Search for vector-boson resonances decaying into a top quark and a bottom quark using $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector

Abstract

A search for a new massive charged gauge boson, $W^{\prime }$, is performed with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The dataset used in this analysis was collected from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV, and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb${}^{-1}$. The reconstructed $tb$ invariant mass is used to search for a $W^{\prime }$ boson decaying into a top quark and a bottom quark. The result is interpreted in terms of a $W^{\prime }$ boson with purely right-handed or left-handed chirality in a mass range of 0.5-6 TeV. Different values for the coupling of the $W^{\prime }$ boson to the top and bottom quarks are considered, taking into account interference with single-top-quark production in the $s$-channel. No significant deviation from the background prediction is observed. The results are expressed as upper limits on the $W^{\prime }\to tb$ production cross-section times branching ratio as a function of the $W^{\prime }$-boson mass and in the plane of the coupling vs the $W^{\prime }$-boson mass.

60 pages in total, author list starting page 43, 14 figures, and 6 tables. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/EXOT-2021-36

References in corpus (13)

• The automated computation of tree-level and next-to-leading order differential cross sections, and their matching to parton shower simulations
• An Introduction to PYTHIA 8.2
• Matching NLO QCD computations with Parton Shower simulations: the POWHEG method
• Herwig++ Physics and Manual
• Parton distributions in the LHC era: MMHT 2014 PDFs
• A parton shower algorithm based on Catani-Seymour dipole factorisation
• Comparative study of various algorithms for the merging of parton showers and matrix elements in hadronic collisions
• Single-top hadroproduction in association with a W boson
• The Catchment Area of Jets
• How bright is the proton? A precise determination of the photon parton distribution function
• HistFitter software framework for statistical data analysis
• Strategies to Identify Boosted Tops
• Interference between W-prime and W in single-top quark production processes

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Anomalies in Particle Physics
• Exploration at the high-energy frontier: ATLAS Run~2 searches investigating the exotic jungle beyond the Standard Model