Next-to-leading order QCD corrections to the Drell-Yan cross section in models of TeV-scale gravity

Abstract

The first results on next-to-leading order QCD corrections to graviton-induced processes in hadron collisions in models of TeV-scale gravity are presented focusing on the case of dilepton pair production in p^-p and pp collisions. Distributions in the invariant mass Q, the longitudinal fraction xF, the rapidity Y and the forward-backward asymmetry of the lepton pair are studied. The quantitative impact of the QCD corrections for searches of extra dimensions at hadron colliders is investigated. It turns out that at the LHC (√S = 14 TeV) the K-factor is rather large (K=1.6) for large invariant mass Q of the lepton pair, indicating the importance of accounting for these QCD corrections in the experimental search for TeV-scale gravity. At the Tevatron, the K-factor does not substantially deviate from the Standard Model value. However, its inclusion is necessitated to make the cross section stable with respect to scale variations.