Observation of diffractively produced W and Z bosons in p̄p collisions at √s = 1800 GeV

Using the DO detector, we have observed events produced in (p) over barp collisions that contain W or Z bosons in conjunction with very little energy deposition ("rapidity gaps") in large forward regions of the detector. The fraction of W boson events with a rapidity gap (a signature for diffraction) is 0.89 +/- (0.19)(0.17)% and the probability that the non-diffractive background fluctuated to yield the observed diffractive signal is 3 x 10(-14), corresponding to a significance of 7.5 sigma. The Z boson sample has a gap fraction of 1.44 +/- (0.61)(0.52)%, with a significance of 4.4 sigma. The diffractive events have very similar properties to the more common non-diffractive component. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.