Global Constraints on Lepton-Quark Contact Interactions

TL;DR

This paper introduces a general parameterization for lepton-quark contact interactions affecting di-lepton observables at hadron colliders, providing a framework for experimental bounds and highlighting the LHC's potential in probing new physics.

Contribution

It offers a simple, general parameterization for lepton-quark contact interactions and demonstrates how to derive bounds from LHC data, enhancing the analysis of physics beyond the Standard Model.

Findings

LHC di-lepton searches provide bounds competitive with electroweak precision data.

A global analysis yields the most stringent bounds on lepton-quark contact interactions.

High-energy LHC phases have unique discovery and discrimination capabilities.

Abstract

The Large Hadron Collider can do precision physics at a level that is competitive with electroweak precision constraints when probing physics beyond the Standard Model. We present a simple yet general parameterization of the effect of an arbitrary number of lepton-quark contact interactions on any di-lepton observable at hadron colliders. This parameterization can be easily adopted by the experimental collaborations to put bounds on arbitrary combinations of lepton-quark contact interactions. We compute the corresponding bounds from current di-lepton resonance searches at the LHC and find that they are competitive with and often complementary to indirect constraints from electroweak precision data. We combine all current constraints in a global analysis to obtain the most stringent bounds on lepton-quark contact interactions. We also show that the high-energy phase of the LHC has a unique potential in terms of discovery and discrimination power among different types of lepton-quark contact interactions.