Unitarity effects in W+W- elastic scattering.

Abstract

Unitarity effects associated with the two-channel system consisting of the states ${W}_{L}^{+}{W}_{L}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ and $\frac{{Z}_{L}^{0}{Z}_{L}^{0}}{\sqrt{2}}$ are investigated using the $K$-matrix technique. In ${W}_{L}^{+}{W}_{L}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ elastic scattering, we find that for a Higgs-boson mass (${m}_{H}$) of 0.5 TeV the unitarized $s$-wave amplitude is very similar to the Born amplitude modified by the addition of a Higgs-boson width. When ${m}_{H}$ reaches 1.4 TeV, which is above the unitarity bound obtained from the Born term, the unitarized amplitude saturates at an absolute value of about $\frac{2}{3}$ of the unitarity limit. The implications of unitarity on $W$-pair production at Superconducting Super Collider energies are also discussed.