A twisted tale of the transverse-mass tail

Abstract

We propose a tantalizing possibility that misinterpretation of the reconstructed missing momentum may have yielded the observed discrepancies among measurements of the $W$-mass in different collider experiments. We introduce a proof-of-principle scenario characterized by a new physics particle, which can be produced associated with the $W$-boson in hadron collisions and contributes to the net missing momentum observed in a detector. We show that these exotic events pass the selection criteria imposed by various collaborations at reasonably high rates. Consequently, in the presence of even a handful of these events, a fit based on the ansatz that the missing momentum is primarily due to neutrinos (as it happens in the Standard Model), yields a $W$-boson mass that differs from its true value. Moreover, the best fit mass depends on the nature of the collider and the center-of-mass energy of collisions. We construct a barebones model that demonstrates this possibility quantitatively while satisfying current constraints. Interestingly, we find that the nature of the new physics particle and its interactions appear as a variation of the physics of Axion-like particles after a field redefinition.