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@article{CMS:2026:10.1038/s41586-026-10168-5,
author = {CMS, Collaboration},
doi = {10.1038/s41586-026-10168-5},
journal = {Nature},
pages = {321--327},
title = {High-precision measurement of the W boson mass with the CMS experiment.},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10168-5},
volume = {652},
year = {2026}
}
TY - JOUR
AB - In the standard model of particle physics, the masses of the W and Z bosons, the carriers of the weak interaction, are uniquely related. A precise determination of their masses is important because quantum loops of heavy, undiscovered particles could modify this relationship. Although the Z mass is known to the remarkable precision of 22 parts per million (2.0 MeV), the W mass is known much less precisely. A global fit to measured electroweak observables predicts the W mass with 6 MeV uncertainty1-3. Reaching a comparable experimental precision would be a sensitive and fundamental test of the standard model, made even more urgent by a recent challenge to the global fit prediction by a measurement from the CDF Collaboration at the Fermilab Tevatron collider4. Here we report the measurement of the W mass by the CMS Collaboration at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, based on a large data sample of W → μν events collected in 2016 at the proton-proton collision energy of 13 TeV. The measurement exploits a high-granularity maximum likelihood fit to the kinematic properties of muons produced in W decays. By combining an accurate determination of experimental effects with marked in situ constraints of theoretical inputs, we reach a precise measurement of the W mass, of 80,360.2 ± 9.9 MeV, in agreement with the standard model prediction.
AU - CMS,Collaboration
DO - 10.1038/s41586-026-10168-5
EP - 327
PY - 2026///
SP - 321
TI - High-precision measurement of the W boson mass with the CMS experiment.
T2 - Nature
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10168-5
UR - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/41951965
VL - 652
ER -