Searching for single production of vectorlike quarks decaying into <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mi>W</mml:mi><mml:mi>b</mml:mi></mml:math> at a future muon-proton collider

This work investigates the discovery potential for singly produced vectorlike quarks (VLQs) <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><a:mi>T</a:mi></a:math> (<c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><c:mi>Q</c:mi><c:mo>=</c:mo><c:mo>+</c:mo><c:mn>2</c:mn><c:mo>/</c:mo><c:mn>3</c:mn><c:mi>e</c:mi></c:math>) and <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><e:mi>Y</e:mi></e:math> (<g:math xmlns:g="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><g:mi>Q</g:mi><g:mo>=</g:mo><g:mo>−</g:mo><g:mn>4</g:mn><g:mo>/</g:mo><g:mn>3</g:mn><g:mi>e</g:mi></g:math>) decaying to <i:math xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><i:mi>W</i:mi><i:mi>b</i:mi></i:math> at future <k:math xmlns:k="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><k:mi>μ</k:mi><k:mi>p</k:mi></k:math> colliders with <m:math xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><m:msqrt><m:mi>s</m:mi></m:msqrt><m:mo>=</m:mo><m:mn>5.29</m:mn></m:math>, 6.48, and 9.16 TeV, analyzing both leptonic and hadronic <o:math xmlns:o="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><o:mi>W</o:mi></o:math> decay channels through detailed detector simulations. The hadronic channel demonstrates superior sensitivity, enabling <q:math xmlns:q="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><q:mn>5</q:mn><q:mi>σ</q:mi></q:math> discovery up to <s:math xmlns:s="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><s:msub><s:mi>m</s:mi><s:mi>T</s:mi></s:msub><s:mo>=</s:mo><s:mn>3750</s:mn><s:mtext> </s:mtext><s:mtext> </s:mtext><s:mi>GeV</s:mi></s:math> (<u:math xmlns:u="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><u:msub><u:mi>m</u:mi><u:mi>Y</u:mi></u:msub><u:mo>=</u:mo><u:mn>4100</u:mn><u:mtext> </u:mtext><u:mtext> </u:mtext><u:mi>GeV</u:mi></u:math>) at 9.16 TeV with <w:math xmlns:w="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><w:mn>100</w:mn><w:mtext> </w:mtext><w:mtext> </w:mtext><w:msup><w:mi>fb</w:mi><w:mrow><w:mo>−</w:mo><w:mn>1</w:mn></w:mrow></w:msup></w:math>, while exclusion limits reach <y:math xmlns:y="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><y:msub><y:mi>m</y:mi><y:mi>T</y:mi></y:msub><y:mo>=</y:mo><y:mn>4500</y:mn><y:mtext> </y:mtext><y:mtext> </y:mtext><y:mi>GeV</y:mi></y:math> (<ab:math xmlns:ab="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><ab:msup><ab:mi>g</ab:mi><ab:mo>*</ab:mo></ab:msup><ab:mo>≥</ab:mo><ab:mn>0.06</ab:mn></ab:math>) and <cb:math xmlns:cb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><cb:msub><cb:mi>m</cb:mi><cb:mi>Y</cb:mi></cb:msub><cb:mo>=</cb:mo><cb:mn>4800</cb:mn><cb:mtext> </cb:mtext><cb:mtext> </cb:mtext><cb:mi>GeV</cb:mi></cb:math> (<eb:math xmlns:eb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><eb:msub><eb:mi>κ</eb:mi><eb:mi>Y</eb:mi></eb:msub><eb:mo>≥</eb:mo><eb:mn>0.04</eb:mn></eb:math>)—significantly beyond LHC capabilities. At 5.29 TeV, discovery regions cover <gb:math xmlns:gb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><gb:msup><gb:mi>g</gb:mi><gb:mo>*</gb:mo></gb:msup><gb:mo>∈</gb:mo><gb:mo stretchy="false">[</gb:mo><gb:mn>0.15</gb:mn><gb:mo>,</gb:mo><gb:mn>0.5</gb:mn><gb:mo stretchy="false">]</gb:mo></gb:math> for <kb:math xmlns:kb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><kb:msub><kb:mi>m</kb:mi><kb:mi>T</kb:mi></kb:msub><kb:mo>∈</kb:mo><kb:mo stretchy="false">[</kb:mo><kb:mn>1500</kb:mn><kb:mo>,</kb:mo><kb:mn>2520</kb:mn><kb:mo stretchy="false">]</kb:mo><kb:mtext> </kb:mtext><kb:mtext> </kb:mtext><kb:mi>GeV</kb:mi></kb:math> and <ob:math xmlns:ob="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><ob:msub><ob:mi>κ</ob:mi><ob:mi>Y</ob:mi></ob:msub><ob:mo>∈</ob:mo><ob:mo stretchy="false">[</ob:mo><ob:mn>0.12</ob:mn><ob:mo>,</ob:mo><ob:mn>0.5</ob:mn><ob:mo stretchy="false">]</ob:mo></ob:math> for <sb:math xmlns:sb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><sb:msub><sb:mi>m</sb:mi><sb:mi>Y</sb:mi></sb:msub><sb:mo>∈</sb:mo><sb:mo stretchy="false">[</sb:mo><sb:mn>1700</sb:mn><sb:mo>,</sb:mo><sb:mn>2700</sb:mn><sb:mo stretchy="false">]</sb:mo><sb:mtext> </sb:mtext><sb:mtext> </sb:mtext><sb:mi>GeV</sb:mi></sb:math>, with exclusions extending to <wb:math xmlns:wb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><wb:msub><wb:mi>m</wb:mi><wb:mi>T</wb:mi></wb:msub><wb:mo>=</wb:mo><wb:mn>2750</wb:mn><wb:mtext> </wb:mtext><wb:mtext> </wb:mtext><wb:mi>GeV</wb:mi></wb:math> and <yb:math xmlns:yb="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><yb:msub><yb:mi>m</yb:mi><yb:mi>Y</yb:mi></yb:msub><yb:mo>=</yb:mo><yb:mn>3020</yb:mn><yb:mtext> </yb:mtext><yb:mtext> </yb:mtext><yb:mi>GeV</yb:mi></yb:math>. These results, obtained within a simplified two-parameter framework (<ac:math xmlns:ac="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><ac:msub><ac:mi>m</ac:mi><ac:mrow><ac:mi>T</ac:mi><ac:mo>/</ac:mo><ac:mi>Y</ac:mi></ac:mrow></ac:msub></ac:math> and electroweak couplings <cc:math xmlns:cc="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><cc:msup><cc:mi>g</cc:mi><cc:mo>*</cc:mo></cc:msup></cc:math>), establish <ec:math xmlns:ec="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><ec:mi>μ</ec:mi><ec:mi>p</ec:mi></ec:math> colliders as uniquely powerful tools for probing high-mass VLQ states, particularly in the boosted jet regime.