Intermediate Boson. I. Theoretical Production Cross Sections in High-Energy Neutrino and Muon Experiments

Abstract

We present here the theoretical total cross sections for $W$-boson production in the reactions $\ensuremath{\nu}+Z\ensuremath{\rightarrow}Z+W+\ensuremath{\mu}$ and $\ensuremath{\mu}+Z\ensuremath{\rightarrow}Z+W+\ensuremath{\nu}$ for a variety of $Z$. The emphasis is on the energies and corresponding $W$-boson masses pertinent to the National Accelerator Laboratory. The effects of the $W'\mathrm{s}$ anomalous magnetic moment, the nucleon Fermi motion, the Pauli exclusion principle, inelastic channels (in particular, deep-inelastic ones), and the problem of incoherent versus coherent production are all discussed. We also give a critique of some recent high-energy compilations.