 Z pair mass and W transverse-mass limits

For two visible, approximately massless leptons, both measured four-momenta enterThis is a reconstructed invariant mass, including longitudinal information, rather than the lower bound obtained from transverse mass. As an original example, two opposite-azimuth leptons with $p_{T+}=p_{T-}=45\mathrm{GeV}$ and equal rapidities have $m_{\ell \ell }=90\mathrm{GeV}$. Changing their rapidity difference to one raises it to about $101.486\mathrm{GeV}$, even though their transverse momenta are unchanged.

The ideal transverse mass bound concerns the actual event's parent invariant mass, not a perfectly sharp universal number. A finite decay width spreads parent invariant masses; particle jet recoil changes daughter directions; invariant-mass resolution, momentum resolution and imperfect reconstruction can smear an observed endpoint. Recoil alone does not invalidate the ideal inequality when both daughter transverse momenta are correct. Additional invisible particles, radiated photons and a massless-daughter approximation can invalidate the simple two-body reconstruction. Likewise, a Z boson pair-mass peak requires control of identification, detection efficiency, instrumental response and backgrounds. A peak position and an endpoint are different summaries of selected event populations.