Search for $Z\gamma$ resonances using leptonic and hadronic final states in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV with the CMS experiment

Abstract

A search for $Z\gamma$ resonances using leptonic and hadronic final states is presented. The analysis is based on data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$, and collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2016. The search strategy is to look for an excess above the nonresonant Standard Model background on the $Z\gamma$ invariant mass spectrum. Leptonic and hadronic decay modes of the $Z$ boson are investigated and the results are combined and interpreted in terms of upper limits on the product of the production cross section and the branching fraction to $Z\gamma.$