Nuclear modification of vector boson production in proton–lead collisions at the LHC

In anticipating the upcoming proton–lead run at the LHC in the near future, we present predictions for the nuclear modification factor of transverse momentum spectrum of Z0 production and transverse momentum broadening of vector boson (J/ψ, ϒ, W/Z0) production in proton–lead collisions at s=5 TeV, respectively. We find that the measurement of nuclear modification factor of Z0 production provides a clean and unambiguous test of the nuclear anti-shadowing proposed in the recent EPS09. In addition, the dramatic difference in transverse momentum broadening between the heavy quarkonium and W/Z0 production could be a signature prediction of QCD parton multiple scattering, and it provides valuable information on color neutralization of a produced heavy quark pair when it transmutes into a physical quarkonium.