The Drell-Yan process

The Drell-Yan process involves high-energy collisions between protons or other particles, where a quark from one particle interacts with an antiquark from another. This interaction produces a virtual photon or Z boson, which quickly decays into a pair of leptons, such as an electron and a positron or a muon and an antimuon. Scientists study these events to explore the structure of matter and fundamental forces, helping us understand how particles interact at very small scales within the universe.