Determination of the strong coupling constant α$_{S}$(m$_{Z}$) from measurements of inclusive W$^{±}$ and Z boson production cross sections in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{S}$ = 7 and 8 TeV

Twelve measurements of inclusive cross sections of W$^{±}$ and Z boson production, performed in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, are compared with perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculations at next-to-next- to-leading order (NNLO) accuracy obtained with the CT$_{14}$, HERAPDF$_{2.0}$, MMHT$_{14}$, and NNPDF$_{3.0}$ parton distribution functions (PDFs). Data and theory agree well for all PDF sets, taking into account the experimental and theoretical uncertainties. A novel procedure is employed to extract the strong coupling constant at the Z pole mass from a detailed comparison of all the experimental fiducial cross sections to the corresponding NNLO theoretical predictions, yielding α$_{S}$(m$_{Z}$)=0.1163$_{−0.0031 }^{+0.0024}$ (CT$_{14}$), 0.1072$_{−0.0040 }^{+0.0023}$ (HERAPDF$_{2.0}$), 0.1186 ± 0.0025 (MMHT$_{14}$), and 0.1147 ± 0.0023 (NNPDF$_{3.0}$). Using the results obtained with the CT$_{14}$ and MMHT$_{14}$ PDFs, which yield the most robust and stable α$_{S}$(m$_{Z}$) extractions, a value α$_{S}$(m$_{Z}$)=0.1175$_{−0.0028 }^{+0.0025}$ is determined.