Search for Z' bosons decaying to pairs of heavy Majorana neutrinos in proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s} $ = 13 TeV
A search for the production of pairs of heavy Majorana neutrinos (N ℓ ) from the decays of Z' bosons is performed using the CMS detector at the LHC. The data were collected in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt s$ = 13 TeV, with an integrated luminosity of 138 fb –1 . The signature for the search is an excess in the invariant mass distribution of the final-state objects, two same-flavor leptons (e or μ) and at least two jets. No significant excess of events beyond the expected background is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the product of the Z' production cross section and its branching fraction to a pair of N ℓ , as functions of N ℓ and Z' boson masses (m N ℓ and m Z' , respectively) for m Z' from 0.4 to 4.6 TeV and m N ℓ from 0.1 TeV to m Z' /2. In the theoretical framework of a left-right symmetric model, exclusion bounds in the m N ℓ -m Z' plane are presented in both the electron and muon channels. The observed upper limit on m Z' reaches up to 4.42 TeV. These are the most restrictive limits to date on the mass of N ℓ as a function of the Z' boson mass.