Top Quark Physics and Searches for New Phenomena at the Tevatron

Top Quark Physics and Searches for New Phenomena at the Tevatron
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Total Pages: 9
Release: 1998
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The CDF and D0 collaborations each have collected over 110 pb−1 from top quark physics and searches for first generation leptoquarks (LQ), using the entire statistics of these large data sets. After careful selection, both collaborations have collected top quark data samples consisting of several dozen events each. From these events both experiments have measured the top quark mass and pair production cross section in a variety of decay channels, including the so-called dilepton, lepton plus jets, and all jets channels. The combined top quark mass from both experiments in the lepton plus jets channels is m{sub t} = 175.6±5.5 GeV/c2. CDF and D0 have also performed optimized searches for the pair production of first generation leptoquarks. No candidate events were found. Combining the results from the ee+jets, e?+jets, and??+jets channels both experiments set 95% confidence level (CL) upper limits on the LQ pair production cross section as a function of mass and of?, the branching fraction to a charged lepton.

Challenging the Standard Model at the Tevatron Collider

Challenging the Standard Model at the Tevatron Collider
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Total Pages: 15
Release: 2011
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Even at a time where the world's eyes are focused on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, which has reached the energy frontier in 2010, many important results are still being obtained from data analyses performed at the Tevatron collider at Fermilab. This contribution discusses recent highlights in the areas of B hadron, electroweak, top quark, and Higgs boson physics. The standard model (SM) of particle physics forms the cornerstone of our understanding of elementary particles and their interactions, and many of its aspects have been investigated in great detail. Yet it is generally suspected to be incomplete (e.g. by not allowing for the incorporation of gravity in a field theoretical setting) and un-natural (e.g. the mass of the Higgs boson is not well protected against radiative corrections). In addition, it does not explain the dark matter and dark energy content of the Universe. It is therefore of eminent importance to test the limits of validity of the SM. In the decade since its upgrade to a centre-of-mass energy √s = 1.96 TeV, the Tevatron p{bar p} collider has delivered an integrated luminosity of about 10 fb−1, up to 9 fb−1 of which are available for analysis by its CDF and D0 collaborations. These large datasets allow for stringent tests of the SM in two areas: direct searches for particles or final states that are not very heavy but that suffer from small production cross sections (e.g. the Higgs boson), and searches for indirect manifestations of beyond-the-standard-model (BSM) effects through virtual effects. The latter searches can often be carried out by precise measurements of otherwise known processes. This contribution describes such tests of the SM carried out by the CDF and D0 collaborations. In particular, recent highlights in the areas of B hadron physics, electroweak physics, top quark physics, and Higgs boson physics are discussed. Recent results of tests of QCD and of direct searches for new phenomena are described in another contribution.

Anomaly! Collider Physics And The Quest For New Phenomena At Fermilab

Anomaly! Collider Physics And The Quest For New Phenomena At Fermilab
Author: Tommaso Dorigo
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2016-09-26
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1786341131

'Dorigo provides an engaging and insightful perspective on the pursuit of physics discoveries at CDF … Dorigo’s book is thus almost certainly going to be an important source for anyone interested in the history of CDF … It is a personal yet highly informative story of discovery and almost-discovery from the perspective of someone who saw the events firsthand.'Physics TodayFrom the mid-1980s, an international collaboration of 600 physicists embarked on the investigation of subnuclear physics at the high-energy frontier. As well as discovering the top quark, the heaviest elementary particle ever observed, the physicists analyzed their data to seek signals of new physics which could revolutionize our understanding of nature.Anomaly! tells the story of that quest, and focuses specifically on the finding of several unexplained effects which were unearthed in the process. These anomalies proved highly controversial within the large team: to some collaborators they called for immediate publication, while to others their divulgation threatened to jeopardize the reputation of the experiment.Written in a confidential, narrative style, this book looks at the sociology of a large scientific collaboration, providing insight in the relationships between top physicists at the turn of the millennium. The stories offer an insider's view of the life cycle of the 'failed' discoveries that unavoidably accompany even the greatest endeavors in modern particle physics.

Top Quark Physics at Hadron Colliders

Top Quark Physics at Hadron Colliders
Author: Arnulf Quadt
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010-10-28
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9783642090110

This will be a required acquisition text for academic libraries. More than ten years after its discovery, still relatively little is known about the top quark, the heaviest known elementary particle. This extensive survey summarizes and reviews top-quark physics based on the precision measurements at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider, as well as examining in detail the sensitivity of these experiments to new physics. Finally, the author provides an overview of top quark physics at the Large Hadron Collider.

