Search for hadronic decays of W and Z bosons in photon events in p(p)over-bar collisions at root s=1.96 TeV

We report on a search for the process p (p) over bar -> gamma + W/Z with W/Z -> q (q) over bar in events containing two jets and a photon at the center-of-mass energy root s 1.96 TeV, using 184 pb(-1) of data collected by the CDF II detector. A neural network event selection has been developed to optimize the rejection of the large QCD production background; it is shown that this method gives a significant improvement in both signal-to-noise ratio and signal sensitivity, as compared with an event selection based on conventional cuts. An upper limit is presented for the gamma + W/Z production cross section with the W and Z decaying hadronically.