Studies of $e^+ e^- \rightarrow b\bar{b}$ channel at the International Linear Collider

Abstract

The top and bottom quarks plays a central role in the quest for new physics. The complementarity between studies of electroweak top quark production and bottom quark production is therefore intuitively clear and pointed out in the literature. The tension between the LEP measurement and the Standard Model prediction of the forward-backward asymmetry $A^b_{FB}$ is still one of the unsolved questions in the field and may be interpreted as a first manifestation of New Physics in the heavy quark sector. The process $e^+ e^− \to b\bar{b}$ at the ILC offers a unique opportunity for a final word on the tension. Polarised beams allow for a large disentangling of the coupling constants or form factors that govern the $Z^00 /γ b\bar{b}$ vertex.