We present evidence for the production of single top quarks at the Fermilab Tevatron pp̄ collider. Using a 0.9 fb-1 dataset collected with D0 detector, the analysis is performed in the electron+jets and muon+jets decay modes, taking special care in modeling the large backgrounds, applying a new powerful b-quark tagging algorithm and using three multivariate techniques to extract the small signal. The combined measured production cross section is σ(pp̄ tb + X, tqb + X) = 4.7 ± 1.3 pb. The probability to measure a cross section at this value or higher in the absence of signal is 0.014%, corresponding to a 3.6 standard deviation significance. We use the cross section measurement to directly determine the CKM matrix element that describes the Wtb coupling and find 0.68 < |Vtb|≤ 1 at 95% C.L. within the standard model.
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