Angular Distribution of Z$^{0}$ Bosons in Z$^{0}$+Jet Events

The Z$^{0}$ boson center-of-mass angular distribution is measured in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7~TeV, at the CERN LHC. The advantage of studying the angular distribution is that the partonic cross section is solely a function of $\hat{s}$ and $cos\hat{\theta}$; it does not depend on the details of the parton distribution functions. The data sample, recorded with the CMS detector, corresponds to an integrated luminosity of approximately 36~pb$^{-1}$. Events in which there is a Z$^{0}$ and at least one jet, with a transverse momentum threshold of 20~GeV and absolute rapidity less than 2.5, are selected for this analysis. Only the Z$^{0}$'s muon decay channel is studied. Within experimental and theoretical uncertainties, the measured angular distribution is in agreement with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD predictions. This analysis extends the phase space available to previous Tevatron studies by probing larger values of $\hat{s}$ and center-of-mass rapidities.