Extracting a Toponium Signal at the LHC with Spin and Quantum Information Tools

TL;DR

This paper explores the detection of toponium formation in top-antitop production at the LHC by applying quantum information techniques to analyze spin correlations, aiming to improve sensitivity to these subtle quantum effects.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach using quantum tomography and quantum information tools to identify toponium effects in high-energy collider data.

Findings

Combining quantum observables enhances sensitivity to toponium effects.

Reconstructed spin density matrices reveal quantum correlations in top-antitop pairs.

Quantum information methods provide new insights into top quark pair production.

Abstract

We investigate near-threshold top-antitop production at the LHC, focusing on the impact of toponium formation on spin correlations and quantum information properties of the final state. Considering the top-antitop system as a mixed two-qubit state, we reconstruct spin density matrices via quantum tomography and evaluate several observables including some inspired by quantum information. We then compare their sensitivity in discriminating toponium effects from top-antitop production without these effects. Our results demonstrate that combining these variables is expected to significantly enhance sensitivity to toponium effects, bringing new ways to explore these subtle features.