Search for resonant WZ production in the WZ to l nu l' l' channel in sqrt(s) = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

TL;DR

This paper reports a search for heavy particles decaying into WZ boson pairs in proton-proton collisions at 7 TeV, using ATLAS data, with no observed excess over the Standard Model predictions.

Contribution

It presents the first search for heavy resonant WZ production in the l nu l' l' channel at 7 TeV with ATLAS, setting limits on new physics models.

Findings

No significant excess observed over Standard Model expectations.

Upper limits set on cross section times branching ratio for heavy WZ resonances.

Results constrain new physics models predicting heavy WZ particles.

Abstract

A generic search is presented for a heavy particle decaying to WZ to l nu l'l' (l, l' = e, mu) final states. The data were recorded by the ATLAS detector in sqrt(s) = 7 TeV pp collisions at the Large Hadron Collider and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 1.02 fb-1. The transverse mass distribution of the selected WZ candidates is found to be consistent with the Standard Model expectation. Upper limits on the production cross section times branching ratio are derived using two benchmark models predicting a heavy particle decaying to a WZ pair.