Quark Decay Research Articles

Measurement of tt¯ production in association with additional b-jets in the eμ final state in proton–proton collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of top-antitop quark pair (tt¯) production in association with additional b-jets. The analysis utilises 140 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Fiducial cross-sections are extracted in a final state featuring one electron and one muon, with at least three or four b-jets. Results are presented at the particle level for both integrated cross-sections and normalised differential cross-sections, as functions of global event properties, jet kinematics, and b-jet pair properties. Observable quantities characterising b-jets originating from the top quark decay and additional b-jets are also measured at the particle level, after correcting for detector effects. The measured integrated fiducial cross-sections are consistent with tt¯bb¯ predictions from various next-to-leading-order matrix element calculations matched to a parton shower within the uncertainties of the predictions. State-of-the-art theoretical predictions are compared with the differential measurements; none of them simultaneously describes all observables. Differences between any two predictions are smaller than the measurement uncertainties for most observables.

Search for heavy right-handed Majorana neutrinos in the decay of top quarks produced in proton-proton collisions at s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for heavy right-handed Majorana neutrinos is performed with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, using the 140 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at s=13 TeV collected during Run 2. This search targets tt¯ production, in which both top quarks decay into a bottom quark and a W boson, where one of the W bosons decays hadronically and the other decays into an electron or muon and a heavy neutral lepton. The heavy neutral lepton is identified through a decay into an electron or muon and another W boson, resulting in a pair of same-charge same-flavor leptons in the final state. This paper presents the first search for heavy neutral leptons in the mass range of 15–75 GeV using tt¯ events. No significant excess is observed over the background expectation, and upper limits are placed on the signal cross sections. Assuming a benchmark scenario of the phenomenological type-I seesaw model, these cross section limits are then translated into upper limits on the mixing parameters of the heavy Majorana neutrino with Standard Model neutrinos. © 2024 CERN, for the ATLAS Collaboration 2024 CERN

Linear power corrections to single top production and decay at the LHC in the narrow width approximation

We consider top quark production and decay in the narrow width approximation and study if the polarisation effects, that manifest themselves in correlations of angular distributions of particles from top quark decays and final state jets in the production sub-process, are affected by linear power corrections. We find that, in general, the answer to this question is affirmative. We also discuss how these non-perturbative corrections affect polarisation observables used to study single top production at the LHC. Finally, we point out that generic kinematic distributions of leptons from top quark decays are affected by linear power corrections, which may have implications for proposals to extract the top quark mass from such leptonic observables. On the other hand, we demonstrate that the distribution of the “out-of-collision-plane” component of the positron momentum is free from linear power corrections, making it an interesting candidate for the top quark mass measurement.

Measurements of inclusive and differential cross-sections of tt¯γ production in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Inclusive and differential cross-sections are measured at particle level for the associated production of a top quark pair and a photon (tt¯γ). The analysis is performed using an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector. The measurements are performed in the single-lepton and dilepton top quark pair decay channels focusing on tt¯γ topologies where the photon is radiated from an initial-state parton or one of the top quarks. The absolute and normalised differential cross-sections are measured for several variables characterising the photon, lepton and jet kinematics as well as the angular separation between those objects. The observables are found to be in good agreement with the Monte Carlo predictions. The photon transverse momentum differential distribution is used to set limits on effective field theory parameters related to the electroweak dipole moments of the top quark. The combined limits using the photon and the Z boson transverse momentum measured in tt¯ production in associations with a Z boson are also set.

Topportunities at the LHC: rare top decays with light singlets

The discovery of the top quark, the most massive elementary particle yet known, has given us a distinct window into investigating the physics of the Standard Model and beyond. With a plethora of top quarks to be produced in the high luminosity era of the LHC, the exploration of its rare decays holds great promise in revealing potential new physics phenomena. We consider higher-dimensional operators contributing to flavour-changing-neutral-current top decays in the SMEFT and its extension by a light singlet species of spin 0, 1/2, or 1, and exhibit that the HL-LHC (and other future colliders) may observe many exotic top decays in a variety of channels. Light singlets which primarily talk to the SM through such a top interaction may also lead to distinctive long-lived particle signals. Searching for such long-lived particles in top-quark decays has the additional advantage that the SM decay of the other top quark in the same event provides a natural trigger.

