A QCD parton-shower Monte Carlo model is used to simulate the production and decay of W bosons in hadron-hadron collisions at c.m. energies of 540 and 1600 GeV. In addition, fictitious narrow heavy W’ bosons are generated at c.m. energies of 1600 and 40?0 GeV. The overall event topologies for both the leptonic and hadronic decay modes of the W and W’ bosons are analyzed using jet and cluster techniques. The leptonic mode allows for a study of the jets produced by the initial-state parton showers, while an analysis of the hadronic mode enables us to place limits on the ability to reconstruct, from an examination of ‘‘jets,’’ the mass of the produced W or W’ boson. Our results are equally valid for the production of heavy Z’ bosons of the corresponding mass.

• Received 23 September 1986

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.35.875