Combination of searches for W W , W Z, and Z Z resonances in pp collisions at vs = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider has performed searches for new, heavy bosons decaying to W W , W Z and Z Z final states in multiple decay channels using 20.3 fb-¹ of pp collision data at vs = 8 TeV. In the current study, the results of these searches are combined to provide a more stringent test of models predicting heavy resonances with couplings to vector bosons. Direct searches for a charged diboson resonance decaying to W Z in the ? ( = µ, e), qq¯, ?qq¯ and fully hadronic final states are combined and upper limits on the rate of production times branching ratio to the W Z bosons are compared with predictions of an extended gauge model with a heavy W boson. In addition, direct searches for a neutral diboson resonance decaying to W W and Z Z in the qq¯, ?qq¯, and fully hadronic final states are combined and upper limits on the rate of production times branching ratio to the W W and Z Z bosons are compared with predictions for a heavy, spin-2 graviton in an extended Randall–Sundrum model where the Standard Model fields are allowed to propagate in the bulk of the extra dimension.