SINGLE W-BOSON AND Z-BOSON PRODUCTION AS A PROBE FOR RAPIDITY GAPS ATTHE SUPERCONDUCTING SUPER COLLIDER

The cross sections for the production of single W's and Z's via electr oweak boson fusion are calculated for pp collisions at the Superconduc ting Super Collider (SSC). We present general event characteristics of the qq --> qqW and qq --> qqZ signals and the dominant backgrounds fo r leptonic decays of the W or Z. Special emphasis is given to the stud y of rapidity gap signatures, i.e., the existence of virtually hadron- free regions between the quark jets in the signal events. By measuring the rate at which rapidity gaps appear in W, Z production, the gap su rvival probability for electroweak signals can be determined. Thus, th e feasibility of a rapidity gap trigger for the Higgs-boson search or for weak-boson scattering events can be verified directly at the SSC.