Z Boson Production in 5.02 TeV pp, p + Pb and Pb + Pb Collisions with ATLAS

Z bosons are short lived and do not participate in the strong interaction. Thus their production yields, observed via dilepton decay channels in proton-lead and lead-lead collisions, provide direct tests of both binary collision scaling and the nuclear modification of parton distribution functions (nPDF). Proton-lead collisions further provide a relatively clean environment for benchmarking nuclear parton distribution functions (PDF). The ATLAS detector has a broad acceptance in the muon and electron channels, with excellent performance even in the high occupancy environment of central heavy-ion collisions. In this talk, Z yields, are presented differentially in rapidity and as a function of centrality in lead-lead and proton-lead collisions.