arXiv:1002.3586v3 [hep-ph] 5 Apr 2011 Z ′ discovery potential at the LHC in the minimal B − L extension of the standard model Lorenzo Basso, 1, 2 Alexander Belyaev, 1, 2 Stefano Moretti, 1, 2, 3 Giovanni Marco Pruna, 1, 2 and Claire H. Shepherd-Themistocleous 2 1 School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK $^{3}$Dipartimento di Fisica Teorica, Universit` a di Torino, Via Pietro Giuria 1, 10125 Torino, Italy We present the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) discovery potential in the Z ′ sector of a U (1)$_{B}$$_{−}$$_{L}$ enlarged Standard Model (that also includes three heavy Majorana neutrinos and an additional Higgs boson) for √$_{s}$ = 7, 10 and 14 TeV centre-of-mass (CM) energies, considering both the Z ′ B − L → e $^{+}$e − and Z ′ B − L → µ $^{+}$µ − decay channels. The comparison of the (irreducible) back- grounds with the expected backgrounds for the DØ experiment at the Tevatron validates our simulation. We propose an alternative analysis that has the potential to improve the DØ sensitiv- ity. Electrons provide a higher sensitivity to smaller couplings at small Z ′ B − L boson masses than do muons. The resolutions achievable may allow the Z ′ B − L boson width to be measured at smaller masses in the case of electrons in the final state. The run of the LHC at √$_{s}$ = 7 TeV, assuming at most ∫ L ∼ 1 fb − $^{1}$, will be able to give similar results to those that will be available soon at the Tevatron in the lower mass region, and to extend them for a heavier M$_{Z}$ ′ . 1 Abstract 2 Particle Physics Department, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0QX, UK SHEP-09-19 DFTT 58/2009 October 24, 2018