Isospin sum rules for the nonleptonic B decays

Isospin symmetry, as the most precise flavor symmetry, can be used to extract information about hadronic dynamics. The effective Hamiltonian for bottom quark weak decay is zero under the isospin lowering operators I-n\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$I_-^n$$\\end{document}, which allows us to generate isospin sum rules through several master formulas. In this work, we derive the master formulas of isospin sum rules for the two- and three-body non-leptonic decays of B mesons. Numerous new isospin sum rules, especially those involving three or more decay channels, are proposed. The isospin sum rules can be used to test isospin symmetry and provide hints the isospin partners of exotic hadrons in B decays. It is found ten percent isospin breaking only in decay modes involving two vector mesons, indicating the complex dynamics of vector mesons. Besides, the isospin analysis suggests the charm tetraquark resonances might be observed in the B-→J/Ψπ-K¯0\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ B^- \\rightarrow J/\\Psi \\pi ^-\\overline{K}^0$$\\end{document}, B¯0→J/ΨK¯0ϕ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\overline{B}^0 \\rightarrow J/\\Psi \\overline{K}^0\\phi $$\\end{document}, and B¯0→D0D¯0K¯0\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\overline{B}^0\\rightarrow D^0\\overline{D}^0\\overline{K}^0$$\\end{document} modes.

Accommodating the LHC charged Higgs boson excess at 130 GeV in the general Two-Higgs Doublet Model

Abstract Charged Higgs bosons are common predictions in most extensions of the Standard Model (SM) Higgs sector. Therefore, their observation would elucidate the nature of the Higgs sector. Motivated by the ATLAS collaboration's latest analysis performed with $139~\text{fb}^{-1}$ of Run 2 data intended to search for charged Higgs boson, produced in top quark decay and subsequently decaying via $H^\pm \rightarrow cb$, where an excess with a local significance of $3\sigma$ is observed at $m_{H^\pm} = 130~\rm{GeV}$, we discuss here the possibility of explaining such excess in the context of the general 2-Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM type-III), after satisfying all theoretical and up-to-date experimental constraints. We also propose phenomenological scenarios to further explore the mass region around 130 GeV in the four Yukawa types of the 2HDM type-III and suggest alternative decay channel $H^\pm \rightarrow cs$ and/or $H^\pm \rightarrow W^{\pm *}h$ to probe the nature of the observed excess (if it is not a statistical fluctuation). Future searches for $H^\pm$ will be critical in confirming or refuting the first hint of a light charged Higgs boson at the LHC.

Quark flavor violation and axion-like particles from top-quark decays at the LHC

We study axion-like particles (ALPs) with quark-flavor-violating couplings at the LHC. Specifically, we focus on the theoretical scenario with ALP-top-up and ALP-top-charm interactions, in addition to the more common quark-flavor-diagonal couplings. The ALPs can thus originate from decays of top quarks which are pair produced in large numbers at the LHC, and then decay to jets. If these couplings to the quarks are tiny and the ALPs have O10\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{O}(10) $$\\end{document} GeV masses, they are long-lived, leading to signatures of displaced vertex plus multiple jets, which have the advantage of suppression of background events at the LHC. We recast a recent ATLAS search for the same signature and reinterpret the results in terms of bounds on the long-lived ALP in our theoretical scenario. We find that the LHC with the full Run 2 dataset can place stringent limits, while at the future high-luminosity LHC with 3 ab−1 integrated luminosity stronger sensitivities are expected.

Quantum entanglement and Bell inequality violation in semi-leptonic top decays

Quantum entanglement is a fundamental property of quantum mechanics. Recently, studies have explored entanglement in the tt¯\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ t\\overline{t} $$\\end{document} system at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) when both the top quark and anti-top quark decay leptonically. Entanglement is detected via correlations between the polarizations of the top and anti-top and these polarizations are measured through the angles of the decay products of the top and anti-top. In this work, we propose searching for evidence of quantum entanglement in the semi-leptonic decay channel where the final state includes one lepton, one neutrino, two b-flavor tagged jets, and two light jets from the W decay. We find that this channel is both easier to reconstruct and has a larger effective quantity of data than the fully leptonic channel. As a result, the semi-leptonic channel is 60% more sensitive to quantum entanglement and a factor of 3 more sensitive to Bell inequality violation, compared to the leptonic channel. In 139 fb−1 (3 ab−1) of data at the LHC (HL-LHC), it should be feasible to measure entanglement at a precision of ≲ 3% (0.7%). Detecting Bell inequality violation, on the other hand, is more challenging. With 300 fb−1 (3 ab−1) of integrated luminosity at the LHC Run-3 (HL-LHC), we expect a sensitivity of 1.3σ (4.1σ). In our study, we utilize a realistic parametric fitting procedure to optimally recover the true angular distributions from detector effects. Compared to unfolding this procedure yields more stable results.

Full quantum tomography of top quark decays

Quantum tomography in high-energy physics processes has usually been restricted to the spin degrees of freedom. We address the case of top quark decays t→Wb, in which the orbital angular momentum (L) and the spins of W and b are intertwined into a 54-dimensional LWb density operator. The entanglement between L and the W or b spin is large and could be determined for decays of single top quarks produced at the Large Hadron Collider with Run 2 data. With the foreseen statistical and systematic uncertainties, the significance is well above 5σ from the separability hypothesis for L-W entanglement, and 3.2σ for L-b. These would be the first entanglement measurements between orbital and spin angular momenta in high-energy physics. Likewise, the genuine tripartite entanglement between L and the two spins could be established with more than 5σ. The method presented paves the way for similar measurements in other processes.

