Direct measurement of the W boson width

Area of Science:

• Particle Physics
• High-Energy Physics
• Standard Model Physics

Background:

• The W boson is a fundamental particle mediating the weak nuclear force.
• Precise measurements of W boson properties test the Standard Model and search for new physics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To directly measure the width of the W boson.
• To compare the measured width with Standard Model predictions.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of W --> enu candidate events from D0 detector data at the Fermilab Tevatron.
• Utilizing the shape of the transverse mass distribution.
• Employing a new recoil modeling method based on a recoil library.

Main Results:

• A direct measurement of the W boson width was obtained.
• The measured width is 2.028 +/- 0.072 GeV.
• The result is in agreement with the Standard Model predictions.

Conclusions:

• The direct measurement of the W boson width is consistent with the Standard Model.
• This measurement contributes to the precision tests of the electroweak sector.