Observation of Top Quark Production in the Forward Region at LHCb

TL;DR

This paper reports the first observation of top quark production in the forward region at LHCb, measuring the combined cross-section for top pair and single top production, consistent with theoretical predictions.

Contribution

It provides the first measurement of forward top quark production at LHCb, expanding the understanding of top physics in a new kinematic region.

Findings

Observation of forward top production in the mu+b final state

Measured cross-sections agree with NLO predictions

First such measurement at LHCb in this kinematic range

Abstract

Forward top production is observed, in the ${\mu}+b$ final state, with the 3 fb$^{-1}$ Run I dataset collected by the LHCb detector. The combined cross-section for $t\bar{t}$ and single top production at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV and $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV is measured, for muons from the W boson with $p_{\rm T} > 25$ GeV in the pseudo-rapidity range 2.0$< \eta <$4.5 and with a b-tagged jet with 50$ < p_{\rm T} < 100$ GeV in the pseudorapidity range 2.2$< \eta <$4.2. The production cross-sections are found to be in agreement with NLO predictions.