High-precision measurement of the W boson mass with the CMS experiment

In the standard model of particle physics, the masses of the W and Z bosons, the carriers of the weak interaction, are uniquely related. A precise determination of their masses is important because quantum loops of heavy, undiscovered particles could modify this relationship. Although the Z mass is known to the remarkable precision of 22 parts per million (2.0 MeV), the W mass is known much less precisely. A global fit to measured electroweak observables predicts the W mass with 6 MeV uncertainty. Reaching a comparable experimental precision would be a sensitive and fundamental test of the standard model, made even more urgent by a recent challenge to the global fit prediction by a measurement from the CDF Collaboration at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. Here we report the measurement of the W mass by the CMS Collaboration at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, based on a large data sample of W → μν events collected in 2016 at the proton–proton collision energy of 13 TeV. The measurement exploits a high-granularity maximum likelihood fit to the kinematic properties of muons produced in W decays. By combining an accurate determination of experimental effects with marked in situ constraints of theoretical inputs, we reach a precise measurement of the W mass, of 80,360.2 ± 9.9 MeV, in agreement with the standard model prediction.

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Publication Details

Journal
KITopen
Published
2026-10-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5445/ir/1000198041
Primary Topic
Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies
Type
article
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0.00
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High-precision measurement of the W boson mass with the CMS experiment

L. Wezenbeek, K. Damanakis, W. Adam, Schieck et al.
KITopen
Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies
article

High-precision measurement of the W boson mass with the CMS experiment

L. Wezenbeek, K. Damanakis, W. Adam, Schieck, I. Makarenko, J. Knolle, M. A. Shahzad, J. W. Andrejkovic, C. Hensel, G. Bruno, V. Chekhovsky, D. Müller, Farha Anjum Khan, I Mikulec, J. Van Der Linden, C Sturm for the KaoS Collaboration, A. K. Das, A. Hayrapetyan, M. Dragicevic, P. S. Hussain, D. Schwarz, T. Janssen, P. Mastrapasqua, J. De Favereau De Jeneret, N. Breugelmans, G. Lentdecker, A. R. Tumasyan, T. Bergauer, W. Waltenberger, H. Brandao Malbouisson, M. Vanden Bemden, S. Dansana, N Krammer, W. L. Aldá Júnior, M. Soeiro, A. Khalilzadeh, T. Menezes De Oliveira, V. Makarenko, F. Heyen, C Mora Herrera, M. Tytgat, M. Sonawane, N. Van Den Bossche, B Bilin, S. Lowette, J. Lidrych, M. Jeitler, D. Liko, K Skovpen, R. Schöfbeck, M. De Coen, H. Evard, S. Van Putte, I. S. Donertas, D. Dobur, G. Gokbulut, A. Benecke, C. Delaere, J. D'Hondt, D. Vannerom, S. Turkcapar, V. Lemaitre, A. Bethani, Wulz C. -E., S.a. Jain, L. Benato, A. Malara, P. Vanlaer, P. Rebello Teles, M. Delcourt, S. Bein, A. Vilela Pereira, B. Clerbaux, S. Chatterjee, L. Thomas, G. A. Alves, E. J. Tonelli Manganote, G. P. Van Onsem, A. Giammanco, I. De Bruyn, P. Gianneios, C. Caputo, C. Vander Velde, D. Marckx, E. Coelho, L. Lambrecht, A. O. Guzel, A. De Moor, J. Vandenbroeck, M. Barroso Ferreira Filho, H. Kwon, K. Lee, T. Van Laer, T. T. Tran, Y. Hong, L. Favart, S. Tavernier, A. J. Li, P. Van Mechelen, G. Correia Silva, M. Barroso Ferreira Filho
article en

Abstract

In the standard model of particle physics, the masses of the W and Z bosons, the carriers of the weak interaction, are uniquely related. A precise determination of their masses is important because quantum loops of heavy, undiscovered particles could modify this relationship. Although the Z mass is known to the remarkable precision of 22 parts per million (2.0 MeV), the W mass is known much less precisely. A global fit to measured electroweak observables predicts the W mass with 6 MeV uncertainty. Reaching a comparable experimental precision would be a sensitive and fundamental test of the standard model, made even more urgent by a recent challenge to the global fit prediction by a measurement from the CDF Collaboration at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. Here we report the measurement of the W mass by the CMS Collaboration at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, based on a large data sample of W → μν events collected in 2016 at the proton–proton collision energy of 13 TeV. The measurement exploits a high-granularity maximum likelihood fit to the kinematic properties of muons produced in W decays. By combining an accurate determination of experimental effects with marked in situ constraints of theoretical inputs, we reach a precise measurement of the W mass, of 80,360.2 ± 9.9 MeV, in agreement with the standard model prediction.

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Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies
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