Measurement of $t\bar{t}$ production in association with additional $b$-jets in the $e\mu$ final state in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

TL;DR

This paper reports detailed measurements of top-antitop quark pair production with additional $b$-jets at 13 TeV, comparing results with theoretical predictions and highlighting discrepancies in modeling complex final states.

Contribution

First comprehensive measurement of $t\bar{t}$ production with extra $b$-jets at 13 TeV, including differential cross-sections and comparison with advanced theoretical models.

Findings

Measured cross-sections are consistent with some NLO predictions within uncertainties.

Differential distributions reveal that no current models fully describe all observables.

Differences between theoretical predictions are generally smaller than experimental uncertainties.

Abstract

This paper presents measurements of top-antitop quark pair ($t\bar{t}$) production in association with additional $b$-jets. The analysis utilises 140 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Fiducial cross-sections are extracted in a final state featuring one electron and one muon, with at least three or four $b$-jets. Results are presented at the particle level for both integrated cross-sections and normalised differential cross-sections, as functions of global event properties, jet kinematics, and $b$-jet pair properties. Observable quantities characterising $b$-jets originating from the top quark decay and additional $b$-jets are also measured at the particle level, after correcting for detector effects. The measured integrated fiducial cross-sections are consistent with $t\bar{t}b\bar{b}$ predictions from various next-to-leading-order matrix element calculations matched to a parton shower within the uncertainties of the predictions. State-of-the-art theoretical predictions are compared with the differential measurements; none of them simultaneously describes all observables. Differences between any two predictions are smaller than the measurement uncertainties for most observables.