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| CMS-B2G-22-004 ; CERN-EP-2026-021 | ||
| Search for the single production of vector-like quarks decaying into a W boson and a b quark using single-lepton final states in proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV | ||
| CMS Collaboration | ||
| 19 April 2026 | ||
| Submitted to Physics Letters B | ||
| Abstract: A search is performed for the single production of a heavy vector-like quark (VLQ), decaying into a W boson and a b quark. The analysis uses proton-proton collision data collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$ ^{-1} $. The search targets events with leptonic W boson decays. The event signature consists of one electron or muon, large transverse momentum imbalance, at least one jet consistent with coming from the fragmentation of a b quark and having large transverse momentum, and at least one jet in the forward region of the detector. No significant excess over the standard model prediction is observed. Upper limits are set at the 95% confidence level on the production cross section of a VLQ and its coupling $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} $ to the standard model sector. For a VLQ decaying exclusively into $ \mathrm{W}\mathrm{b} $, the upper limit on $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} $ depends on the VLQ mass and reaches values as low as 0.086 for masses around 1.4 TeV. For $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} = $ 0.2 the lower limit on the VLQ mass is 2.4 TeV. These are the most stringent limits to date on the single production of VLQs decaying into $ \mathrm{W}\mathrm{b} $. | ||
| Links: e-print arXiv:2604.17564 [hep-ex] (PDF) ; CDS record ; inSPIRE record ; HepData record ; CADI line (restricted) ; | ||
| Figures | |
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Figure 1:
Leading-order Feynman diagram for singly produced Y or T quarks. |
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Figure 2:
Distributions of the NN discriminant in the W + $\text{jets}$ (upper left), $ \mathrm{t} \overline{\mathrm{t}} $ (upper right), single top quark (lower left) CRs, and in the PSR (lower right). The data are shown as points and the simulations as colored histograms. The vertical bars on the data points represent the statistical uncertainty and the cross-hatched areas give the systematic uncertainty. The ``HF" and ``LF" labels refer to heavy- and light-flavor quarks, respectively. The lower panels show the differences between the data and the total simulated background predictions, divided by the total uncertainty $ \sigma $. |
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Figure 2-a:
Distributions of the NN discriminant in the W + $\text{jets}$ (upper left), $ \mathrm{t} \overline{\mathrm{t}} $ (upper right), single top quark (lower left) CRs, and in the PSR (lower right). The data are shown as points and the simulations as colored histograms. The vertical bars on the data points represent the statistical uncertainty and the cross-hatched areas give the systematic uncertainty. The ``HF" and ``LF" labels refer to heavy- and light-flavor quarks, respectively. The lower panels show the differences between the data and the total simulated background predictions, divided by the total uncertainty $ \sigma $. |
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Figure 2-b:
Distributions of the NN discriminant in the W + $\text{jets}$ (upper left), $ \mathrm{t} \overline{\mathrm{t}} $ (upper right), single top quark (lower left) CRs, and in the PSR (lower right). The data are shown as points and the simulations as colored histograms. The vertical bars on the data points represent the statistical uncertainty and the cross-hatched areas give the systematic uncertainty. The ``HF" and ``LF" labels refer to heavy- and light-flavor quarks, respectively. The lower panels show the differences between the data and the total simulated background predictions, divided by the total uncertainty $ \sigma $. |
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Figure 2-c:
Distributions of the NN discriminant in the W + $\text{jets}$ (upper left), $ \mathrm{t} \overline{\mathrm{t}} $ (upper right), single top quark (lower left) CRs, and in the PSR (lower right). The data are shown as points and the simulations as colored histograms. The vertical bars on the data points represent the statistical uncertainty and the cross-hatched areas give the systematic uncertainty. The ``HF" and ``LF" labels refer to heavy- and light-flavor quarks, respectively. The lower panels show the differences between the data and the total simulated background predictions, divided by the total uncertainty $ \sigma $. |
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Figure 2-d:
