Perturbative unitarity bounds for effective composite models

In this paper we present the partial wave unitarity bound in the parameter space of dimension-5 and dimension-6 effective operators that arise in a compositeness scenario. These are routinely used in experimental searches at the LHC to constraint contact and gauge interactions between ordinary Standard Model fermions and excited (composite) states of mass M. After deducing the unitarity bound for the production process of a composite neutrino, we implement such bound and compare it with the recent experimental exclusion curves for Run 2, the High-Luminosity and High-Energy configurations of the LHC. Our results also applies to the searches where a generic single excited state is produced via contact interactions. We find that the unitarity bound, so far overlooked, is quite compelling and significant portions of the parameter space (M, Lambda) become excluded in addition to the standard request M >= Lambda. (C) 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.