Measurement of jet substructure in boosted tt¯ events with the ATLAS detector using 140 fb−1 of 13 TeV pp collisions

Measurements of the substructure of top-quark jets are presented, using 140 fb−1 of 13 TeV pp collision data recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Top-quark jets reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with a radius parameter R=1.0 are selected in top-quark pair (tt¯) events where one top quark decays semileptonically and the other hadronically, or where both top quarks decay hadronically. The top-quark jets are required to have transverse momentum pT>350 GeV, yielding large samples of data events with jet pT values between 350 and 600 GeV. One- and two-dimensional differential cross sections for eight substructure variables, defined using only the charged components of the jets, are measured in a particle-level phase space by correcting for the smearing and acceptance effects induced by the detector. The differential cross sections are compared with the predictions of several Monte Carlo simulations in which top-quark pair-production quantum chromodynamic matrix-element calculations at next-to-leading-order precision in the strong coupling constant αS are passed to leading-order parton shower and hadronization generators. The Monte Carlo predictions for measures of the broadness, and also the two-body structure, of the top-quark jets are found to be in good agreement with the measurements, while variables sensitive to the three-body structure of the top-quark jets exhibit some tension with the measured distributions. © 2024 CERN, for the ATLAS Collaboration 2024 CERN

Search for Baryon Number Violation in Top Quark Production and Decay Using Proton-Proton Collisions at s=13 TeV

A search is presented for baryon number violating interactions in top quark production and decay. The analysis uses data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. Candidate events are selected by requiring two oppositely charged leptons (electrons or muons) and exactly one jet identified as originating from a bottom quark. Multivariate discriminants are used to separate the signal from the background. No significant deviation from the standard model prediction is observed. Upper limits are placed on the strength of baryon number violating couplings. For the first time the production of single top quarks via baryon number violating interactions is studied. This allows the search to set the most stringent constraints to date on the branching fraction of the top quark decay to a lepton, an up-type quark (u or c), and a down-type quark (d, s, or b). The results improve the previous bounds by 3 to 6 orders of magnitude based on the fermion flavor combination of the baryon number violating interactions. © 2024 CERN, for the CMS Collaboration 2024 CERN

Accessing CKM suppressed top decays at the LHC

We propose an extension of the existing experimental strategy for measuring branching fractions of top quark decays, targeting specifically t\to j_q Wt→jqW, where j_qjq is a light quark jet. The improved strategy uses orthogonal bb- and qq-taggers, and adds a new observable, the number of light-quark-tagged jets, to the already commonly used observable, the fraction of bb-tagged jets in an event. Careful inclusion of the additional complementary observable significantly increases the expected statistical power of the analysis, with the possibility of excluding |V_{tb}|=1|Vtb|=1 at 95\%95% C.L. at the HL-LHC, and accessing directly the standard model value of |V_{td}|^2+|V_{ts}|^2|Vtd|2+|Vts|2.

Search for new particles in final states with a boosted top quark and missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at s\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\sqrt{s} $$\\end{document} = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for events with one top quark and missing transverse momentum in the final state is presented. The fully hadronic decay of the top quark is explored by selecting events with a reconstructed boosted top-quark topology produced in association with large missing transverse momentum. The analysis uses 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of s\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\sqrt{s} $$\\end{document} = 13 TeV recorded during 2015-2018 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The results are interpreted in the context of simplified models for Dark Matter particle production and the single production of a vector-like T quark. Without significant excess relative to the Standard Model expectations, 95% confidence-level upper limits on the corresponding cross-sections are obtained. The production of Dark Matter particles in association with a single top quark is excluded for masses of a scalar (vector) mediator up to 4.3 (2.3) TeV, assuming mχ = 1 GeV and the model couplings λq = 0.6 and λχ = 0.4 (a = 0.5 and gχ = 1). The production of a single vector-like T quark is excluded for masses below 1.8 TeV assuming a coupling to the top quark κT = 0.5 and a branching ratio for T → Zt of 25%.

Azimuthal Angle Correlations of Muons Produced via Heavy-Flavor Decays in 5.02TeV Pb+Pb and pp Collisions with the ATLAS Detector.

