Related papers: Accessing CKM suppressed top decays at the LHC
We propose an extension of the existing experimental strategy for measuring branching fractions of top quark decays, targeting specifically $t\to j_q W$, where $j_q$ is a light quark jet. The improved strategy uses orthogonal $b$- and…
We study the prospects of measuring the CKM matrix element $\vert V_{ts}\vert$ at the LHC with the top quarks produced in the processes $p p \to t\bar{t}X$ and $p p \to t/\bar{t} X$, and the subsequent decays $t \to W^+s$ and $\bar{t} \to…
The prospects of measuring the CKM matrix elements |V_tq| with top quarks decays at the LHC are discussed here, with the top quarks produced in the processes pp \rightarrow ttbarX and pp \rightarrow t/tbarX, and the subsequent decays t…
The Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) element $V_{ts}$, representing the coupling between the top and strange quarks, is currently best determined through fits based on the unitarity of the CKM matrix, and measured indirectly through…
We study the reconstruction of high p_T hadronically-decaying top quarks at the LHC. The main challenge in identifying energetic top quarks is that the decay products become increasingly collimated. This reduces the efficacy of conventional…
We present a measurement of the ratio of top quark branching fractions R = B(t -> Wb)/B(t -> Wq), where q can be a d, s or b quark, in the lepton+jets and dilepton ttbar final states. The measurement uses data from 5.4 fb-1 of ppbar…
Top quark decays are of particular interest as a mean to test the standard model (SM) predictions, both for the dominant ($t\to b+W$) and rare decays ($t\to q+W, cV, cVV,c\phi^0,bWZ$). As the latter are highly suppressed, they become an…
The measurement of the single top-quark production cross section in hadron collisions at the Tevatron and the LHC can be used to determine the absolute value of the CKM matrix element V_tb without assuming the unitarity of the CKM matrix.…
We present a measurement of the ratio of the top-quark branching fractions $R=\mathcal{B}(t\rightarrow Wb)/\mathcal{B}(t\rightarrow Wq)$, where $q$ represents quarks of type $b$, $s$, or $d$, in the final state with a lepton and hadronic…
We study the decays of heavy chiral (t', b') quarks in a four-generation extension of the Standard Model. If the difference between the t' and b' masses is smaller than the W mass, as favored by precision electroweak measurements, then the…
We report on the calculation of the next-to-leading order QCD corrections to the production of a $t\bar{t}$ pair in association with two heavy-flavour jets. We concentrate on the di-lepton $t\bar{t}$ decay channel at the LHC with…
Top quark decays are of particular interest as a mean to test the standard model (SM) predictions, both for dominant (t -> b + W) and rare decays (t -> q + W, cV, cVV, c phi^{0}, bWZ). As the latter are highly suppressed, they become an…
The latest measurements of the top quark mass obtained by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the LHC for centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV are presented. The mass of the top quark is measured using several methods and channels, including…
Several recent new measurements of the top-quark mass that use alternative observables and reconstruction techniques are presented, performed by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations at the CERN LHC. Alternative observables can help provide…
Two possible ways to improve the mass resolution for observing hadronic top quark decay $t \to bW \to 3 jets$ are studied: (1) using fixed cones in the rest frames of the $t$ and $W$ to define the decay jets, instead of the traditional…
We propose a direct measurement of the CKM element $V_{td}$ at the LHC. Taking profit of the imbalance between $d$ and $\bar d$ quark content in the proton, we show that a non-zero $V_{td}$ induces a charge asymmetry in the $tW$ associated…
Alternative top quark mass determinations can provide inputs to the world average with orthogonal systematic uncertainties and may help to refine the interpretation of the standard method. Among a number of recent results I focus on the…
The first measurement of the magnitude of the CKM quark mixing matrix element $|V_{cb}|$ using on-shell $W$-boson decays is presented. The measurement is made with $t\bar{t}$ events from $pp$ collision data corresponding to an integrated…
Measurements of the branching ratios of top quark decays into leptons and jets using events with $t \overline{t}$ (top antitop) pairs are reported. Events were recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in pp collisions at a center-of-mass…
Current methods to extract the quark-mixing matrix element $|V_{tb}|$ from single-top production measurements assume that $|V_{tb}|\gg |V_{td}|, |V_{ts}|$: top quarks decay into $b$ quarks with 100% branching fraction, s-channel single-top…