Distributions of the NN discriminant in the W + $\text{jets}$ (upper left), $ \mathrm{t} \overline{\mathrm{t}} $ (upper right), single top quark (lower left) CRs, and in the PSR (lower right). The data are shown as points and the simulations as colored histograms. The vertical bars on the data points represent the statistical uncertainty and the cross-hatched areas give the systematic uncertainty. The ``HF" and ``LF" labels refer to heavy- and light-flavor quarks, respectively. The lower panels show the differences between the data and the total simulated background predictions, divided by the total uncertainty $ \sigma $. |
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Figure 3:
The $ m_{\text{rec}} $ distributions for each of the six event categories described in the legends showing the data (points), the simulated SM backgrounds (colored histograms), and the signal predictions for Y quark production (black dashed histogram) for a Y quark mass of 1.2 TeV. The coupling parameter $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} $ is set to 0.3 in the ``1 b jet, medium'' channels, and $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} = $ 0.1 for the others. The vertical bars on the data points represent the statistical uncertainty in the data. The hatched area in the upper panels represents the post-fit systematic uncertainties. The lower panels show the pulls as hatched bars, defined as the difference between the data and the fitted SM background predictions divided by the total uncertainty $ \sigma $. |
png pdf |
Figure 3-a:
The $ m_{\text{rec}} $ distributions for each of the six event categories described in the legends showing the data (points), the simulated SM backgrounds (colored histograms), and the signal predictions for Y quark production (black dashed histogram) for a Y quark mass of 1.2 TeV. The coupling parameter $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} $ is set to 0.3 in the ``1 b jet, medium'' channels, and $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} = $ 0.1 for the others. The vertical bars on the data points represent the statistical uncertainty in the data. The hatched area in the upper panels represents the post-fit systematic uncertainties. The lower panels show the pulls as hatched bars, defined as the difference between the data and the fitted SM background predictions divided by the total uncertainty $ \sigma $. |
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Figure 3-b:
The $ m_{\text{rec}} $ distributions for each of the six event categories described in the legends showing the data (points), the simulated SM backgrounds (colored histograms), and the signal predictions for Y quark production (black dashed histogram) for a Y quark mass of 1.2 TeV. The coupling parameter $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} $ is set to 0.3 in the ``1 b jet, medium'' channels, and $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} = $ 0.1 for the others. The vertical bars on the data points represent the statistical uncertainty in the data. The hatched area in the upper panels represents the post-fit systematic uncertainties. The lower panels show the pulls as hatched bars, defined as the difference between the data and the fitted SM background predictions divided by the total uncertainty $ \sigma $. |
png pdf |
Figure 3-c:
The $ m_{\text{rec}} $ distributions for each of the six event categories described in the legends showing the data (points), the simulated SM backgrounds (colored histograms), and the signal predictions for Y quark production (black dashed histogram) for a Y quark mass of 1.2 TeV. The coupling parameter $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} $ is set to 0.3 in the ``1 b jet, medium'' channels, and $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} = $ 0.1 for the others. The vertical bars on the data points represent the statistical uncertainty in the data. The hatched area in the upper panels represents the post-fit systematic uncertainties. The lower panels show the pulls as hatched bars, defined as the difference between the data and the fitted SM background predictions divided by the total uncertainty $ \sigma $. |
png pdf |
Figure 3-d:
The $ m_{\text{rec}} $ distributions for each of the six event categories described in the legends showing the data (points), the simulated SM backgrounds (colored histograms), and the signal predictions for Y quark production (black dashed histogram) for a Y quark mass of 1.2 TeV. The coupling parameter $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} $ is set to 0.3 in the ``1 b jet, medium'' channels, and $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} = $ 0.1 for the others. The vertical bars on the data points represent the statistical uncertainty in the data. The hatched area in the upper panels represents the post-fit systematic uncertainties. The lower panels show the pulls as hatched bars, defined as the difference between the data and the fitted SM background predictions divided by the total uncertainty $ \sigma $. |
