Séminaires LAPP
Observation of Single Top Quarks at DZero
par
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Europe/Paris
Auditorium M. Vivargent (LAPP)
Auditorium M. Vivargent
LAPP
Description
The top quark, the heaviest known elementary particle, was discovered
via pair production at the Tevatron in 1995. While pair production
occurs via the strong interaction, it should also be possible to create top
quarks singly via the electroweak interaction. There are many reasons to
look for this process: a simple measurement of its cross section gives a direct
measurement of the CKM element Vtb, measuring the various production
modes independently is a sensitive probe of new physics, it is a source of
highly polarized top quarks, and its experimental signature is very similar to
that of several other interesting processes (eg. light Higgs). These factors
have motivated an intense search for single top quark production over the
last decade. However, observing this process has proved to be very
challenging due to enormous backgrounds. Finally, in early 2009 the D0 and
CDF collaborations announced observation of the single top quark
production process. This seminar will present the D0 single top
observation analysis as well as some of the new measurements which have
arisen from it.