\mu \mu} $$ ycmsμμ <4. They are presented as a function of rapidity and, for the Pb-Pb collisions, of centrality as well. The results are compared with theoretical calculations, both with and without nuclear modifications to the Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs). In p-Pb collisions the center-of-mass frame is boosted with respect to the laboratory frame, and the measurements cover the backward (−4.46< $$ {y}_{\mathrm{cms}}^{\mu \mu} $$ ycmsμμ < −2.96) and forward (2.03< $$ {y}_{\mathrm{cms}}^{\mu \mu} $$ ycmsμμ <3.53) rapidity regions. For the p-Pb collisions, the results are consistent within experimental and theoretical uncertainties with calculations that include both free-nucleon and nuclear-modified PDFs. For the Pb-Pb collisions, a 3.4σdeviation is seen in the integrated yield between the data and calculations based on the free-nucleon PDFs, while good agreement is found once nuclear modifications are considered.