Precision measurement of the W boson decay branching fractions in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV

TL;DR

This paper reports a precise measurement of W boson decay branching fractions into leptons and hadrons using 13 TeV proton-proton collision data, confirming lepton flavor universality and deriving key Standard Model parameters.

Contribution

The study provides the most precise measurements to date of W boson decay branching fractions at 13 TeV, and extracts fundamental Standard Model parameters from these results.

Findings

Measured W boson leptonic branching fractions are consistent with lepton flavor universality.

Estimated average leptonic and hadronic decay branching fractions are 10.89% and 67.32%.

Derived CKM matrix elements and strong coupling constant from hadronic decay data.

Abstract

The leptonic and inclusive hadronic decay branching fractions of the W boson are measured using proton-proton collision data collected at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. Events characterized by the production of one or two W bosons are selected and categorized based on the multiplicity and flavor of reconstructed leptons, the number of jets, and the number of jets identified as originating from the hadronization of b quarks. A binned maximum likelihood estimate of the W boson branching fractions is performed simultaneously in each event category. The measured branching fractions of the W boson decaying into electron, muon, and tau lepton final states are (10.83 $\pm$ 0.10)%, (10.94 $\pm$ 0.08)%, and (10.77 $\pm$ 0.21)%, respectively, consistent with lepton flavor universality for the weak interaction. The average leptonic and inclusive hadronic decay branching fractions are estimated to be (10.89 $\pm$ 0.08)% and (67.32 $\pm$ 0.23)%, respectively. Based on the hadronic branching fraction, three standard model quantities are subsequently derived: the sum of squared elements in the first two rows of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix $\sum_{ij}\vert V_{ij}\vert^{2}$ = 1.984 $\pm$ 0.021, the CKM element $\vert V_\mathrm{cs}\vert$ = 0.967 $\pm$ 0.011, and the strong coupling constant at the W boson mass scale, $\alpha_\mathrm{S}(m^2_\mathrm{W})$ = 0.095 $\pm$ 0.033.