QCD radiative corrections to electroweak-boson production at large transverse momentum in hadron collisions

The results of a complete analytical calculation of the next-to-leading-order QCD radiative corrections to the inclusive cross sections parton+parton→V+X, where V is an on-shell W^± or Z⁰ with transverse momentum QT of order MW, or a massive virtual photon with QT of order of its invariant mass, are presented. Numerical predictions for W, Z, and γ* production at collider energies are also presented. The dependence of the radiative corrections on the choice of renormalization and factorization scales is discussed. The results presented indicate that the QCD-improved parton model can be used to make firm and reliable predictions for electroweak-boson production at large QT.