Open Access Publications from the University of California

## Search for resonant WZ to lvll production using 13 fb^{-1} in \sqrt{s} = 8 TeV p-p collisions with the ATLAS detector

Abstract

This dissertation presents a search for a resonant state decaying to a W and a Z boson

using events with three charged leptons (electrons or muons) and missing transverse energy.

The search is performed using proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV,

produced by the LHC and measured by the ATLAS detector in 2012. This data sample

corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 13.{fb^{−1}. Events are selected with reconstructed

W and Z bosons found at similar rapidity and large angular separation. The invariant

mass of three leptons and missing energy is calculated, assuming on-shell W production,

and compared to the Standard Model expectation. No significant excess is observed and the

results are interpreted as cross-section times branching ratio limits for two specific models.

In the context of an Extended Gauge Model, a W′ boson is excluded at a 95 % confidence

level for masses below 1180 GeV. In the context of a Low Scale Technicolor model, two-

dimensional limits are set for values of the technipion and technirho mass between 200 GeV

and 1000 GeV. These limits are generalizable to any model predicting a narrow resonance

that decays to a W and a Z boson.