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When we say polarization, what does it mean? What's its advantage?
What is W boson polarization? What information do we get studying it?

Polarisation of light or phonons refers to the orientation of the vibrations with respect to the direction of travel.
W boson polarisation appears to be analogous. It appears that there was some work done on this at LEP, as the polarisation of W pairs produced in collisions varies depending on energy.
There is a thesis on the topic here: http://www.hep.ucl.ac.uk/~jpc/all/ulthe ... hesis.html
One of the more relevant sections is http://www.hep.ucl.ac.uk/~jpc/all/ulthesis/node112.html

tswsl1989 wrote:Polarisation of light or phonons refers to the orientation of the vibrations with respect to the direction of travel.
W boson polarisation appears to be analogous. It appears that there was some work done on this at LEP, as the polarisation of W pairs produced in collisions varies depending on energy.
There is a thesis on the topic here: http://www.hep.ucl.ac.uk/~jpc/all/ulthesis/delay timer
One of the more relevant sections is http://www.hep.ucl.ac.uk/~jpc/all/ulthesis/node112.html

I also found the following academic document talking about measurement of W Boson Polarization, which may help us better grasp the concept. I am in the process of reading through it now and there are some unanswered questions, but I feel like I am making some progress.

http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewc ... ysicsbloom