Measurements of $W^\pm Z$ production cross sections in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV with the ATLAS detector and limits on anomalous gauge boson self-couplings

TL;DR

This paper reports precise measurements of $W^\pm Z$ production cross sections at 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector, compares results to Standard Model predictions, and sets limits on anomalous gauge boson couplings.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed measurement of $W^\pm Z$ production cross sections and limits on anomalous gauge couplings at 8 TeV using ATLAS data.

Findings

Measured cross section of 35.1 fb with uncertainties.

Compared measured cross sections to NLO Standard Model predictions.

Set limits on anomalous triple and quartic gauge couplings.

Abstract

This paper presents measurements of $W^\pm Z$ production in $pp$ collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The gauge bosons are reconstructed using their leptonic decay modes into electrons and muons. The data were collected in 2012 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$. The measured inclusive cross section in the detector fiducial region is $\sigma_{W^\pm Z \rightarrow \ell^{'} \nu\ \ell \ell} = 35.1 \pm$ 0.9 (stat.) $\pm 0.8$ (sys.) $\pm 0.8$ (lumi.) fb, for one leptonic decay channel. In comparison, the next-to-leading-order Standard Model expectation is 30.0 $\pm$ 2.1 fb. Cross sections for $W^+Z$ and $W^-Z$ production and their ratio are presented as well as differential cross sections for several kinematic observables. Limits on anomalous triple gauge boson couplings are derived from the transverse mass spectrum of the $W^\pm Z$ system. From the analysis of events with a $W$ and a $Z$ boson associated with two or more forward jets an upper limit at 95% confidence level on the $W^\pm Z$ scattering cross section of 0.63 fb, for each leptonic decay channel, is established, while the Standard Model prediction at next-to-leading order is 0.13 fb. Limits on anomalous quartic gauge boson couplings are also extracted.