Pinning down Anomalous $WW\gamma$ Couplings at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper analyzes $W^ ext{±}$γ production at the LHC to improve sensitivity to anomalous $WWγ$ couplings, highlighting the importance of the transverse opening angle between decay products for detection.

Contribution

It introduces a focused analysis on $W^ ext{±}$γ production using the transverse opening angle to enhance sensitivity to anomalous $WWγ$ interactions at the LHC.

Findings

The transverse opening angle is the most useful variable for analysis.

A simple analysis with this variable significantly improves sensitivity.

Current constraints on anomalous couplings can be surpassed.

Abstract

We make a careful analysis of $W^\pm\gamma$ production at the LHC, identifying the $W^\pm$ through leptonic decays, with a view to exploring the sensitivity of the machine to anomalous $CP$-conserving $WW\gamma$ interactions. All the available kinematic variables are used, but we find that the most useful one is the opening angle in the transverse plane between the decay products of the $W^\pm$. It is shown that even a simple-minded analysis using this variable can lead to a much greater sensitivity at the LHC than the current constraints on the relevant parameters.