The single W production case

Abstract

The so-called CC20 processes have been extensively analyzed in the literature. They are a sensitive probe of anomalous electromagnetic couplings of the W boson and represent a background to searches for new physics beyond the standard model. Moreover, they represent a contribution to the WW total cross section, used to derive a value for the W boson mass. The issue of gauge invariance in the CC20 family has been solved by the introduction of the Fermion-Loop scheme but several subtleties remain, connected with the region of vanishing scattering angle of the electron and with the limit of massless final state fermions in a fully extrapolated setup. A satisfactory solution for computing the total cross section is given in the context of the equivalent photon or Weizsacker-Williams approximation which factorizes the flux of quasi-real photons emitted by the electron from the interaction rate between the positron and the photon assumed to be real. The correct kinematics for the inclusion of initial state QED radiation is established. QCD corrections to the process are discussed and numerical results are shown and commented.