We perform a global QCD analysis of unpolarized parton distribution functions (PDFs) in the proton, including new $W +$\,charm production data from $pp$ collisions at the LHC and semi-inclusive pion and kaon production data in lepton-nucleon deep-inelastic scattering, both of which have been suggested for constraining the strange quark PDF. Compared with a baseline global fit that does not include these datasets, the new analysis reduces the uncertainty on the strange quark distribution over the range $0.01 < x < 0.3$, and provides a consistent description of processes sensitive to strangeness in the proton. Including the new datasets, the ratio of strange to nonstrange sea quark distributions is $R_s = (s+\bar s)/(\bar u+\bar d) = \{ 0.72^{ +0.52}_{ -0.34},\, 0.46^{ +0.30}_{ -0.20},\, 0.32^{ +0.23}_{ -0.15}\}$ for $x = \{ 0.01, 0.04, 0.1 \}$ at $Q^2 = 4$~GeV$^2$. The data place more stringent constraints on the strange asymmetry $s-\bar s$, which is found to be consistent with zero in this range.
Categories: hep-ph hep-ex nucl-th