Date of Award
Spring 2010
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Graduate Group
Physics & Astronomy
First Advisor
Evelyn Thomson
Abstract
The search for the production of the Standard Model Z boson in association with a W boson is motivated and discussed. This is performed using 4.3/fb of Tevatron Run II data collected with the CDF detector in sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV proton anti-proton collisions. This is a signature-based analysis where the W boson decays semileptonically into a high-pT electron or muon plus a neutrino, and where the Z boson decays into two b quark jets (b-jets). We increase the signal-to-background ratio by identifying the b-quarks in the jets with a new neural network-based algorithm. Another neural network then uses kinematic information to distinguish WZ to further increase the signal-to-background ratio. Since our sensitivity is still not enough to achieve an observation, we set a 95% Confidence Level upper limit on the product of the WZ production cross section and its branching fraction to the decay products specified above, and express it as a ratio to the theoretical Standard Model prediction. The resulting limit is 3.9xSM (3.9xSM expected).
Recommended Citation
Keung, Justin, "Search for the Production of the Standard Model Z Boson in Association With W Boson in Proton Anti-Proton Collisions at 1.96 Tev Center of Mass Energy" (2010). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 100.
https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/100