Observation of diffractive WW boson production at the Tevatron

Collaboration
Jan, 1997
12 pages
Published in:
  • Phys.Rev.Lett. 78 (1997) 2698-2703
e-Print:
Report number:
  • FERMILAB-PUB-97-025-E,
  • CDF-ANAL-JET-CDFR-3799,
  • FERMILAB-PUB-98-173-EE
Experiments:

Citations per year

199720032009201520210510152025
Abstract: (arXiv)
We report the first observation of diffractively produced W bosons. In a sample of W -> e nu events produced in p-barp collisions at sqrt{s}=1.8 TeV, we find an excess of events with a forward rapidity gap, which is attributed to diffraction. The probability that this excess is consistent with non-diffractive production is 1.1 10^{-4} (3.8 sigma). The relatively low fraction of W+Jet events observed within this excess implies that mainly quarks from the pomeron, which mediates diffraction, participate in W production. The diffractive to non-diffractive W production ratio is found to be R_W=(1.15 +/- 0.55)%.
Note:
  • 9pp, LaTex file, uses psfig, 3 PS figures, to be published in PRL
  • anti-p p: colliding beams
  • anti-p p: inclusive reaction
  • W: hadroproduction
  • W: leptonic decay
  • diffraction: production
  • rapidity: gap
  • jet: associated production
  • nondiffractive
  • cross section: ratio
  • structure function: pomeron