Measurement of σ(pp¯→Z+X)Br(Z→τ+τ−) at s=1.96 TeV

We present a measurement of the cross section for Z boson production times the branching fraction to tau lepton pairs σ(pp¯→Z+X)Br(Z→τ+τ−) in pp¯ collisions at s=1.96 TeV. The measurement is performed in the channel in which one tau lepton decays into a muon and neutrinos, and the other tau lepton decays hadronically or into an electron and neutrinos. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb−1 collected with the DØ detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The sample contains 1511 candidate events with an estimated 20% background from jets or muons misidentified as tau leptons. We obtain σ⋅Br=240±8(stat)±12(sys)±15(lum) pb, which is consistent with the standard model prediction.