Searches for rare top quark production and decay processes with the ATLAS experiment

TL;DR

This paper reports on searches for rare top quark processes at the ATLAS experiment, aiming to detect signs of new physics through flavor-changing neutral currents, charged lepton flavor violation, and four-top-quark production.

Contribution

It presents the latest experimental results from ATLAS on rare top quark processes, enhancing sensitivity to potential new physics beyond the Standard Model.

Findings

No significant excess observed in rare top processes

Sets new upper limits on FCNC and CLFV interactions

Provides constraints on models predicting four-top-quark production

Abstract

The large integrated luminosity collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC provides the opportunity to probe the presence of new physics that could enhance the rate of very rare processes in the Standard Model (SM). The LHC can therefore gain considerable sensitivity for flavour changing neutral current (FCNC) and charged lepton flavour violating (CLFV) interactions of the top quark. In the SM, FCNCs are highly suppressed while CLFV interactions are forbidden so any measurable branching ratio for such a process is an indication of new physics. The production of four top quarks is a rare SM process which also provides sensitivity to new physics processes. In this contribution, the latest results of searches for these processes are presented.