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Interference effects in heavy W'-boson searches at the LHC

Interference effects are widely neglected in searches for new physics. This is the case in recent publications on searches for W'-bosons using leptonic final states. We examine the effects of interference on distributions frequently used to determine mass limits for possible W'-bosons and show that there are important qualitative effects on the behaviour of the new physics signal. There are two main consequences. Firstly, exclusion limits where interferences effects have not been considered are likely to have been overestimated. Secondly, presenting experimental results as a function of a transverse mass cut rather than in terms of the contribution of new physics to the total cross-section would be more informative.