New physics in single resonant top quarks

Abstract

Searches for new physics in the top quark sector are of great theoretical interest, yet some powerful avenues for discovery remain unexplored. We characterize the expected statistical power of the LHC dataset to constrain the single production of heavy top partners T decaying to a top quark and a photon or a top quark and a gluon. We describe an effective interaction which could generate such production, though the limits apply to a range of theoretical models. We find sensitivity to cross sections in the 102 − 105 fb range, for T masses between 300 and 1000 GeV, depending on decay mode.