Measurement of the ttbar Production Cross Section in ppbar Collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV using Dilepton Events

TL;DR

This paper measures the top-antitop quark pair production rate in proton-antiproton collisions at 1.96 TeV using dilepton events, employing two methods and finding results consistent with the Standard Model.

Contribution

It introduces two complementary techniques for selecting ttbar candidate events and provides a combined cross section measurement at Tevatron energies.

Findings

Measured ttbar cross section: 7.0 pb with uncertainties.

Good agreement with Standard Model predictions.

Used 197 pb^-1 data sample from Fermilab Collider Detector.

Abstract

We report a measurement of the ttbar production cross section using dilepton events with jets and missing transverse energy in ppbar collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV. Using a 197 +/- 12 pb-1 data sample recorded by the upgraded Collider Detector at Fermilab, we use two complementary techniques to select candidate events. We compare the number of observed events and selected kinematical distributions with the predictions of the Standard Model and find good agreement. The combined result of the two techniques yields a ttbar production cross section of 7.0 +2.4/-2.1(stat.) +1.6/-1.1(syst.) +/- 0.4(lum.) pb.