Paper detail

Z' production at the LHC in the four-site Higgsless model

We study the phenomenology of the neutral gauge sector of the four-site Higgsless model, based on the SU(2)_L x SU(2)_1 x SU(2)_2 x U(1)_Y gauge symmetry, at present colliders. The model predicts the existence of two neutral and four charged extra gauge bosons, Z_{1,2} and W^\pm_{1,2}. We expand and update a previous study, by concentrating on the neutral sector. We derive new limits on Z_{1,2}-boson masses and couplings from recent direct searches at the Tevatron. We moreover estimate the discovery potential at the Tevatron with a project luminosity L=10 fb^{-1}, and at the 7 TeV LHC with L=1 fb^{-1}. In contrast to other Higgsless theories characterized by almost fermiophobic extra gauge bosons, the four-site model allows sizeable Z_{1,2}-boson couplings to SM fermions. Owing to this feature, we find that in the next two years the extra Z_{1,2}-bosons could be discovered in the favoured Drell-Yan channel at the 7 TeV LHC for Z_{1,2} masses in the TeV region, depending on model parameters.