Angular correlations between heavy quarks provide a unique probe of the quark-gluon plasma created in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. Results are presented of a measurement of the azimuthal angle correlations between muons originating from semileptonic decays of heavy quarks produced in 5.02TeV Pb+Pb and pp collisions at the LHC. The muons are measured with transverse momenta and pseudorapidities satisfying p_{T}^{μ}>4 GeV and |η^{μ}|<2.4, respectively. The distributions of azimuthal angle separation Δϕ for muon pairs having pseudorapidity separation |Δη|>0.8, are measured in different Pb+Pb centrality intervals and compared to the same distribution measured in pp collisions at the same center-of-mass energy. Results are presented separately for muon pairs with opposite-sign charges, same-sign charges, and all pairs. A clear peak is observed in all Δϕ distributions at Δϕ∼π, consistent with the parent heavy-quark pairs being produced via hard-scattering processes. The widths of that peak, characterized using Cauchy-Lorentz fits to the Δϕ distributions, are found to not vary significantly as a function of Pb+Pb collision centrality and are similar for pp and Pb+Pb collisions. This observation will provide important constraints on theoretical descriptions of heavy-quark interactions with the quark-gluon plasma.

Top quark flavor changing neutral currents at Future Linear Colliders

We discuss the production and the decay of top quark through flavor-changing neutral current (FCNC) interaction at future linear colliders. We first discuss the theoretical predictions of top quark FCNC decays into qH and qZ within a class of t–channel simplified dark matter models. For the existing bounds on the top quark FCNC interactions at the Large Hadron Collider, we estimate the production rates of top quark through FCNC interactions at future linear colliders for energies from 250 GeV to 3 TeV.

Theory on CKM and heavy quark decay

The combination of precise experimental measurements and theoretical predictions allows to extract Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix elements or constrain flavor changing processes in the standard model. Focusing at theoretical predictions, we review recent highlights from the sector of heavy charm and bottom quark decays. Special emphasis is given to nonperturbative contributions due to the strong force calculated using lattice QCD.

On the importance of three-body decays of vector-like quarks

It is a common feature of vector-like extensions of the electroweak sector to have near degenerate states, such as electroweak doublets. In simplified models, it is usually assumed that these have decay widths saturated by two-body channels. As a consequence, experimental searches can be done focusing on only one of the states of the doublet. Taking as an example case the light exotic electroweak doublet present in the Minimal Composite Higgs Model, we show that including three-body decays in the pair production process makes this separation unfeasible, since both states of the doublet will be present and contribute significantly to the signal. In addition, by recasting present searches in multileptonic channels, with a simplified cut-and-count analysis, a relevant increase in discovery reach or exclusion potential is obtained; this indeed motivates a more detailed analysis. This study shows how an inclusive search strategy, taking into account both the near degeneracy and the presence of three-body decays, will have greater discovery power and be more natural from a model building perspective.

Leveraging on-shell interference to search for FCNCs of the top quark and the Z boson

Flavour-changing-neutral currents (FCNCs) involving the top quark are highly suppressed within the Standard Model (SM). Hence, any signal in current or planned future collider experiments would constitute a clear manifestation of physics beyond the SM. We propose a novel, interference-based strategy to search for top-quark FCNCs involving the Z boson that has the potential to complement traditional search strategies due to a more favourable luminosity scaling. The strategy leverages on-shell interference between the FCNC and SM decay of the top quark into hadronic final states. We estimate the feasibility of the most promising case of anomalous tZc couplings using Monte Carlo simulations and a simplified detector simulation. We consider the main background processes and discriminate the signal from the background with a deep neural network that is parametrised in the value of the anomalous tZc coupling. We present sensitivity projections for the HL-LHC and the FCC-hh. We find an expected 95% CL upper limit of {mathcal {B}}_{textrm{excl}}(trightarrow Zc) = 6.4 times 10^{-5} for the HL-LHC. In general, we conclude that the interference-based approach has the potential to provide both competitive and complementary constraints to traditional multi-lepton searches and other strategies that have been proposed to search for tZc FCNCs.

Search for a new scalar resonance in flavour-changing neutral-current top-quark decays t → qX (q = u, c), with X → boverline{b} , in proton-proton collisions at sqrt{s} = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for flavour-changing neutral-current decays of a top quark into an up-type quark (either up or charm) and a light scalar particle X decaying into a bottom anti-bottom quark pair is presented. The search focuses on top-quark pair production where one top quark decays to qX, with X → boverline{b} , and the other top quark decays according to the Standard Model, with the W boson decaying leptonically. The final state is thus characterised by an isolated electron or muon and at least four jets. Events are categorised according to the multiplicity of jets and jets tagged as originating from b-quarks, and a neural network is used to discriminate between signal and background processes. The data analysed correspond to 139 fb−1 of proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The 95% confidence-level upper limits between 0.019% and 0.062% are derived for the branching fraction mathcal{B} (t → uX) and between 0.018% and 0.078% for the branching fraction mathcal{B} (t → cX), for masses of the scalar particle X between 20 and 160 GeV.