A measurement of the cross section for the production of top quark–antiquark pairs ({mathrm {t}}overline{{mathrm {t}}}) in association with a vector boson V (W or Z) in proton-proton collisions at sqrt{s} = 8 ,text {TeV} is presented. The results are based on a dataset corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.5 fb^{-1} recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC. The measurement is performed in three leptonic (e and upmu ) channels: a same-sign dilepton analysis targeting {mathrm {t}}overline{{mathrm {t}}} mathrm {W} events, and trilepton and four-lepton analyses designed for {mathrm {t}}overline{{mathrm {t}}} {mathrm {Z}} events. In the same-sign dilepton channel, the {mathrm {t}}overline{{mathrm {t}}} mathrm {W} cross section is measured as sigma _{{mathrm {t}}overline{{mathrm {t}}} mathrm {W}} = 170 ^{+90}_{-80},text {(stat)} pm 70,text {(syst)} , text {fb} , corresponding to a significance of 1.6 standard deviations over the background-only hypothesis. Combining the trilepton and four-lepton channels, a direct measurement of the {mathrm {t}}overline{{mathrm {t}}} {mathrm {Z}} cross section, sigma _{{mathrm {t}}overline{{mathrm {t}}} {mathrm {Z}}} = 200 ^{+80}_{-70},text {(stat)} ^{+40}_{-30},text {(syst)} mathrm{fb}^{-1} , is obtained with a significance of 3.1 standard deviations. The measured cross sections are compatible with standard model predictions within their experimental uncertainties. The inclusive {mathrm {t}}overline{{mathrm {t}}} {mathrm {V}} process is observed with a significance of 3.7 standard deviations from the combination of all three leptonic channels.
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