Measurement of the Polar-Angle Distribution of Leptons from W Boson Decay as a Function of the W Transverse Momentum in p anti-p Collisions at sqrt s = 1.8 TeV

We present a measurement of the polar-angle distribution of leptons from W boson decay, as a function of the W transverse momentum. The measurement uses an 80±4 pb-1 sample of pp̄ collisions at √s = 1.8 TeV collected by the CDF detector and includes data from both the W→e+ν and W→μ+ν decay channels. We fit the W boson transverse mass distribution to a set of templates from a Monte Carlo event generator and detector simulation in several ranges of the W transverse momentum. The measurement agrees with the standard model expectation, whereby the ratio of longitudinally to transversely polarized W bosons, in the Collins-Soper W rest frame, increases with the W transverse momentum at a rate of approximately 15% per 10 GeV/c.