Using asymmetry observables to discover and distinguish Z' signals in top pair production with the lepton-plus-jets final state at the LHC

TL;DR

This paper investigates how asymmetry observables in top pair production at the LHC can be used to discover and distinguish Z' bosons, considering full interference effects and realistic experimental conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analysis of asymmetry observables in top pair production, highlighting their potential to identify and characterize Z' signals at the LHC.

Findings

Asymmetry observables enhance Z' detection sensitivity.

Differential mass spectra help distinguish Z' coupling structures.

Asymmetries serve as complementary discovery tools.

Abstract

We study the sensitivity of top pair production with six-fermion decay at the LHC to the presence and nature of an underlying Z' boson, accounting for full tree-level Standard Model ttbar interference, with all intermediate particles allowed off-shell. We concentrate on the lepton-plus-jets final state and simulate experimental conditions, including kinematic requirements and top quark pair reconstruction in the presence of missing transverse energy and combinatorial ambiguity in jet-top assignment. We focus on the differential mass spectra of the cross section and asymmetry observables, especially demonstrating the use of the latter in probing the coupling structure of a new neutral resonance, in addition to cases in which the asymmetry forms a complementary discovery observable.