Neutrino mass is not explained within the Standard Model. Left Right Symmetric Models address this by introducing right handed neutrinos and a right handed charged gauge boson (W_R), which restore symmetry between left and right handed weak interactio...
Neutrino mass is not explained within the Standard Model. Left Right Symmetric Models address this by introducing right handed neutrinos and a right handed charged gauge boson (W_R), which restore symmetry between left and right handed weak interactions and generate neutrino masses through the seesaw mechanism. Searching for W_R and heavy neutrinos therefore tests a possible origin of neutrino mass.
This thesis presents a search for W_R and a heavy neutrino (N) that couples to the tau lepton. The signal considered is the production of W_R, followed by its decay to a tau lepton and N, and the subsequent decay of N into another tau lepton and two quarks. The resulting final state contains one hadronically decaying tau, one electron or muon from the leptonic tau decay, and at least two jets. The analysis uses proton proton collision data recorded by the CMS detector at a center of mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 /fb.
To maintain sensitivity across different heavy neutrino mass ranges, the analysis is divided into a resolved region and a boosted region. Backgrounds with genuine taus are modeled using simulation, while backgrounds from jets misidentified as taus are estimated using a data driven fake factor method. The final signal extraction is performed using a binned likelihood fit, with systematic uncertainties included as nuisance parameters. No significant excess above the Standard Model prediction is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the production cross section of the signal in the 2-dimensional plane of the W_R and N mass.