Search for excited electrons in p �p collisions at ffiffiffi s p ¼ 1:96 TeV V.M. Abazov,36 B. Abbott,76 M. Abolins,66 B. S. Acharya,29 M. Adams,52 T. Adams,50 E. Aguilo,6 S. H. Ahn,31 M. Ahsan,60 G.D. Alexeev,36 G. Alkhazov,40 A. Alton,65,* G. Alverson,64 G.A. Alves,2 M. Anastasoaie,35 L. S. Ancu,35 T. Andeen,54 S. Anderson,46 B. Andrieu,17 M. S. Anzelc,54 Y. Arnoud,14 M. Arov,61 M. Arthaud,18 A. Askew,50 B. Åsman,41 A. C. S. Assis Jesus,3 O. Atramentov,50 C. Autermann,21 C. Avila,8 C. Ay,24 F. Badaud,13 A. Baden,62 L. Bagby,53 B. Baldin,51 D.V. Bandurin,60 S. Banerjee,29 P. Banerjee,29 E. Barberis,64 A.-F. Barfuss,15 P. Bargassa,81 P. Baringer,59 J. Barreto,2 J. F. Bartlett,51 U. Bassler,18 D. Bauer,44 S. Beale,6 A. Bean,59 M. Begalli,3 M. Begel,72 C. Belanger-Champagne,41 L. Bellantoni,51 A. Bellavance,51 J. A. Benitez,66 S. B. Beri,27 G. Bernardi,17 R. Bernhard,23 I. Bertram,43 M. Besançon,18 R. Beuselinck,44 V. A. Bezzubov,39 P. C. Bhat,51 V. Bhatnagar,27 C. Biscarat,20 G. Blazey,53 F. Blekman,44 S. Blessing,50 D. Bloch,19 K. Bloom,68 A. Boehnlein,51 D. Boline,63 T. A. Bolton,60 G. Borissov,43 T. Bose,78 A. Brandt,79 R. Brock,66 G. Brooijmans,71 A. Bross,51 D. Brown,82 N. J. Buchanan,50 D. Buchholz,54 M. Buehler,82 V. Buescher,22 V. Bunichev,38 S. Burdin,43,+ S. Burke,46 T. H. Burnett,83 C. P. Buszello,44 J.M. Butler,63 P. Calfayan,25 S. Calvet,16 J. Cammin,72 W. Carvalho,3 B. C. K. Casey,51 N.M. Cason,56 H. Castilla-Valdez,33 S. Chakrabarti,18 D. Chakraborty,53 K.M. Chan,56 K. Chan,6 A. Chandra,49 F. Charles,19,{ E. Cheu,46 F. Chevallier,14 D.K. Cho,63 S. Choi,32 B. Choudhary,28 L. Christofek,78 T. Christoudias,44 S. Cihangir,51 D. Claes,68 Y. Coadou,6 M. Cooke,81 W. E. Cooper,51 M. Corcoran,81 F. Couderc,18 M.-C. Cousinou,15 S. Crépé-Renaudin,14 D. Cutts,78 M. Ćwiok,30 H. da Motta,2 A. Das,46 G. Davies,44 K. De,79 S. J. de Jong,35 E. De La Cruz-Burelo,65 C. De Oliveira Martins,3 J. D. Degenhardt,65 F. Déliot,18 M. Demarteau,51 R. Demina,72 D. Denisov,51 S. P. Denisov,39 S. Desai,51 H. T. Diehl,51 M. Diesburg,51 A. Dominguez,68 H. Dong,73 L. V. Dudko,38 L. Duflot,16 S. R. Dugad,29 D. Duggan,50 A. Duperrin,15 J. Dyer,66 A. Dyshkant,53 M. Eads,68 D. Edmunds,66 J. Ellison,49 V. D. Elvira,51 Y. Enari,78 S. Eno,62 P. Ermolov,38 H. Evans,55 A. Evdokimov,74 V.N. Evdokimov,39 A. V. Ferapontov,60 T. Ferbel,72 F. Fiedler,24 F. Filthaut,35 W. Fisher,51 H. E. Fisk,51 M. Ford,45 M. Fortner,53 H. Fox,23 S. Fu,51 S. Fuess,51 T. Gadfort,71 C. F. Galea,35 E. Gallas,51 E. Galyaev,56 C. Garcia,72 A. Garcia-Bellido,83 V. Gavrilov,37 P. Gay,13 W. Geist,19 D. Gelé,19 C. E. Gerber,52 Y. Gershtein,50 D. Gillberg,6 G. Ginther,72 N. Gollub,41 B. Gómez,8 A. Goussiou,56 P. D. Grannis,73 H. Greenlee,51 Z. D. Greenwood,61 E.M. Gregores,4 G. Grenier,20 Ph. Gris,13 J.-F. Grivaz,16 A. Grohsjean,25 S. Grünendahl,51 M.W. Grünewald,30 J. Guo,73 F. Guo,73 P. Gutierrez,76 G. Gutierrez,51 A. Haas,71 N. J. Hadley,62 P. Haefner,25 S. Hagopian,50 J. Haley,69 I. Hall,66 R. E. Hall,48 L. Han,7 P. Hansson,41 K. Harder,45 A. Harel,72 R. Harrington,64 J.M. Hauptman,58 R. Hauser,66 J. Hays,44 T. Hebbeker,21 D. Hedin,53 J. G. Hegeman,34 J.M. Heinmiller,52 A. P. Heinson,49 U. Heintz,63 C. Hensel,59 K. Herner,73 G. Hesketh,64 M.D. Hildreth,56 R. Hirosky,82 J. D. Hobbs,73 B. Hoeneisen,12 H. Hoeth,26 M. Hohlfeld,22 S. J. Hong,31 S. Hossain,76 P. Houben,34 Y. Hu,73 Z. Hubacek,10 V. Hynek,9 I. Iashvili,70 R. Illingworth,51 A. S. Ito,51 S. Jabeen,63 M. Jaffré,16 S. Jain,76 K. Jakobs,23 C. Jarvis,62 R. Jesik,44 K. Johns,46 C. Johnson,71 M. Johnson,51 A. Jonckheere,51 P. Jonsson,44 A. Juste,51 E. Kajfasz,15 A.M. Kalinin,36 J. R. Kalk,66 J.M. Kalk,61 S. Kappler,21 D. Karmanov,38 P. A. Kasper,51 I. Katsanos,71 D. Kau,50 R. Kaur,27 V. Kaushik,79 R. Kehoe,80 S. Kermiche,15 N. Khalatyan,51 A. Khanov,77 A. Kharchilava,70 Y.M. Kharzheev,36 D. Khatidze,71 T. J. Kim,31 M.H. Kirby,54 M. Kirsch,21 B. Klima,51 J.M. Kohli,27 J.