A search for high-mass resonances decaying to tau+ tau- in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This Letter presents a search for high-mass resonances decaying into τ+τ− final states using proton–proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV produced by the Large Hadron Collider. The data were recorded with the ATLAS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb−1. No statistically significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed; 95% credibility upper limits are set on the cross section times branching fraction of Z′ resonances decaying into τ+τ− pairs as a function of the resonance mass. As a result, Z′ bosons of the Sequential Standard Model with masses less than 1.40 TeV are excluded at 95% credibility.