Two simple W′ models for the early LHC

W′ gauge bosons are good candidates for early LHC discovery. We define two reference models, one containing a WR′ and one containing a WL′, which may serve as “simplified models” for presenting experimental results of W′ searches at the LHC. We present the Tevatron bounds on each model and compute the constraints from precision electroweak observables. We find that indirect low-energy constraints on the WL′ are quite strong. However, for a WR′ coupling to right-handed fermions there exists a sizeable region in parameter space beyond the bounds from the Tevatron and low-energy precision measurements where even 50 pb−1 of integrated LHC luminosity are sufficient to discover the WR′. The most promising final states are two leptons and two jets, or one lepton recoiling against a “neutrino jet”. A neutrino jet is a collimated object consisting of a hard lepton and two jets arising from the decay of a highly boosted massive neutrino.