Observation of photon-induced W+W− production in pp collisions at s=13 TeV using the ATLAS detector

Summary, in English

This letter reports the observation of photon-induced production of W-boson pairs, γγ→WW. The analysis uses 139 fb−1 of LHC proton–proton collision data taken at s=13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment during the years 2015–2018. The measurement is performed selecting one electron and one muon, corresponding to the decay of the diboson system as WW→e±νμ∓ν final state. The background-only hypothesis is rejected with a significance of well above 5 standard deviations consistent with the expectation from Monte Carlo simulation. A cross section for the γγ→WW process of 3.13±0.31(stat.)±0.28(syst.) fb is measured in a fiducial volume close to the acceptance of the detector, by requiring an electron and a muon of opposite signs with large dilepton transverse momentum and exactly zero additional charged particles. This is found to be in agreement with the Standard Model prediction. © 2021 The Author(s)

• Author: G. Aad; T.P.A. Åkesson; S.S. Bocchetta; E.E. Corrigan; C. Doglioni; J. Geisen; K. Gregersen; E. Hansen; V. Hedberg; G. Jarlskog; E. Kellermann; B. Konya; E. Lytken; K.H. Mankinen; C. Marcon; J.U. Mjörnmark; G.A. Mullier; R. Poettgen; T. Poulsen; E. Skorda; O. Smirnova; L. Zwalinski
• Department/s: Particle and nuclear physics; eSSENCE: The e-Science Collaboration
• Publishing year: 2021
• Language: English
• Publication/Series: Physics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics
• Volume: 816
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2021.136190
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Topic: Subatomic Physics
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 0370-2693