Single top quark production and Vtb at the Tevatron

TL;DR

This paper reports the observation of single top quark production at the Tevatron, measuring its cross section, |Vtb|, and related properties using advanced analysis techniques, providing insights into electroweak interactions involving top quarks.

Contribution

First observation of single top quark production at the Tevatron with precise cross section measurement and analysis of related electroweak properties and new physics limits.

Findings

Measured combined cross section: 2.76^+0.58_-0.47 pb

Lower limit on |Vtb|: 0.77

Set limits on flavor-changing neutral currents and W' boson production

Abstract

Single top quark production via the electroweak interaction was observed by the D0 and CDF collaborations at the Tevatron proton-antiproton collider at Fermilab. Multivariate analysis techniques are employed to extract the small single top quark signal. The combined Tevatron cross section is 2.76^+0.58_-0.47 pb. This corresponds to a lower limit on the CKM matrix element |Vtb| of 0.77. Also reported are measurements of the t-channel cross section, the top quark polarization in single top quark events, and limits on gluon-quark flavor-changing neutral currents and W' boson production.