Probing the three-vector-boson vertex at hadron colliders

Deviations of the ZWW vertex from the gauge theory prediction lead to an enhanced production of WZ boson pairs at large invariant masses at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC). The most general deviations observable in qq¯ annihilation are parametrized in terms of seven form factors, whose high-energy behavior is severely restricted by unitarity. Even when taking these unitarity constraints into account, $W^{\pm }$Z production at the LHC and SSC is up to 10 times more sensitive to anomalous ZWW couplings than $W^{+}$ $W^{\mathrm{-}}$ production in $e^{+}$ $e^{\mathrm{-}}$ annihilation at the CERN $e^{+}$ $e^{\mathrm{-}}$ collider LEP II.