Electroweak-QCD interference in hadronic vector bosons decays at the LHC

Abstract

Abstract The analysis of hadronic vector bosons decays at the LHC does not normally consider interference with QCD $$q\overline{q}$$ qq¯ production. This paper explores the effect of this interference on the reconstructed peak positions and rates for several production modes. In particular, boosted vectors bosons and vector boson pairs are considered for the first time. Shifts of several GeV/c$$^2$$ 2 are seen in the positions of the W and Z bosons’ peaks, with a magnitude that depends strongly on the kinematics involved. For boosted vector bosons in regions currently studied, the effects are all found to be very small or negligible. If experiments were to access lower transverse momenta, for example in the experimental trigger systems, or in studies of low-recoil VV decaying semileptonically, the effect of interference could be much larger.