A Precision Measurement of Electroweak Parameters in Neutrino-Nucleon Scattering

TL;DR

This paper presents a precise measurement of electroweak parameters from neutrino-nucleon scattering, confirming Standard Model predictions and constraining new physics at high energy scales.

Contribution

It provides a novel, high-precision determination of sin^2 theta_W and W boson mass from neutrino scattering data, with implications for beyond Standard Model physics.

Findings

Measured sin^2 theta_W = 0.2236 +/- 0.0028 (experimental) +/- 0.0030 (model)

Determined W boson mass as 80.35 +/- 0.21 GeV

Excluded certain contact interactions at 95% confidence level

Abstract

The CCFR collaboration reports a precise measurement of electroweak parameters derived from the ratio of neutral-current to charged-current cross-sections in neutrino-nucleon scattering at the Fermilab Tevatron. This ratio of cross-sections measures the neutral current couplings to quarks, which implies a determination of sin^2 theta_W (on-shell) = 0.2236 +/- 0.0028(expt.) +/- 0.0030(model) for m_top=175 GeV, m_Higgs=150 GeV. This is equivalent to M_W=80.35+/-0.21 GeV. The good agreement of this measurement with Standard Model expectations implies the exclusion of additional neutrino-neutrino-quark-quark contact interactions at 95% confidence at a mass scale of 1-8 TeV, depending on the form of the contact interaction.