Speaker
Description
The production of jets in association with Z bosons offers a uniquely clean probe of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP), as the Z boson's decay products bypass strong medium interactions, preserving the initial hard-scattering kinematics. We present the latest measurement of Z+jet correlations in the dimuon channel using the new 5.36 TeV Run 3 data collected by the CMS experiment in 2023 and 2024. The study focuses on the momentum imbalance between the Z boson and the recoiling jet, providing a direct and sensitive look at medium-induced energy loss and the in-medium evolution of partons. The unfolded $x_{Zj}$ distribution, compared with state-of-the-art theoretical calculations, offers crucial tests of the microscopic structure of the QGP. By leveraging the high statistics and increased energy of Run 3, this measurement provides new experimental leverage to constrain theoretical models of parton energy loss and the transport properties of the QGP. Furthermore, the unprecedented statistical precision of the anticipated full Run 3 dataset will pave the way for detailed studies of jet substructure in this clean Z+jet channel.