Next-to-Leading Order QCD Predictions for Z,gamma^*+3-Jet Distributions at the Tevatron

Understand

Using BlackHat in conjunction with SHERPA, we have computed next-to-leading order QCD predictions for a variety of distributions in Z,gamma*+1,2,3-jet production at the Tevatron, where the Z boson or off-shell photon decays into an electron-positron pair.

• We find good agreement between the NLO results for jet p_T distributions and measurements by CDF and D0.
• We also present jet-production ratios, or probabilities of finding one additional jet.
• As a function of vector-boson p_T, the ratios have distinctive features which we describe in terms of a simple model capturing leading logarithms and phase-space and parton-distribution-function suppression.