The charge asymmetry in W bosons produced in p anti-p collisions at center of mass energy - 1.96 TeV

The primary mode of production of W+ bosons in a p(bar p) collider is u + (bar d) → W+. The u quark generally carries more momentum than the (bar d) and the resultant W+ tends to be boosted in the proton direction. Similarly, W- bosons are boosted in the anti-proton direction. This is observed as an asymmetry in the rapidity distributions of positive and negative W bosons. Measurement of this asymmetry serves as a probe of the momentum distribution of partons within the proton. These distributions are required as input to the calculation of every p(bar p) production cross section. This thesis presents the first measurement at D0 of the charge asymmetry of the W boson production cross section as measured in W → eν decays in 0.3 fb-1 of p(bar p) collisions collected with the D0 Detector. Theoretical predictions made using the CTEQ6.1M and MRST(2004) parton distribution functions are compared with the measurement