-P. Konrath,23 V.M. Korablev,39 A.V. Kozelov,39 D. Krop,55 T. Kuhl,24 A. Kumar,70 S. Kunori,62 A. Kupco,11 T. Kurča,20 J. Kvita,9 F. Lacroix,13 D. Lam,56 S. Lammers,71 G. Landsberg,78 P. Lebrun,20 W.M. Lee,51 A. Leflat,38 F. Lehner,42 J. Lellouch,17 J. Leveque,46 J. Li,79 Q. Z. Li,51 L. Li,49 S.M. Lietti,5 J. G. R. Lima,53 D. Lincoln,51 J. Linnemann,66 V.V. Lipaev,39 R. Lipton,51 Y. Liu,7 Z. Liu,6 A. Lobodenko,40 M. Lokajicek,11 P. Love,43 H. J. Lubatti,83 R. Luna,3 A. L. Lyon,51 A.K. A. Maciel,2 D. Mackin,81 R. J. Madaras,47 P. Mättig,26 C. Magass,21 A. Magerkurth,65 P. K. Mal,56 H. B. Malbouisson,3 S. Malik,68 V. L. Malyshev,36 H. S. Mao,51 Y. Maravin,60 B. Martin,14 R. McCarthy,73 A. Melnitchouk,67 L. Mendoza,8 P. G. Mercadante,5 M. Merkin,38 K.W. Merritt,51 J. Meyer,22,x A. Meyer,21 T. Millet,20 J. Mitrevski,71 J. Molina,3 R. K. Mommsen,45 N.K. Mondal,29 R.W. Moore,6 T. Moulik,59 G. S. Muanza,20 M. Mulders,51 M. Mulhearn,71 O. Mundal,22 L. Mundim,3 E. Nagy,15 M. Naimuddin,51 M. Narain,78 N. A. Naumann,35 H.A. Neal,65 J. P. Negret,8 P. Neustroev,40 H. Nilsen,23 H. Nogima,3 S. F. Novaes,5 T. Nunnemann,25 V. O’Dell,51 D. C. O’Neil,6 G. Obrant,40 C. Ochando,16 D. Onoprienko,60 N. Oshima,51 J. Osta,56 R. Otec,10 G. J. Otero y Garzón,51 M. Owen,45 P. Padley,81 M. Pangilinan,78 N. Parashar,57 S.-J. Park,72 S. K. Park,31 J. Parsons,71 R. Partridge,78 N. Parua,55 A. Patwa,74 G. Pawloski,81 B. Penning,23 M. Perfilov,38 K. Peters,45 Y. Peters,26 P. Pétroff,16 M. Petteni,44 R. Piegaia,1 J. Piper,66 M.-A. Pleier,22 P. L.M. Podesta-Lerma,33,‡ V.M. Podstavkov,51 Y. Pogorelov,56 M.-E. Pol,2 P. Polozov,37 B.G. Pope,66 A.V. Popov,39 C. Potter,6 W. L. Prado da Silva,3 H. B. Prosper,50 S. Protopopescu,74 J. Qian,65 A. Quadt,22,x B. Quinn,67 A. Rakitine,43 PHYSICAL REVIEW D 77, 091102(R) (2008) RAPID COMMUNICATIONS 1550-7998=2008=77(9)=091102(8) 091102-1 � 2008 The American Physical Society M.S. Rangel,2 K. Ranjan,28 P. N. Ratoff,43 P. Renkel,80 S. Reucroft,64 P. Rich,45 J. Rieger,55 M. Rijssenbeek,73 I. Ripp-Baudot,19 F. Rizatdinova,77 S. Robinson,44 R. F. Rodrigues,3 M. Rominsky,76 C. Royon,18 P. Rubinov,51 R. Ruchti,56 G. Safronov,37 G. Sajot,14 A. Sánchez-Hernández,33 M. P. Sanders,17 A. Santoro,3 G. Savage,51 L. Sawyer,61 T. Scanlon,44 D. Schaile,25 R. D. Schamberger,73 Y. Scheglov,40 H. Schellman,54 T. Schliephake,26 C. Schwanenberger,45 A. Schwartzman,69 R. Schwienhorst,66 J. Sekaric,50 H. Severini,76 E. Shabalina,52 M. Shamim,60 V. Shary,18 A. A. Shchukin,39 R.K. Shivpuri,28 V. Siccardi,19 V. Simak,10 V. Sirotenko,51 P. Skubic,76 P. Slattery,72 D. Smirnov,56 J. Snow,75 G. R. Snow,68 S. Snyder,74 S. Söldner-Rembold,45 L. Sonnenschein,17 A. Sopczak,43 M. Sosebee,79 K. Soustruznik,9 B. Spurlock,79 J. Stark,14 J. Steele,61 V. Stolin,37 D. A. Stoyanova,39 J. Strandberg,65 S. Strandberg,41 M.A. Strang,70 M. Strauss,76 E. Strauss,73 R. Ströhmer,25 D. Strom,54 L. Stutte,51 S. Sumowidagdo,50 P. Svoisky,56 A. Sznajder,3 M. Talby,15 P. Tamburello,46 A. Tanasijczuk,1 W. Taylor,6 J. Temple,46 B. Tiller,25 F. Tissandier,13 M. Titov,18 V. V. Tokmenin,36 T. Toole,62 I. Torchiani,23 T. Trefzger,24 D. Tsybychev,73 B. Tuchming,18 C. Tully,69 P.M. Tuts,71 R. Unalan,66 S. Uvarov,40 L. Uvarov,40 S. Uzunyan,53 B. Vachon,6 P. J. van den Berg,34 R. Van Kooten,55 W.M. van Leeuwen,34 N. Varelas,52 E.W. Varnes,46 I. A. Vasilyev,39 M. Vaupel,26 P. Verdier,20 L. S. Vertogradov,36 M. Verzocchi,51 F. Villeneuve-Seguier,44 P. Vint,44 P. Vokac,10 E. Von Toerne,60 V. Vorwerk,21 M. Voutilainen,68,k R. Wagner,69 H. D. Wahl,50 L. Wang,62 M.H. L. S. Wang,51 J. Warchol,56 G. Watts,83 M. Wayne,56 M. Weber,51 G. Weber,24 L. Welty-Rieger,55 A. Wenger,42 N. Wermes,22 M. Wetstein,62 A. White,79 D. Wicke,26 G.W. Wilson,59 S. J. Wimpenny,49 M. Wobisch,61 D. R. Wood,64 T. R. Wyatt,45 Y. Xie,78 S. Yacoob,54 R. Yamada,51 M. Yan,62 T. Yasuda,51 Y. A. Yatsunenko,36 K. Yip,74 H.D. Yoo,78 S.W. Youn,54 J. Yu,79 A. Zatserklyaniy,53 C. Zeitnitz,26 T. Zhao,83 B. Zhou,65 J. Zhu,73 M. Zielinski,72 D. Zieminska,55 A. Zieminski,55,{ L. Zivkovic,71 V. Zutshi,53 and E.G. Zverev38 (D0 Collaboration) 1Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2LAFEX, Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Fı́sicas, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 3Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 4Universidade Federal do ABC, Santo André, Brazil 5Instituto de Fı́sica Teórica, Universidade Estadual Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil 6University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada; York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 7University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, People’s Republic of China 8Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia 9Center for Particle Physics, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic 10Czech Technical University, Prague, Czech Republic 11Center for Particle Physics, Institute of Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic 12Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador 13LPC, Université Blaise Pascal, CNRS/IN2P3, Clermont, France 14LPSC, Université Joseph Fourier Grenoble 1, CNRS/IN2P3, Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, France 