Top Quark Production at the Tevatron

Top Quark Production at the Tevatron
Author:
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Total Pages: 5
Release: 2011
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The top quark is the most recently discovered of the standard model quarks, and because of its very large mass, studies of the top quark and its interactions are important both as tests of the standard model and searches for new phenomena. In this document, recent results of analyses of top quark production, via both the electroweak and strong interactions, from the CDF and D0 experiments are presented. The results included here utilize a dataset corresponding to up to 6 fb−1 of integrated luminosity, slightly more than half of the dataset recorded by each experiment before the Tevatron was shutdown in September 2011.

Observation of S-Channel Single Top Quark Production at the Tevatron

Observation of S-Channel Single Top Quark Production at the Tevatron
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Total Pages: 157
Release: 2014
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Testing the Standard Model (SM) and looking for new phenomena have been the focus of generations of particle physicists in the last decades. Following this spirit, this thesis presents two searches. The first is the search for single top quark production from the exchange of an s-channel virtual W boson using events with an imbalance in the total transverse energy, b-tagged jets, and no identified leptons. Assuming the electroweak production of top quarks of mass 172.5 GeV/c2 in the s-channel, a cross section of 1.12+0.61 -0.57 (stat+syst) pb, with a significance of 1.9 standard deviations, is measured. This measurement is combined with the result obtained from events with an imbalance in total transverse momentum, b-tagged jets, and exactly one identified lepton, yielding a cross section of 1.36+0.37 -0.322 (stat+syst) pb, with a significance of 4.2 standard deviations. The first observation of single-top-quark production in the s channel through the combination of the CDF and D0 measurements is also reported. The measured cross section is [sigma]s = 1.29+0.26 -0.244 pb. The probability of observing a statistical fluctuation of the background to a cross section of the observed size or larger is 1.8 10-10, corresponding to a significance of 6.3 standard deviation. The second is the search for W'-like resonances decaying to tb. No significant excess above the SM prediction is found. Using a benchmark W' → tb left-right symmetric model, 95% C.L. mass-dependent upper limits are placed on the W0 boson production cross section times branching ratio to tb. Assuming a W' boson with SM-like couplings and allowed (forbidden) decay to leptons, W' → tb is excluded with 95% C.L. for W' boson masses below 860 (880) GeV/c2. Relaxing the hypothesis on SM-like couplings, we exclude W' boson coupling strength values as a function of the W' boson mass above 10% of the SM coupling strength for MW' = 300 GeV/c2. The constraints obtained with the present analysis are the most stringent for charged resonance masses below 570 GeV/c2 decaying to a top and a bottom quark.

Searches for New Physics in Top Events at the Tevatron

Searches for New Physics in Top Events at the Tevatron
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Total Pages:
Release: 2009
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During the past years the CDF and D0 detectors have collected large amounts of data obtaining a relatively pure sample of pair-produced top quarks and a well understood sample containing singly-produced top quarks. These samples have been used for the precise measurement of the top quark properties, and have set stringent limits on new physics in the top sample. This reports presents the latest results from the CDF and D0 collaborations on the search for new physics within the top sample using an integrated data sample of up to 3.6 fb−1.

Discovery of Single Top Quark Production

Discovery of Single Top Quark Production
Author: Dag Gillberg
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 149
Release: 2011-01-22
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1441977996

The top quark is by far the heaviest known fundamental particle with a mass nearing that of a gold atom. Because of this strikingly high mass, the top quark has several unique properties and might play an important role in electroweak symmetry breaking—the mechanism that gives all elementary particles mass. Creating top quarks requires access to very high energy collisions, and at present only the Tevatron collider at Fermilab is capable of reaching these energies. Until now, top quarks have only been observed produced in pairs via the strong interaction. At hadron colliders, it should also be possible to produce single top quarks via the electroweak interaction. Studies of single top quark production provide opportunities to measure the top quark spin, how top quarks mix with other quarks, and to look for new physics beyond the standard model. Because of these interesting properties, scientists have been looking for single top quarks for more than 15 years. This thesis presents the first discovery of single top quark production. It documents one of the flagship measurements of the D0 experiment, a collaboration of more than 600 physicists from around the world. It describes first observation of a physical process known as “single top quark production”, which had been sought for more than 10 years before its eventual discovery in 2009. Further, his thesis describes, in detail, the innovative approach Dr. Gillberg took to this analysis. Through the use of Boosted Decision Trees, a machine-learning technique, he observed the tiny single top signal within an otherwise overwhelming background. This Doctoral Thesis has been accepted by Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.

