At the Tevatron, the collider experiments CDF and D0 have data sets at their disposal that compromise several hundreds of reconstructed top-antitop-quark pairs and allow for precision measurements of the cross section and production and decay properties. Besides comparing the measurements to standard model predictions, these data sets open a window to physics beyond the standard model. Dedicated analyses look for new heavy gauge bosons, fourth generation quarks, and flavor-changing neutral currents.
The Tevatron proton-antiproton collider at Fermilab with its center of mass energy of 1.96 TeV is currently the only source for the production of top quarks. This report reflects the current status of measurements of the top quark pair production cross section and properties performed by the CDF and D0 Collaborations. Utilizing datasets of up to two fb−1, these measurements allow unprecedented precision in probing the validity of the Standard Model.
This report describes the latest cross section and property measurements associated with the top quark at the Tevatron Run II. The largest data sample used is 760 pb{sup -1} of integrated luminosity. Due to its large mass, the top quark might be involved in the process of electroweak symmetry breaking, making it a useful probe for signs of new physics.
Almost 20 years after its discovery, the top quark is still an interesting particle, undergoing precise investigation of its properties. For many years, the Tevatron proton antiproton collider at Fermilab was the only place to study top quarks in detail, while with the recent start of the LHC proton proton collider a top quark factory has opened. An important ingredient for the full understanding of the top quark is the combination of measurements from the individual experiments. In particular, the Tevaton combinations of single top-quark cross sections, the ttbar production cross section, the W helicity in top-quark decays as well as the Tevatron and the world combination of the top-quark mass are discussed.
The Tevatron proton-antiproton collider at Fermilab with its centre of mass energy of 1.96 TeV is currently the only source for the production of top quarks. Its increased luminosity and centre of mass energy in Run II allow both collider detectors CDF and D0 to study top quarks with unprecedented scrutiny. Recent results on the top quark's pair production cross section and its properties such as mass, electric charge, helicity of the W boson in its decay and branching fraction B(t --> Wb) are presented and probe the validity of the Standard Model.
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.
At the Tevatron, the collider experiments CDF and D0 have data sets at their disposal that comprise a few thousand reconstructed top-antitop-quark pairs and allow for precision measurements of the cross section as well as production and decay properties. Besides comparing the measurements to standard model predictions, these data sets open a window to physics beyond the standard model. Dedicated analyses look for new heavy gauge bosons, fourth generation quarks, and flavor-changing neutral currents. In this mini-review the current status of these measurements is summarized.
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.
