Preliminary searches for hadron jets and for large transverse momentum electrons at the SPS antipp collider

We present a preliminary analysis of the UA2 data collected during the last collider run (20 nb-1 integrated luminosity) with particular emphasis on large transverse momentum hadron jets and on electrons having the configuration expected from the decay of electroweak bosons. The data provide very strong evidence of two-jet dominance in events with large transverse energy in the central region. Four electron candidates have been observed with a transverse momentum in excess of 20 GeV/c, which are associated with no other large transverse energy production within the UA2 acceptance. While this result is in all respects consistent with a W → eν hypothesis, more work is needed to ensure that the background is well understood and to further ascertain electron identification. No electron pair was detected with an invariant mass in excess of 40 GeV/c2