Summary of Single top quark production at the Tevatron

TL;DR

This paper reviews the observation and measurement of single top quark production modes at the Tevatron collider, highlighting the first observation of the s-channel process through combined experimental analysis.

Contribution

It reports the first observation of the s-channel single top quark production and provides combined measurements of the t-channel and total single top cross sections.

Findings

First observation of s-channel single top production.

Combined cross section measurements for t-channel and total single top.

Effective use of multivariate classifiers to distinguish signals from backgrounds.

Abstract

The production of single-top quarks occurs via the weak interaction at the Fermilab Tevatron proton-antiproton collider. Single top quark events are selected in the lepton+jets final state by CDF and D0 and in the missing transverse energy plus jets final state by CDF. Multivariate classifiers separate the s-channel and t-channel single-top signals from the large backgrounds. The combination of CDF and D0 results leads to the first observation of the s-channel mode of single top quark production. The t-channel and single top combined cross sections have also been measured.