15CPPM, IN2P3/CNRS, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France 16LAL, Université Paris-Sud, IN2P3/CNRS, Orsay, France 17LPNHE, IN2P3/CNRS, Universités Paris VI and VII, Paris, France 18DAPNIA/Service de Physique des Particules, CEA, Saclay, France 19IPHC, Université Louis Pasteur et Université de Haute Alsace, CNRS/IN2P3, Strasbourg, France 20IPNL, Université Lyon 1, CNRS/IN2P3, Villeurbanne, France and Université de Lyon, Lyon, France 21III. Physikalisches Institut A, RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany 22Physikalisches Institut, Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany 23Physikalisches Institut, Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany 24Institut für Physik, Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany 25Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany 26Fachbereich Physik, University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany 27Panjab University, Chandigarh, India 28Delhi University, Delhi, India 29Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India 30University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland 31Korea Detector Laboratory, Korea University, Seoul, Korea 32SungKyunKwan University, Suwon, Korea 33CINVESTAV, Mexico City, Mexico V.M. ABAZOV et al. PHYSICAL REVIEW D 77, 091102(R) (2008) RAPID COMMUNICATIONS 091102-2 34FOM-Institute NIKHEF and University of Amsterdam/NIKHEF, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 35Radboud University Nijmegen/NIKHEF, Nijmegen, The Netherlands 36Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, Russia 37Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Moscow, Russia 38Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia 39Institute for High Energy Physics, Protvino, Russia 40Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia 41Lund University, Lund, Sweden; Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; and Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden 42Physik Institut der Universität Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland 43Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom 44Imperial College, London, United Kingdom 45University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom 46University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA 47Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA 48California State University, Fresno, California 93740, USA 49University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA 50Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA 51Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, Illinois 60510, USA 52University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60607, USA 53Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois 60115, USA 54Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA 55Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA 56University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA 57Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, Indiana 46323, USA 58Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA 59University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA 60Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506, USA 61Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana 71272, USA 62University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA 63Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA 64Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA 65University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA 66Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA 67University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi 38677, USA 68University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, USA 69Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA 70State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14260, USA 71Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA 72University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA 73State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11794, USA 74Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA 75Langston University, Langston, Oklahoma 73050, USA 76University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73019, USA 77Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078, USA 78Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA 79University of Texas, Arlington, Texas 76019, USA 80Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75275, USA 81Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA 82University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22901, USA 83University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA (Received 6 January 2008; published 12 May 2008) kVisitor from Helsinki Institute of Physics, Helsinki, Finland. xVisitor from II. Physikalisches Institut, Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany. ‡Visitor from ICN-UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico. +Visitor from The University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom. {Deceased. *Visitor from Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD, USA. SEARCH FOR EXCITED ELECTRONS IN p �p . . . PHYSICAL REVIEW D 77, 091102(R) (2008) RAPID COMMUNICATIONS 091102-3 We present the results of a search for the production of an excited state of the electron, e�, in proton- antiproton collisions at ffiffiffi s p ¼ 1:96 TeV. The data were collected with the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider and correspond to an integrated luminosity of approximately 1 fb�1. We search for e� in the process p �p ! e�e, with the e� subsequently decaying to an electron plus photon. No excess above the standard model background is observed. Interpreting our data in the context of a model that describes e� production by four-fermion contact interactions and e� decay via electroweak processes, we set 95% C.L. upper limits on the production cross section ranging from 8.9 to 27 fb, depending on the mass of the excited electron. Choosing the scale for contact interactions to be � ¼ 1 TeV, excited electron masses below 756 GeV are excluded at the 95% C.L. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.77.091102 PACS numbers: 12.60.Rc, 12.60.�i, 13.85.Rm, 14.60.Hi An open question in particle physics is the cause of the observed mass hierarchy of the quark and lepton SU(2) doublets in the standard model (SM). One proposed expla- nation for the three generations is a compositeness model [1] of the known leptons and quarks. According to this approach, a quark or a lepton is a bound state of three fermions or of a fermion and a boson [2]. Because of the underlying substructure, compositeness models imply a large spectrum of excited states. The coupling of excited fermions to ordinary quarks and leptons, resulting from novel strong interactions, can be described by contact interactions (CI) with the effective four-fermion Lagrangian [3] L CI ¼ g2 2�2 j�j�; where � is the compositeness scale and j� is the fermion current j� ¼ �L �fL��fL þ �0 L �f�L��f � L þ �00 L �f�L��fL þ H:c:þ ðL ! RÞ: The SM and excited fermions are denoted by f and f�, respectively; g2 is chosen to be 4�, the � factors for the left-handed currents are conventionally set to one, and the right-handed currents are set to zero. Gauge mediated transitions between ordinary and ex- cited fermions can be described by the effective Lagrangian [3] L EW ¼ 1 2� �f�R��� � gsfs �a 2 Ga �� þ gf � 2 W�� þ g0f0 Y 2 B�� � fL þ H:c:; where Ga ��, W��, and B�� are the field strength tensors of the gluon and the SU(2) and U(1) gauge fields, respec- tively, and fs, f, and f0 are parameters of order one. For the present analysis, we consider single production of an excited electron e� in association with an electron via four-fermion contact interactions, with the subsequent electroweak decay of the e� into an electron and a photon [Fig. 1(a)]. This decay mode leads to the fully reconstruc- tible and almost background-free final state ee�. With the data considered herein, collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider in p �p collisions at ffiffiffi s p ¼ 1:96 TeV, the largest expected SM background is from the Drell-Yan (DY) process p �p ! Z=�� ! eþe�ð�Þ, with the final state photon radiated by either a parton in the initial state or from one of the final state electrons. This back- ground can be strongly suppressed by the application of suitable selection criteria. Other backgrounds are small. Previous searches have found no evidence for the pro- duction of excited electrons, e.g. at the CERN LEP eþe� [4] and the DESY HERA ep [5] colliders, in the context of models where the production of excited electrons proceeds via gauge interactions; however, the reach has been limited by the available center-of-mass energy tome� & 300 GeV. Searches for quark-lepton compositeness via deviations from the Drell-Yan cross section at the Tevatron have excluded values of � of up to � 6 TeV depending on the chirality [6]. The present analysis is complementary to those results in the sense that an exclusive channel and