Search for vector-boson resonances decaying to a top quark and bottom quark in the lepton plus jets final state in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for new charged massive gauge bosons, W′, is performed with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Data were collected in proton–proton collisions at a center-of mass energy of sqrt(s) = 13 TeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1. This analysis searches for W′ bosons in the W′→tb decay channel in final states with an electron or muon plus jets. The search covers resonance masses between 0.5 and 5.0 TeV and considers right handed W′ bosons. No significant deviation from the Standard Model (SM) expectation is observed and upper limits are set on the W′→tb cross section times branching ratio and the W′ boson effective couplings as a function of the W′ boson mass. For right-handed W′ bosons with coupling to the SM particles equal to the SM weak coupling constant, masses below 3.15 TeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level. This search is also combined with a previously published ATLAS result for W′→tb in the fully hadronic final state. Using the combined searches, right-handed W′ bosons with masses below 3.25 TeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level.