Probing Top-quark Operators with Precision Electroweak Measurements

TL;DR

This paper investigates how high-precision electroweak measurements can constrain top-quark operators within the SMEFT framework, including loop effects, and assesses the potential of future colliders to improve these constraints.

Contribution

It provides a detailed phenomenological analysis of one-loop contributions of top-quark operators to electroweak observables and evaluates the feasibility of global fits including these effects.

Findings

Current measurements are sensitive to one-loop top-quark effects.

Separating top-quark operators from tree-level operators is challenging.

Future colliders could significantly improve constraints on top-quark operators.

Abstract

In the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT), operators involving the top quark are generally difficult to probe, and can generate sizable loop contributions to the electroweak precision observables, measured by past and future lepton colliders. Could the high precision of the electroweak measurements compensate the loop suppression and provide competitive reaches on these operators? Would the inclusion of these contributions introduce too many additional parameters for a meaningful global electroweak analysis to be done? In this paper, we perform a detailed phenomenological study to address these two important questions. Focusing on eight dimension-6 operators that generate anomalous couplings between the electroweak gauge bosons and the third-generation quarks, we calculate their one loop contributions to the $e^+e^- \to f\bar{f}$ processes both on and off the Z-pole and the $e^-e^+ \to WW$ process. A global analysis is performed with these eight operators and the ones that contribute to the above processes at tree level, using the measurements at LEP, SLC and several low energy experiments. We find that, while the current electroweak precision measurements are sensitive to the one-loop effects of the top-quark operators, it is difficult to separate them from the operators that contribute at the tree level, making a global analysis rather challenging. Under more assumptions, competitive reaches could be obtained in a global fit. Another important finding of our study is that the two operators that generate dipole interactions of the bottom quark have significant impacts in the Z-pole measurements and should not be omitted. We also discuss the implication of the recently reported W-boson mass measurement at CDF to our results. Finally, we estimate the reaches of future lepton colliders in probing the top-quark operators with precision electroweak measurements.