Predictions for Z-Boson Production in Association with a b-Jet at O (αs3)

Precise predictions are provided for the production of a Z boson and a b-jet in hadron-hadron collisions within the framework of perturbative QCD, at O(αs3). To obtain these predictions, we perform the first calculation of a hadronic scattering process involving the direct production of a flavored jet at next-to-next-to-leading-order accuracy in massless QCD and extend techniques to also account for the impact of finite heavy-quark mass effects. The predictions are compared to CMS data obtained in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, which are the most precise data from run I of the LHC for this process, where a good description of the data is achieved. To allow this comparison, we have performed an unfolding of the data, which overcomes the long-standing issue that the experimental and theoretical definitions of jet flavor are incompatible.