Model independent analysis of heavy vector-like top partners

TL;DR

This paper introduces XQCAT, a model-independent software tool that analyzes experimental data to set mass limits on heavy vector-like top partners, aiding searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model.

Contribution

The paper presents the first implementation of a model-independent analysis framework for heavy top partners using recast experimental data.

Findings

Mass limits on T singlet scenario are established.

XQCAT effectively recasts data from various searches.

Framework supports multiple top partner scenarios.

Abstract

Searches for new fermionic states heavier than the top quark are being pursued by the CMS & ATLAS collaborations, pushing the mass bounds towards the TeV scale. Although a chiral fourth generation of quarks is now excluded by the LHC results, models going beyond the Standard Model predict the existence of heavy vector-like top partners as potential smoking gun signatures. Relying on a model-independent parametrisation, we present the first results of a dedicated software called XQCAT (eXtra Quark Combined Analysis Tool), which recasts publicly available experimental data from direct and Supersymmetry inspired searches and computes the exclusion confidence level for New Physics scenarios with one or multiple top partners. The mass limits set on a T singlet scenario with general coupling assumptions are briefly discussed in this framework.