Detection of the Weak Intermediate Boson Through its Hadronic Decay Modes

Abstract

It is shown that the hadronic decay modes of the weak intermediate boson $W$ produced by high-energy neutrinos provide a unique and unambiguous experimental signal of the production and decay of the $W$, even in the absence of any information about the number, the configuration, or the momenta of the decay products. This method of detecting the hadronic decay modes of the $W$, in conjunction with previously utilized methods for detecting the leptonic decay modes, should allow a search for the $W$ to be made which is independent of any assumptions about the hadronic-to-leptonic branching ratio of the $W$.