Model independent reach for W′ bosons at the LHC

The semileptonic decay of single-top-quark production provides a strong probe for W' bosons at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. We propose an explicit search strategy for pp -> W' -> tb -> l nu bj for use at 7 and 8 TeV collider energies and integrated luminosities ranging from 5 to 20 fb(-1). Based on detector-simulated results, we predict that a lower bound can be placed on the mass of right-handed W-R' with standard model-like couplings of m(WR') > 1800 GeV at root S = 7 TeV with 5 fb(-1) and of m(WR') > 2000 GeV at 8 TeV with 20 fb(-1). For left-handed W-L' bosons, we find a lower bound of 1750-1800 GeV at 7 TeV and 5 fb(-1), depending on the sign of the interference with standard model single-top-quark production. We present effective coupling g'-dependent limits for accessible masses and stress the importance of these limits for comparison with theoretical models.