different couplings (� factors) are probed. The CDF col- laboration has recently presented results [7] for the pro- duction of excited electrons which will be discussed later. For the simulation of the signal the PYTHIA event gen- erator [8] is used, following the model of Ref. [3]. The branching fraction for the decay e� ! e� normalized to all gauge particle decay modes is 30% for masses above 300 GeV; for smaller e� masses it increases up to 73% at me� ¼ 100 GeV. Decays via contact interactions, not im- plemented in PYTHIA, contribute between a few percent of Λ/e*m 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 B F 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1(a) (b) GM CI FIG. 1. (a) Four-fermion contact interaction q �q ! e�e, and electroweak decay e� ! e�. (b) Relative branching fractions (BF) of decays via contact interactions and via electroweak interactions (GM) as a function of me�=�. V.M. ABAZOV et al. PHYSICAL REVIEW D 77, 091102(R) (2008) RAPID COMMUNICATIONS 091102-4 http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.77.091102 all decays for � � me� and 92% for � ¼ me� [3] [see Fig. 1(b)]. This is taken into account for the signal expec- tation. The leading order cross section calculated with PYTHIA is corrected to next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) using Ref. [9]; the corresponding correction fac- tor varies between 1.37 and 1.42, depending on the invari- ant mass of the electron and the excited electron. The total width is greater than 1 GeV for 100 GeV � me� � 1000 GeV, thus lifetime effects can be neglected. For the values of me� and � studied here, the total width is always less than 10% of me� [3]. The dominant SM background process at all stages of the selection is DY production of eþe� pairs. This back- ground, as well as diboson ðWW;WZ; ZZÞ production, is simulated with the PYTHIA Monte Carlo (MC) program. The DYexpectation (as well asW ! e�) is corrected using the NNLO calculation from Ref. [9]. For diboson produc- tion, the next-to-leading order cross sections from Ref. [10] are used. Contributions from t�t [11] and W boson produc- tion are found to be negligible. Monte Carlo events, both for SM and signal, are passed through a detector simulation based on the GEANT [12] package and reconstructed using the same reconstruction program as the data. The CTEQ6L1 parton distribution functions (PDFs) [13] are used for the generation of all MC samples. The analysis is based on the data collected with the D0 detector [14] between August 2002 and February 2006, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1:01� 0:06 fb�1. The D0 detector includes a central tracking system, which comprises a silicon microstrip tracker and a central fiber tracker, both located within a 2 T super- conducting solenoidal magnet, and optimized for tracking and vertexing capability at pseudorapidities1 j�j< 2:5. Three liquid argon and uranium calorimeters provide cov- erage out to j�j � 4:2: a central section (CC) covering j�j & 1:1, and two end calorimeters (EC). The electro- magnetic section of the calorimeter has four longitudinal layers and transverse segmentation of 0:1� 0:1 in �� space, except in the third layer, where it is 0:05� 0:05. A muon system resides beyond the calorimetry, and consists of layers of tracking detectors and scintillation trigger counters before and after 1.8 T iron toroids. Luminosity is measured using scintillator arrays located in front of the EC cryostats, covering 2:7< j�j< 4:4. A three-level trig- ger system uses information from tracking, calorimetry, and muon systems to reduce the p �p bunch crossing rate of 1.5 MHz to � 100 Hz, which is written to tape. Efficiencies for electron and photon identification and track reconstruction are determined from the simulation. To verify the simulation and to estimate systematic uncer- tainties, the efficiencies are also calculated from data samples, using Z ! eþe� candidate events and other di- lepton events for electrons and tracks. Small differences between the efficiency determinations from data and simu- lation are corrected in the simulation. We assume that the different response for electrons and photons in the calo- rimeter is properly modeled by the simulation. The trans- verse (with respect to the beam axis) momentum resolution of the central tracker and the energy resolution of the electromagnetic calorimeter are tuned in the simulation to reproduce the resolutions observed in the data using Z ! ‘‘ (‘ ¼ e, �) events. The process p �p ! e�e with e� ! e� leads to a final