Quantum Coherence of Top Quark Pairs Produced at LHC

TL;DR

This paper investigates quantum coherence in top quark pairs at the LHC, comparing theoretical predictions with experimental data to validate the spin-density framework and identify potential deviations indicating new physics.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum-coherence perspective to analyze top-quark spin correlations, providing new insights and a diagnostic tool for the Standard Model and beyond.

Findings

Agreement between theory and CMS data in near-threshold and boosted regions

Deviation observed in intermediate-mass window suggesting QCD effects

Quantum coherence serves as a new probe for top-quark spin structure

Abstract

We study quantum coherence in top-antitop production at the LHC by comparing Standard Model predictions with CMS data across different kinematic regimes. Theory and experiment are statistically consistent in the near-threshold and boosted central regions, confirming that the spin-density framework captures the dominant helicity-interference structure. The intermediate-mass window shows a noticeable deviation, indicating enhanced sensitivity to radiative QCD effects. This work reinterprets measured spin-correlation data within a quantum-coherence framework, thereby introducing coherence as a complementary and experimentally grounded probe of the Standard Model spin structure and a potentially sensitive diagnostic of new-physics effects in the top-quark sector.