English

Where is Top?

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2011-03-02 v1

Abstract

Possibilities are discussed for determining the top quark mass mtm_t from observations on the decay processes for top-antitop pairs produced in antiproton-proton collisions, assuming that the tbW+t \to bW^+ decay channel is dominant and much faster than hadronization. The final states ttˉbˉbμ±et \bar{t} \to \bar{b} b \mu^\pm e^\mp provide the most striking signal, with little background, but they are rare (2/81\approx 2/81). If all candidate events prove to be from ttˉt \bar{t}, an estimate follows for P(mtrate)P(m_t|rate), the probability distribution for mtm_t. The one reported configuration allows an independent estimate for P(mtμ±e2jets)P(m_t|\mu^\pm e^\mp \,2jets). These two distributions are compatible,yielding an estimate of about 122 GeV. Decay events ``1 energetic lepton(ll) + 4jets'' should appear twelve times as often as ``μ±e2jets\mu^\pm e^\mp \,2jets'' events and can be analysed to give estimates for P(mtl4jets)P(m_t|l\, 4jets). There may be background from non-top events but suitable cuts on the data and our analysis procedure together reduce this to a low level. The rate observed for these events does not appear to be as large as this factor 12. Identification of either or both of the (bbˉ)(b \bar{b}) jets would be a great step forward. We advocate an energetic approach to the analysis of individual events on an event by event basis, with the hope of finding a subgroup of events with a common mass estimate.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.hep-ph/9308345,
  title  = {Where is Top?},
  author = {R. H. Dalitz and Gary R. Goldstein},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:hep-ph/9308345},
  year   = {2011}
}

Comments

LATEX 26pp., 13 figs available on request ([email protected]) by mail, preprint OUTP-93-16P