Tevatron Top Physics

Tevatron Top Physics
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Total Pages: 7
Release: 2009
Genre:
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A summary of the most recent results on top quark physics obtained at Fermilab's Tevatron proton-antiproton collider, operating at a centre of mass energy of 1.96 TeV, is presented. Measurements of the top pair and single top quark production cross sections, the investigation of top quark decay properties, the precision measurement of the top quark mass as well as searches for physics beyond the standard model are discussed.

Measurements and Searches with Top Quarks

Measurements and Searches with Top Quarks
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Total Pages: 254
Release: 2008
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In 1995 the last missing member of the known families of quarks, the top quark, was discovered by the CDF and D0 experiments at the Tevatron, a proton-antiproton collider at Fermilab near Chicago. Until today, the Tevatron is the only place where top quarks can be produced. The determination of top quark production and properties is crucial to understand the Standard Model of particle physics and beyond. The most striking property of the top quark is its mass--of the order of the mass of a gold atom and close to the electroweak scale--making the top quark not only interesting in itself but also as a window to new physics. Due to the high mass, much higher than of any other known fermion, it is expected that the top quark plays an important role in electroweak symmetry breaking, which is the most prominent candidate to explain the mass of particles. In the Standard Model, electroweak symmetry breaking is induced by one Higgs field, producing one additional physical particle, the Higgs boson. Although various searches have been performed, for example at the Large Electron Positron Collider (LEP), no evidence for the Higgs boson could yet be found in any experiment. At the Tevatron, multiple searches for the last missing particle of the Standard Model are ongoing with ever higher statistics and improved analysis techniques. The exclusion or verification of the Higgs boson can only be achieved by combining many techniques and many final states and production mechanisms. As part of this thesis, the search for Higgs bosons produced in association with a top quark pair (t{bar t}H) has been performed. This channel is especially interesting for the understanding of the coupling between Higgs and the top quark. Even though the Standard Model Higgs boson is an attractive candidate, there is no reason to believe that the electroweak symmetry breaking is induced by only one Higgs field. In many models more than one Higgs boson are expected to exist, opening even more channels to search for charged or neutral Higgs bosons. Depending on its mass, the charged Higgs boson is expected to decay either into top quarks or be the decay product of a top quark. For masses below the top quark mass, the top decay into a charged Higgs boson and a b quark can occur at a certain rate, additionally to the decays into W bosons and a b quark. The different decays of W and charged Higgs bosons can lead to deviations of the observed final number of events in certain final states with respect to the Standard Model expectation. A global search for charged Higgs bosons in top quark pair events is presented in this thesis, resulting in the most stringent limits to-date. Besides the decay of top quarks into charged Higgs or W bosons, new physics can also show up in the quark part of the decay. While in the Standard Model the top quark decays with a rate of about 100% into a W boson and a b quark, there are models where the top quark can decay into a W boson and a non-b quark. The ratio of branching fractions in which the top quark decays into a b quark over the branching fractions in which the top quark decays into all quarks is measured as part of this thesis, yielding the most precise measurement today. Furthermore, the Standard Model top quark pair production cross section is essential to be known precisely since the top quark pair production is the main background for t{bar t}H production and many other Higgs and beyond the Standard Model searches. However, not only the search or the test of the Standard Model itself make the precise measurement of the top quark pair production cross section interesting. As the cross section is calculated with high accuracy in perturbative QCD, a comparison of the measurement to the theory expectation yields the possibility to extract the top quark mass from the cross section measurement. Although many dedicated techniques exist to measure the top quark mass, the extraction from the cross section represents an important complementary measurement. The latter is briefly discussed in this thesis and compared to direct top mass measurements. The goal of this thesis is the improved understanding of the top quark sector and its use as a window to new physics. Techniques are extended and developed to measure the top quark pair production cross section simultaneously with the ratio of branching fractions, the t{bar t}H cross section or the rate with which top quarks decay into charged Higgs bosons. Some of the results are then taken to extract more information. The cross section measurement is used to extract the top quark mass, and the ratio of the top quark pair production cross sections in different final states, yielding a limit on non-Standard Model top quark decays.