state with two highly energetic isolated electrons and a photon. First, the two electrons are identified as clusters of calorimeter energy with characteristic longitudinal and transverse shower shapes and at least 90% of the energy deposited in the electromagnetic section of the calorimeter. Two electrons, with transverse energies ET > 25 GeV and ET > 15 GeV, are required. Both electrons are matched to tracks in the central tracking system, and we distinguish between CC (j�j< 1:1 with respect to the detector center) and EC (1:5< j�j< 2:5) electrons. Events with the two electrons in opposite EC are rejected in order to suppress the multijet background. The signal is expected to produce isolated electrons, therefore both electrons need to fulfill I�ðEtotð0:4Þ�Eemð0:2ÞÞ=Eemð0:2Þ<0:2, where Etotð0:4Þ and Eemð0:2Þ denote the energies deposited in the calorimeter and deposited in only its electromagnetic section, respectively, in cones of size �R ¼ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffið��Þ2 þ ð� Þ2p ¼ 0:4 and 0.2. The electrons are required to be separated by �R> 0:4. The events were collected with trigger conditions requir- ing one or two electrons detected in the calorimeters, with varying conditions depending on the ET thresholds, the shower shape, the tracks in the central tracking system, and the number of electrons. The overall trigger efficiency is determined from independent data samples and is consis- tent with 100% for the signal after application of all selection criteria. The selected dielectron sample contains 62 930 events, whereas 61900� 5700 events are expected from SM processes. The invariant dielectron mass distri- butions for CC/CC and CC/EC topologies are shown in Fig. 2. The largest SM contribution is DY production of eþe� pairs, followed by multijet production with misiden- tified electrons. The multijet background is estimated using a data sample where at least one of the electron candidates fails the shower shape requirements. This sample is then corrected as a function of ET and � of the misidentified electrons in order to account for different misidentification rates in the CC and EC, and the different trigger efficiency for misidentified electrons. Next, a photon is identified in the event as an isolated cluster of calorimeter energy with at least 97% of its energy deposited in the electromagnetic section of the calorimeter (CC or EC). The isolation condition is I < 0:07. The 1The pseudorapidity � is defined as � ¼ � ln½tanð =2Þ . We use the polar angle relative to the proton beam direction, and is the azimuthal angle, all measured with respect to the geomet- ric center of the detector. SEARCH FOR EXCITED ELECTRONS IN p �p . . . PHYSICAL REVIEW D 77, 091102(R) (2008) RAPID COMMUNICATIONS 091102-5 photon candidate ET must be larger than 15 GeV (no track is allowed to be matched to the photon candidate in � and with a �2 probability of greater than 0.1%) and the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks within a hollow cone defined by 0:05< �R< 0:4 around the photon direction has to be below 2 GeV to further ensure isolation. Additional shower shape criteria are imposed to increase the photon purity. The photon candidate is required to be separated from the electron candidates in the event by �R> 0:4. After this selection, 239� 26 events are expected from SM processes, where the uncertainty includes statistical and systematic uncertainties. Of these, 226� 25 events are due to DY ! eþe� with a genuine high ET photon, fol- lowed by 7� 5 events from DY ! eþe� þ jets, where a jet is misidentified as a photon. The absolute rate of the latter process has been determined from a data sample enriched in ‘‘fake’’ photons, applying the rate for such objects to be misidentified as photons as a function of ET , and subtracting the true photon contribution [15]. The misidentification rate varies between 13% for ET ¼ 15 GeV and <1% for ET > 80 GeV. Finally, about 4� 1 and 2� 1 events are expected from multijet and diboson production, respectively. In the data, 259 events are se- lected, compatible with the SM prediction. The photon ET distributions for the data and SM background are shown in Fig. 3(a). Additional selection criteria depending on the hypotheti- cal e� mass me� are applied to reduce the remaining SM background. The following criteria have all been optimized to achieve the best expected upper limit on the production cross section. The e� candidate mass can be reconstructed from one of the electrons and the photon. For me� < 300 GeV, the lower ET electron (e2), which is for these masses predominantly the decay electron, is chosen. For higher masses, of the two possibilities to reconstruct the e� invariant mass, the value closest to me� is chosen. Example mass distributions for the two chosen options to reconstruct the e� candidate mass are shown in Figs. 3(b) and 3(c). The alternatives of single-sided mass cuts and a mass window are considered, leading to single-sided cuts for all values of me� . Rejecting events with both electrons or the photon in the EC leads to a slightly better sensitivity; since for high values ofme� the SM backgrounds are extremely small, we have not applied these selection criteria for me� � 400 GeV, in order to keep the search general beyond the specific model considered here. Finally, the separation �Rðe2; �Þ between the lower ET electron and the photon allows discrimination between signal and background for me� � 200 GeV. This is illustrated in Fig. 3(d) for me� ¼ 100 GeV. All mass-dependent selection criteria are sum- marized in Table I. The final selection efficiency varies from 13% (me� ¼ 100 GeV) up to � 33% for higher values of me� . In the data we find one event each for the me� ¼ 200 GeV mass hypothesis and for the me� ¼ 300 GeV mass hypothesis, respectively, and no events for other values of me� , com- patible with the SM expectation. This result is summarized in Table II. The systematic uncertainties are as follows. The domi- nant uncertainty on the SM cross sections [9–11] is due to ) [GeV]γ(TE E ve n ts / 4 G eV 20 40 60 80 100 1200 10 20 30 40 50 60 Data Signal γ ee→γDY+ ee+jet→DY+jet Other SM -1DØ 1.0 fb ) [GeV]γ 2 m(e E ve n ts / 10 G eV 0 100 200 300 -110 1 10 210 310 -1DØ 1.0 fb ) [GeV]γm(e E ve n ts / 10 G eV 0 200 400 600 800 -110 1 10 210 -1DØ 1.0 fb )γ 2 R(e∆ E ve n ts / 0. 4 0 1 2 3 4 5 60 1 2 3 4 -1DØ 1.0 fb (b)(a) (d)(c) FIG. 3. For the ee� sample, (a) the photon ET distribution, (b) the distribution of the e2� invariant mass compared with the SM expectation and a possible e� signal for me� ¼ 100 GeV, and (c) the e� invariant mass for the e� combination closest to me� ¼ 800 GeV. In (d) the separation �Rðe2; �Þ is shown after the cut on the invariant mass mðe2; �Þ> 90 GeV for me� ¼ 100 GeV. The signal corresponds to � ¼ 2, 1, 1, and 4 TeV in (a), (b), (c), and (d), respectively. All uncertainties are statistical only. m(ee) (CC/CC) [GeV] E ve n ts / 5 G eV 100 200 300 400 500 600 -110 1 10 210 310 410 Data ee →DY Multijet WW/WZ/ZZ ττ→DY tt -1DØ 1.0 fb m(ee) (CC/EC) [GeV] E ve n ts / 5 G eV 100 200 300 400 500 -110 1 10 210 310 410 -1DØ 1.0 fb (b)(a) FIG. 2. Invariant dielectron mass distribution in the dielectron data sample compared to the SM expectation (a) for events with both electrons reconstructed in the CC and (b) for events in the CC/EC topology, for data (points with statistical uncertainties) and SM backgrounds (DY, diboson, t�t, and multijet production). V.M. ABAZOV et al. PHYSICAL REVIEW D 77, 091102(R) (2008) RAPID COMMUNICATIONS 091102-6 the DY process and the uncertainty from the choice of PDF [13] and renormalization and factorization scales [(3– 10)%]. Electron reconstruction and identification have an uncertainty of 2.5% per electron, and a (1–4)% uncertainty is assigned to the photon identification, depending on � and ET . The trigger efficiency is 100þ0 �3%. The integrated luminosity is known to a precision of 6.1% [16]. The uncertainty on the number of background events due to jets misidentified as photons is estimated to be 60% of itself, from differences between the expectation from the simulation and the independent measurement from the data. A 25% uncertainty is determined on the multijet background by comparing the resulting multijet back- ground estimate when using different criteria to select the multijet background sample; after all selections, the multi- jet background is negligible. The uncertainty on the signal cross section is estimated to be 10%, consisting of PDF uncertainties and missing higher order corrections. Since the observed number of events is in agreement with the SM expectation, we set 95% C.L. limits on the e� production cross section times the branching fraction into e�. A Bayesian technique [17] is used, taking into account all uncertainties. The resulting limit as a function of me� is shown in Fig. 4 together with predictions of the contact interaction model for different choices of the scale �. A linear interpolation is used between simulated values of me� . For � ¼ 1 TeV (� ¼ me�), masses below 756 GeV TABLE II. For different values of the