A search for excited leptons in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV

A search for excited leptons is carried out with the CMS detector at the LHC, using 36 pb-1 of pp collision data recorded at s=7 TeV. The search is performed for associated production of a lepton and an oppositely charged excited lepton pp→ℓℓ*, followed by the decay ℓ*→ℓγ, resulting in the ℓℓγ final state, where ℓ=e,μ. No excess of events above the standard model expectation is observed. Interpreting the findings in the context of ℓ* production through four-fermion contact interactions and subsequent decay via electroweak processes, first upper limits are reported for ℓ* production at this collision energy. The exclusion region in the compositeness scale Λ and excited lepton mass Mℓ* parameter space is extended beyond previously established limits. For Λ=Mℓ*, excited lepton masses are excluded below 1070 GeV/c2 for e* and 1090 GeV/c2 for μ* at the 95% confidence level.