Constraints on Z' from W^+W^- production at the NLC with polarized beams

Abstract

We discuss the potential of NLC500 and NLC1000 to probe Z-Z' mixing and mass by the reaction e^+e^- -> W^+W^- with longitudinally polarized electrons. We perform a model-independent analysis of the deviations from the Standard Model, and apply it to a specific class of extended weak gauge models. Results indicate that the corresponding bounds at the NLC500 complement the present ones obtained from LEP1, and rapidly become quite stringent at the higher energy of the NLC1000. Also, we emphasize the importance of initial beam polarization in improving the sensitivity to mixing.