Mass biases in exclusive radiative hadronic decays of W bosons at the LHC

Abstract

Abstract The search for exclusive hadronic vector boson decays is an ongoing part of the LHC programme where, to date, no such decays have been observed. In addition to the intrinsic interest in the branching ratios, there is potential for a measurement of the W boson mass quite distinct from the usual methods. The radiative decay modes offer good potential channels for this search; however, we highlight three issues with it not previously discussed: particle misidentification, partial reconstruction and the impact of interference with QCD. These issues cause shifts in the peak position of tens or hundreds of MeV/c2.