Speakers
Description
The production of a $W$ boson in association with a $c$-quark is a key process to probe the $s$-quark content of the proton. Dominated by strange–gluon scattering, its cross section provides direct sensitivity to the strange parton distribution function. Previous ATLAS and CMS measurements were consistent with theoretical predictions, but higher-statistics studies are required to improve precision.
This work presents the ATLAS analysis of Run 2 data for $W + c$ production. The strategy includes event selection, background estimation, and corrections for detector effects through binned likelihood fits and unfolding. Preliminary results are shown, offering the first insight into $W + c$ production in Run 2 and its implications for the strange-quark PDF.
In parallel, theoretical efforts aim to include charm-mass effects in $W + c$ production, with progress on numerical implementation of mass corrections and preliminary results for $W + c + c̄$ production relevant for background modelling.
