Cross-fertilising extra gauge boson searches at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper explores how combined analyses of $W'$ and $Z'$ boson searches at the LHC, considering interference effects and asymmetry observables, can enhance the discovery potential for new gauge bosons in various theoretical models.

Contribution

It demonstrates how information from $Z'$ searches can improve $W'$ boson searches and vice versa, accounting for interference effects and non-standard signal shapes.

Findings

Interference effects significantly alter the expected signal shapes.

Asymmetry observables are useful for characterising wide resonance signals.

Combined analysis improves sensitivity to new gauge bosons.

Abstract

For the purpose of cross-fertilising currently separate experimental approaches, we connect results of LHC analyses attempting to access the properties of additional $W^\prime$ and $Z^\prime$ bosons from Drell-Yan processes. Under theoretical assumptions linking the two new gauge bosons, we take into account that such possible states of nature are wide enough (in relation to the leptonic mass resolution) for the corresponding signals be significantly affected by interference effects with the background from the Standard Model. The shape of the differential cross section may then no longer be a standard Breit-Wigner distribution, and asymmetry observables would become useful for characterisation (and, possibly, discovery) purposes. Under such conditions we concentrate our analysis on specific widely-studied models: the Sequential Standard Model, a model with an additional $SU(2)_L$ gauge symmetry, as well as standard and alternative realisations of the Left-Right Symmetric Model. We show how information gathered in $Z'$ boson searches in terms of cross section and/or asymmetry distributions can be used to improve $W'$ boson searches in terms of the LHC sensitivity, and {\it vice versa}.