Disentangling the spin-parity of a resonance via the gold-plated decay mode

Searching for new resonances and finding out their properties is an essential part of any existing or future particle physics experiment. The nature of a new resonance is characterized by its spin, charge conjugation,parity, and its couplings with the existing particles of the Standard Model. If a new resonance is found in the four lepton final state produced via two intermediate Z bosons, the resonance could be a new heavy scalar or a Z boson or even a higher spin particle. In such cases a step by step methodology as enunciated in this paper can be followed to determine the spin, parity and the coupling to two Z bosons of the parent particles, in a fully model-independent way. In our approach we show how three uni-angular distributions and a few experimentally measurable observables can conclusively tell us about the spin, parity as well as the couplings of the new resonance to two Z bosons. We have performed a numerical analysis to validate our approach and showed how the uni-angular observables can be used to disentangle the spin parity as well as the coupling of the resonance.