QCD Corrections and Non-standard Three Vector Boson Couplings in $W^+W^-$ Production at Hadron Colliders

The process $p\,p\hskip-7pt\hbox{$^{^{(\!-\!)}}$} \rightarrow W^{+} W^{-} + X \rightarrow \ell^+_1 \nu_1 \ell^-_2 \bar \nu_2 + X$ is calculated to ${\cal O}(\alpha_s)$ for general $C$ and $P$ conserving $WWV$ couplings ($V=\gamma,\, Z$). The prospects for probing the $WWV$ couplings in this reaction are explored. The impact of ${\cal O}(\alpha_s)$ QCD corrections and various background processes on the observability of non-standard $WWV$ couplings in $W^+ W^-$ production at the Tevatron and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is discussed in detail. Sensitivity limits for anomalous $WWV$ couplings are derived at next-to-leading order for the Tevatron and LHC center of mass energies, and are compared to the bounds which can be achieved in other processes. Unless a jet veto or a cut on the total transverse momentum of the hadrons in the event is imposed, the ${\cal O}(\alpha_s)$ QCD corrections and the background from top quark production decrease the sensitivity of $p\,p\hskip-7pt\hbox{$^{^{(\!-\!)}}$} \rightarrow W^{+} W^{-} + X \rightarrow \ell^+_1 \nu_1 \ell^-_2 \bar \nu_2 + X$ to anomalous $WWV$ couplings by a factor two to five.