png pdf |
Figure 3-e:
The $ m_{\text{rec}} $ distributions for each of the six event categories described in the legends showing the data (points), the simulated SM backgrounds (colored histograms), and the signal predictions for Y quark production (black dashed histogram) for a Y quark mass of 1.2 TeV. The coupling parameter $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} $ is set to 0.3 in the ``1 b jet, medium'' channels, and $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} = $ 0.1 for the others. The vertical bars on the data points represent the statistical uncertainty in the data. The hatched area in the upper panels represents the post-fit systematic uncertainties. The lower panels show the pulls as hatched bars, defined as the difference between the data and the fitted SM background predictions divided by the total uncertainty $ \sigma $. |
png pdf |
Figure 3-f:
The $ m_{\text{rec}} $ distributions for each of the six event categories described in the legends showing the data (points), the simulated SM backgrounds (colored histograms), and the signal predictions for Y quark production (black dashed histogram) for a Y quark mass of 1.2 TeV. The coupling parameter $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} $ is set to 0.3 in the ``1 b jet, medium'' channels, and $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} = $ 0.1 for the others. The vertical bars on the data points represent the statistical uncertainty in the data. The hatched area in the upper panels represents the post-fit systematic uncertainties. The lower panels show the pulls as hatched bars, defined as the difference between the data and the fitted SM background predictions divided by the total uncertainty $ \sigma $. |
png pdf |
Figure 4:
The 95% CL upper limits on the VLQ single-production cross section (upper) and on the coupling parameter $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} $ (lower) as a function of $ m_{\text{VLQ}} $. The solid black curve gives the observed upper limit, while the dotted black curve shows the expected upper limit, with the green and yellow bands representing the $ \pm $1 and $ \pm $2 standard deviation uncertainties in the expected limit, respectively. The solid red curve in the upper plot displays the theoretical prediction for the Y and T quark single-production cross section assuming exclusive decay to $ \mathrm{W}\mathrm{b} $ and $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} = $ 0.15, while the solid red curve in the lower plot shows the prediction for $ \kappa_\mathrm{W}^{Y} $ under the same assumptions. These two curves also correspond to the predictions for the T singlet, with $ \mathcal{B}(\mathrm{W}\mathrm{b}) = 50% $ and $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} = $ 0.21. In this case, the scale for the prediction of $ \kappa_\mathrm{W}^{T} $ is given by the right vertical axis in the lower plot. The black dashed and dot-dashed curves show the expected cross sections corresponding to a fixed VLQ width to mass ratio $ \Gamma/m = 10% $ for the T singlet and Y quarks, respectively. Below these curves, the VLQ natural width is smaller than the experimental invariant mass resolution, and the narrow-width approximation assumed in the analysis is justified. |
png pdf |
Figure 4-a:
The 95% CL upper limits on the VLQ single-production cross section (upper) and on the coupling parameter $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} $ (lower) as a function of $ m_{\text{VLQ}} $. The solid black curve gives the observed upper limit, while the dotted black curve shows the expected upper limit, with the green and yellow bands representing the $ \pm $1 and $ \pm $2 standard deviation uncertainties in the expected limit, respectively. The solid red curve in the upper plot displays the theoretical prediction for the Y and T quark single-production cross section assuming exclusive decay to $ \mathrm{W}\mathrm{b} $ and $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} = $ 0.15, while the solid red curve in the lower plot shows the prediction for $ \kappa_\mathrm{W}^{Y} $ under the same assumptions. These two curves also correspond to the predictions for the T singlet, with $ \mathcal{B}(\mathrm{W}\mathrm{b}) = 50% $ and $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} = $ 0.21. In this case, the scale for the prediction of $ \kappa_\mathrm{W}^{T} $ is given by the right vertical axis in the lower plot. The black dashed and dot-dashed curves show the expected cross sections corresponding to a fixed VLQ width to mass ratio $ \Gamma/m = 10% $ for the T singlet and Y quarks, respectively. Below these curves, the VLQ natural width is smaller than the experimental invariant mass resolution, and the narrow-width approximation assumed in the analysis is justified. |
