Measurement of the polar-angle distribution of leptons from W boson decay as a function of the W transverse momentum in proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt{s}=1.8 TeV

Abstract

We present a measurement of the coefficient alpha_2 of the leptonic polar-angle distribution from W boson decays, as a function of the W transverse momentum. The measurement uses an 80+/-4 pb^{-1} sample of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt{s}=1.8 TeV collected by the CDF detector and includes data from both the W->e+nu and W->mu+nu decay channels. We fit the W boson transverse mass distribution to a set of templates from a Monte Carlo event generator and detector simulation in several ranges of the W transverse momentum. The measurement agrees with the Standard Model expectation, whereby the ratio of longitudinally to transversely polarized W bosons, in the Collins-Soper W rest frame, increases with the W transverse momentum at a rate of approximately 15% per 10 GeV/c.

arXiv comment47 pages, 16 figures, submitted to Physical Review D

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• Center-Edge Asymmetry at Hadron Colliders
• Constraints on the ${\chi }_{c1}$ versus ${\chi }_{c2}$ polarizations in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 8 TeV
• W production at LHC: lepton angular distributions and reference frames for probing hard QCD
• Parity-Odd Asymmetries in W-Jet Events at the Tevatron
• Measurement of the azimuthal angle distribution of leptons from W boson decays as a function of the W transverse momentum in proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)=1.8 TeV
• From prompt to direct J/$\psi$ production: new insights on the ${\chi }_{c1}$ and ${\chi }_{c2}$ polarizations and feed-down contributions from a global-fit analysis of mid-rapidity LHC data