Measurement of differential cross sections of single top-quark production in the $t$ channel in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV

TL;DR

This paper presents detailed measurements of how the production rate of single top quarks varies with their transverse momentum and rapidity in proton-proton collisions at 8 TeV, using CMS data and neural networks.

Contribution

It provides the first differential cross section measurements of single top-quark production in the t-channel at 8 TeV, employing neural networks and unfolding techniques for accurate results.

Findings

Distributions agree with Monte Carlo predictions within uncertainties

Neural networks effectively separate signal from background

Results enhance understanding of top-quark production dynamics

Abstract

Differential measurements of single top quark $t$-channel cross sections as a function of the transverse momentum and the absolute value of the rapidity of the top quark are presented. The data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb$^{-1}$. Leptonic decay channels of the top quark, with either a muon or an electron in the final state, are considered. Neural networks are used to separate signal from background contributions. After correcting for selection efficiencies and detector resolution with an unfolding technique, the resulting distributions are found to agree with predictions from different Monte Carlo generators within the estimated uncertainties.