Searching for Top Flavor Violating Resonances

TL;DR

This paper proposes a search strategy for detecting light top flavor violating resonances at the LHC, which could explain the Tevatron top forward-backward asymmetry, by identifying specific resonance signatures in t tbar j events.

Contribution

It introduces a novel search method for light top flavor violating states at the LHC, estimating their discovery potential and constraints with early data.

Findings

Potential to constrain W' couplings at 7 TeV with 1 fb^-1

Estimated sensitivity to top flavor violating Z's and diquarks

Proposed strategy could improve bounds on light top flavor violating states

Abstract

We study new top flavor violating resonances that are singly produced in association with a top at the LHC. Such top flavor violating states could be responsible for the Tevatron top forward-backward asymmetry. Since top flavor violating states can directly decay to a top (or anti-top) and jet, and are produced in conjunction with another (oppositely charged) top, the direct signature of such states is a t j (or tbar j) resonance in t tbar j events. In general, these states can be very light and have O(1) couplings to the top sector so that they are copiously produced. We present a search strategy and estimate the discovery potential at the early LHC by implementing the strategy on simulated data. For example, with 1 fb^-1 at 7 TeV, we estimate that a W' coupling to d_R tbar_R can be constrained at the 3 sigma level for g_R = 1 and m_W' = 200 GeV, weakening to g_R = 1.75 for m_W' = 600 GeV. With the search we advocate here, a bound at a similar level could be obtained for top flavor violating Z's, as well as triplet and sextet diquarks.