Measurement of the inclusive $t\bar{t}$ production cross section in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV and determination of the top quark pole mass

TL;DR

This paper measures the top quark pair production cross section in proton-antiproton collisions at 1.96 TeV and uses it to determine the top quark pole mass, combining experimental data with theoretical predictions.

Contribution

It provides a precise measurement of the inclusive $t\bar{t}$ cross section and extracts the top quark pole mass using a likelihood fit, improving the understanding of top quark properties.

Findings

Measured $\sigma_{t\bar{t}}$ as 7.26 pb with uncertainties.

Determined top quark pole mass as 172.8 GeV.

Results are consistent with Standard Model predictions.

Abstract

The inclusive cross section of top quark-antiquark pairs produced in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV is measured in the lepton$+$jets and dilepton decay channels. The data sample corresponds to 9.7 fb${}^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity recorded with the D0 detector during Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. Employing multivariate analysis techniques we measure the cross section in the two decay channels and we perform a combined cross section measurement. For a top quark mass of 172.5 GeV, we measure a combined inclusive top quark-antiquark pair production cross section of $\sigma_{t\bar{t}} = 7.26 \pm 0.13\,(\mathrm{stat.})\,^{+0.57}_{-0.50}\,(\mathrm{syst.})$ pb which is consistent with standard model predictions. We also perform a likelihood fit to the measured and predicted top quark mass dependence of the inclusive cross section, which yields a measurement of the pole mass of the top quark. The extracted value is $m_t = 172.8 \pm 1.1\,(\mathrm{theo.})\,^{+3.3}_{-3.1}\,(\mathrm{exp.})$ GeV.