We have computed, in detail, the energy and angular distribution of the leptons (l) produced by the decay of W gauginos (W̃) via the reaction $e^{+}$$e^{\mathrm{-}}$→W̃ ${}_{}{}^{+}{}_{}{}^{}$+W̃ ${}_{}{}^{\mathrm{-}}{}_{}{}^{}l_{}^{+}{}_{}{}^{}$νγ̃+$l^{\mathrm{-}}$ ν¯ γ̃ within the framework of a supergravity electroweak model. We have also computed the backgrounds to this reaction from the production and subsequent decays of ${\tau }^{+}$${\tau }^{\mathrm{-}}$ pairs or pairs of new sequential heavy leptons. We conclude that it is possible to distinguish the W̃ from an ordinary heavy lepton and, moreover, that W̃ ’s lighter than the W boson would be clearly identifiable at CERN LEP energies up to 2$M_W$.

• Received 28 May 1985

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.32.707