Single W- and Z-boson production as a probe for rapidity gaps at the Superconducting Super Collider.

Abstract

The cross sections for the production of single $W'\mathrm{s}$ and $Z'\mathrm{s}$ via electroweak boson fusion are calculated for $\mathrm{pp}$ collisions at the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC). We present general event characteristics of the $\mathrm{qq}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\mathrm{qqW}$ and $\mathrm{qq}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\mathrm{qqZ}$ signals and the dominant backgrounds for leptonic decays of the $W$ or $Z$. Special emphasis is given to the study of rapidity gap signatures, i.e., the existence of virtually hadron-free regions between the quark jets in the signal events. By measuring the rate at which rapidity gaps appear in $W$, $Z$ production, the gap survival probability for electroweak signals can be determined. Thus, the feasibility of a rapidity gap trigger for the Higgs-boson search or for weak-boson scattering events can be verified directly at the SSC.