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Probing new physics with tau-leptons at the LHC

We discuss new physics that can show up in the $τ^+τ^-$ production process at the LHC but not in the dimuon or the dielectron channels. We consider three different generic possibilities: a new resonance in the Drell-Yan process in the form of a non-universal $Z^\prime$; a new non-resonant contribution to $q\bar{q}\to τ^+τ^-$ in the form of leptoquarks; and contributions from gluon fusion due to effective lepton gluonic couplings. We emphasize the use of the charge asymmetry both to discover new physics and to distinguish between different possibilities