Drell-Yan Transverse-Momentum Spectra at N$^3$LL$'$ and Approximate N$^4$LL with SCETlib

Abstract

We provide state-of-the-art precision QCD predictions for the fiducial $W$ and $Z$ boson transverse momentum spectra at the LHC at N$^3$LL$'$ and approximate N$^4$LL in resummed perturbation theory, matched to available $\mathcal{O}(α_s^3)$ fixed-order results. Our predictions consistently combine all information from across the spectrum in a unified way, ranging from the nonperturbative region of small transverse momenta to the fixed-order tail, with an emphasis on estimating the magnitude of residual perturbative uncertainties, and in particular of those related to the matching. Parametric uncertainties related to the strong coupling, the collinear PDFs, and the nonperturbative transverse momentum-dependent (TMD) dynamics are studied in detail. To assess the latter, we explicitly demonstrate how the full complexity of flavor and Bjorken $x$-dependent TMD dynamics can be captured by a single, effective nonperturbative function for the resonant production of any given vector boson at a given collider. We point out that the cumulative $p_T^Z$ cross section at the level of precision enabled by our predictions provides strong constraining power for PDF determinations at full N$^3$LO.