Diagnosing Spin at the LHC via Vector Boson Fusion

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel method to determine the spin of new particles at the LHC by analyzing jet distributions in vector boson fusion events, aiding in identifying particle properties in new physics discoveries.

Contribution

The paper presents a new technique using jet azimuthal angle distributions in vector boson fusion to distinguish particle spins at the LHC, applicable across various new physics models.

Findings

Jet azimuthal distributions differ for spin-0 and spin-1/2 particles.

Method effective for strongly-interacting and supersymmetric particles.

Applicable in a wide range of new physics scenarios.

Abstract

We propose a new technique for determining the spin of new massive particles that might be discovered at the Large Hadron Collider. The method relies on pair-production of the new particles in a kinematic regime where the vector boson fusion production mechanism is enhanced. For this regime, we show that the distribution of the leading jets as a function of their relative azimuthal angle can be used to distinguish spin-0 from spin-1/2 particles. We illustrate this effect by considering the particular cases of (i) strongly-interacting, stable particles and (ii) supersymmetric particles carrying color charge. We argue that this method should be applicable in a wide range of new physics scenarios.