Stringy origin of Tevatron Wjj anomaly

Abstract The invariant mass distribution of dijets produced in association with W bosons, recently observed by the CDF Collaboration at Tevatron, reveals an excess in the dijet mass range 120 – 160 GeV / c 2 , 3 σ beyond Standard Model expectations. We show that such an excess is a generic feature of low mass string theory, due to the production and decay of a leptophobic Z ′ , a singlet partner of SU ( 3 ) gluons coupled primarily to the U ( 1 ) baryon number. In this framework, U ( 1 ) and SU ( 3 ) appear as subgroups of U ( 3 ) associated with open strings ending on a stack of 3 D-branes. In addition, a minimal model contains two other stacks to accommodate the electro-weak SU ( 2 ) ⊂ U ( 2 ) and the hypercharge U ( 1 ) . Of the three U ( 1 ) gauge bosons, the two heavy Z ′ and Z ″ receive masses through the Green–Schwarz mechanism. For a given Z ′ mass, the model is quite constrained. Fine tuning three of its free parameters is just sufficient to simultaneously ensure: a small Z – Z ′ mixing in accord with the stringent LEP data on the Z mass; very small (less than 1%) branching ratio into leptons; and a large hierarchy between Z ″ and Z ′ masses. The heavier neutral gauge boson Z ″ is within the reach of LHC.