png pdf |
Figure 4-b:
The 95% CL upper limits on the VLQ single-production cross section (upper) and on the coupling parameter $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} $ (lower) as a function of $ m_{\text{VLQ}} $. The solid black curve gives the observed upper limit, while the dotted black curve shows the expected upper limit, with the green and yellow bands representing the $ \pm $1 and $ \pm $2 standard deviation uncertainties in the expected limit, respectively. The solid red curve in the upper plot displays the theoretical prediction for the Y and T quark single-production cross section assuming exclusive decay to $ \mathrm{W}\mathrm{b} $ and $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} = $ 0.15, while the solid red curve in the lower plot shows the prediction for $ \kappa_\mathrm{W}^{Y} $ under the same assumptions. These two curves also correspond to the predictions for the T singlet, with $ \mathcal{B}(\mathrm{W}\mathrm{b}) = 50% $ and $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} = $ 0.21. In this case, the scale for the prediction of $ \kappa_\mathrm{W}^{T} $ is given by the right vertical axis in the lower plot. The black dashed and dot-dashed curves show the expected cross sections corresponding to a fixed VLQ width to mass ratio $ \Gamma/m = 10% $ for the T singlet and Y quarks, respectively. Below these curves, the VLQ natural width is smaller than the experimental invariant mass resolution, and the narrow-width approximation assumed in the analysis is justified. |
| Tables | |
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Table 1:
Event selection criteria used for NN training. |
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Table 2:
Summary of the event selection requirements defining the four CRs, PSR, and SR. The NN threshold value $ \mathrm{NN}_{\text{thr}} $ for the SR is optimized separately for each category, as described in Section 5. |
| Summary |
| Results have been presented from a search for the single production of the vector-like quarks T and Y, with electric charges of $ +2/ $ 3 and $ -4/ $ 3, respectively, and decaying into a W boson and a b quark. The results are based on data collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC from proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$ ^{-1} $. The search is performed using events with large transverse momentum imbalance, exactly one charged lepton, at least one jet identified as coming from the fragmentation of a b quark (b tagged), and at least one jet in the forward region of the detector. The invariant mass $ m_{\text{rec}} $ of the vector-like quark is reconstructed with the recursive jigsaw technique using the four-momenta of the charged lepton and the highest momentum b-tagged jet, combined with the missing transverse momentum. A profile likelihood fit to the observed $ m_{\text{rec}} $ spectrum is performed simultaneously in six different event categories based on the number of b-tagged jets in the event and the sign of the lepton charge. No evidence for an excess above the expected standard model background due to the production of a VLQ is observed. No evidence of an excess due to new physics above the expected background is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the cross sections for the single production of vector-like quarks and on their coupling $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} $ to the standard model sector in the mass range from 0.70 to 2.40 TeV. Assuming $ \mathcal{B} (Y/T \to \mathrm{W}\mathrm{b}) = $ 100%, the 95% confidence level upper limit on $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} $ depends on the VLQ mass and reaches values as low as 0.086 at VLQ masses around 1.4 TeV. For $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} $ values of 0.2 and 0.15, the Y vector-like quark is excluded in the mass range 0.7 to 2.4 and 0.82 to 2.15 TeV, respectively. For T quarks with $ \mathcal{B} (T \to \mathrm{W}\mathrm{b}) = $ 50%, the upper limits on the production cross section are twice as large, and the T vector-like quark is excluded over the mass range 0.8 to 2 TeV for $ \kappa_\mathrm{W} = $ 0.2. These results represent the most stringent limits to date on the single production of vector-like Y and T quarks decaying into a W boson and a b quark. |
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Compact Muon Solenoid LHC, CERN |
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