Signatures of Parton Exogamy in e+ e- -> W+ W- -> hadrons

Abstract

We propose possible signatures of `exogamous' combinations between partons in the different W+ and W- hadron showers in e+e- -> W+W- events with purely hadronic final states. Within the space-time model for hadronic shower development that we have proposed previously, we find a possible difference of about 10 % between the mean hadronic multiplicity in such purely hadronic final states and twice the hadronic multiplicity in events in which one W decays hadronically and the other leptonically, i.e., <N_had(2W)> \ne 2 <N_{had}(W)>, associated with the formation of hadronic clusters by `exogamous' pairs of partons. We discuss the dependence of this possible difference in multiplicity on the center-of-mass energy, on the hadron momenta, and on the angular separation between the $W^{\pm}$ dijets. If it were observed, any such multiplicity difference would indicate that the W's do not hadronize independently, and hence raise questions about the accuracy with which the W mass could be determined from purely hadronic final states.