e� mass hypothesis, the number of selected data events, the SM expectation including statistical and systematic uncertainties, and the signal efficiency. me� [GeV] Data SM expectation Signal eff. [%] 100 0 0:33� 0:09� 0:03 13:2� 0:6� 1:3 200 1 0:52� 0:16� 0:05 16:5� 0:6� 1:6 300 1 0:32� 0:12� 0:03 22:2� 0:7� 2:2 400 0 0:26� 0:11� 0:03 28:3� 0:8� 2:8 500 0 0:12� 0:08� 0:01 31:5� 1:0� 3:1 600 0 ð0:57� 0:54� 0:06Þ � 10�1 32:3� 0:9� 3:2 700 0 ð0:82� 0:37� 0:09Þ � 10�3 34:3� 1:1� 3:4 800 0 ð0:48� 0:28� 0:06Þ � 10�3 32:2� 0:8� 3:2 900 0 ð0:17� 0:17� 0:02Þ � 10�3 33:2� 0:8� 3:3 1000 0 ð0:17� 0:17� 0:03Þ � 10�3 33:3� 0:9� 3:3 [GeV]e*m 200 400 600 800 1000 ) [f b ] γ e e → e *e → p ( p σ 10 210 310 410 510 ) (GM)e* = mΛ (CIσ )e* = mΛ (CIσ = 1 TeV)Λ (CIσ = 3 TeV)Λ (CIσ = 5 TeV)Λ (CIσ DØ obs. limit DØ exp. limit CDF obs. limit -1DØ 1.0 fb FIG. 4 (color online). The measured and expected limits on cross section times branching fraction, compared to the contact interaction model prediction for different choices of �. Also shown is the prediction under the assumption that no decays via contact interactions occur (‘‘GM’’), and the CDF result [7]. The theoretical uncertainty of the model prediction is indicated by shaded bands. TABLE I. Mass-dependent selection criteria. The second and the third columns show the lower mass cuts. The next two columns show if events with both electrons or the photon in the EC are kept, respectively, and in the last column the upper value for the separation between the second electron and the photon is given. me� [GeV] mðe2; �Þ [GeV] mðe�Þclosest [GeV] EC/EC e EC � �Rðe2; �Þ 100 >90 no no <1:8 200 >165 no no <3:3 300 >285 no no any 400 >370 yes yes any 500 >445 yes yes any 600 >515 yes yes any 700 >600 yes yes any 800 >705 yes yes any 900 >800 yes yes any 1000 >900 yes yes any SEARCH FOR EXCITED ELECTRONS IN p �p . . . PHYSICAL REVIEW D 77, 091102(R) (2008) RAPID COMMUNICATIONS 091102-7 (796 GeV) are excluded. In Fig. 5, the excluded region in terms of � and me� is shown. The CDF collaboration has recently searched [7] for the production of excited electrons using a data sample corre- sponding to an integrated luminosity of 202 pb�1, but the CDF mass limit of me� > 879 GeV at the 95% C.L. for � ¼ me� cannot be directly compared to ours for two reasons. The e� production cross section calculated with the version of PYTHIA used in Ref. [7] is a factor of 2 higher than in subsequent versions (versions 6.211 and higher) corrected by the PYTHIA authors. Furthermore, in Ref. [7], it is assumed that decays via contact interactions can be neglected, while in our analysis such decays are taken into account in the calculation of the branching fraction e� ! e�, following Ref. [3]. Omitting contact interaction decays in order to compare with Ref. [7], we would obtain a limit of me� > 946 GeV for � ¼ me� at the 95% C.L. Multiplying the theoretical prediction in addition by a factor of 2, the mass limit would increase to 989 GeV. In summary, we have searched for the production of excited electrons in the process p �p ! e�e with e� ! e�, using about 1 fb�1 of data collected with the D0 detector. We find zero or one event in the data depending on the mass of the hypothetical e�, compatible with the SM expectation. We set limits on the production cross section times branching fraction as a function of me� . For a scale parameter � ¼ 1 TeV, masses below 756 GeV are ex- cluded, representing the most stringent limit to date. We thank the staffs at Fermilab and collaborating insti- tutions, and acknowledge support from the DOE and NSF (USA); CEA and CNRS/IN2P3 (France); FASI, Rosatom, and RFBR (Russia); CAPES, CNPq, FAPERJ, FAPESP, and FUNDUNESP (Brazil); DAE and DST (India); Colciencias (Colombia); CONACyT (Mexico); KRF and KOSEF (Korea); CONICET and UBACyT (Argentina); FOM (The Netherlands); Science and Technology Facilities Council (United Kingdom); MSMT and GACR (Czech Republic); CRC Program, CFI, NSERC, and WestGrid Project (Canada); BMBF and DFG (Germany); SFI (Ireland); The Swedish Research Council (Sweden); CAS and CNSF (China); and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. [1] H. Terazawa, M. Yasue, K. Akama, and M. Hayashi, Phys. Lett. 112B, 387 (1982); F.M. Renard, Nuovo Cimento Soc. Ital. Fis. 77A, 1 (1983); A. De Rujula, L. Maiani, and R. Petronzio, Phys. Lett. 140B, 253 (1984); E. J. Eichten, K. D. Lane, and M. E. Peskin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 50, 811 (1983). [2] H. Terazawa, Y. Chikashige, and K. 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