Top Quark Polarization Research Articles

Entanglement and Bell inequalities with boosted tt¯

The Large Hadron Collider provides a unique opportunity to study quantum entanglement and violation of Bell inequalities at the highest energy available today. In this paper, we will investigate these quantum correlations with top quark pair production, which represents a system of two-qubits. The semileptonic top pair channel has a factor of 6 increase in statistics and easier reconstruction with respect to the dileptonic channel. Although measuring the spin polarization of the hadronic top quark is known to be challenging, our study indicates that it is feasible to reconstruct the spin density matrix of the two-qubit system using an optimal hadronic polarimeter. This is achieved with the aid of jet substructure techniques and NN-inspired reconstruction methods, which improve the mapping between subjets and quarks. We find that entanglement can already be observed at more than the 5σ level with existing data, and violation of Bell inequalities may be probed above the 4σ level at the HL-LHC with 3 ab−1 of data. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Binned top quark spin correlation and polarization observables for the LHC at 13.6 TeV

We consider top-antitop quark (tt¯) production at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) with subsequent decays into dileptonic final states. We use and investigate a set of leptonic angular correlations and distributions with which all the independent coefficient functions of the top-spin-dependent parts of the tt¯ production spin density matrices can be experimentally probed. We compute these observables for the LHC center-of-mass energy 13.6 TeV within the Standard Model at next-to-leading order in the QCD coupling including the mixed QCD weak corrections. We determine also the tt¯ charge asymmetry where we take in addition also the mixed QCD-QED corrections into account. In addition we analyze and compute possible new physics (NP) effects on these observables within effective field theory in terms of a gauge-invariant effective Lagrangian that contains the operators up to mass dimension six that are relevant for hadronic tt¯ production. First, we compute our observables inclusive in phase space. Then, in order to investigate which region in phase space has, for a specific observable, a high NP sensitivity, we determine our observables also in two-dimensional (Mtt¯,cosθt*) bins, where Mtt¯ denotes the tt¯-invariant mass and θt* is the top quark scattering angle in the tt¯ zero-momentum frame. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Measurement of the polarisation of single top quarks and antiquarks produced in the t-channel at sqrt{s} = 13 TeV and bounds on the tWb dipole operator from the ATLAS experiment

A simultaneous measurement of the three components of the top-quark and top-antiquark polarisation vectors in t-channel single-top-quark production is presented. This analysis is based on data from proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1, collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Selected events contain exactly one isolated electron or muon, large missing transverse momentum and exactly two jets, one being b-tagged. Stringent selection requirements are applied to discriminate t-channel single-top-quark events from the background contributions. The top-quark and top-antiquark polarisation vectors are measured from the distributions of the direction cosines of the charged-lepton momentum in the top-quark rest frame. The three components of the polarisation vector for the selected top-quark event sample are {P}_{x^{prime }} = 0.01 ± 0.18, {P}_{y^{prime }} = −0.029 ± 0.027, {P}_{z^{prime }} = 0.91 ± 0.10 and for the top-antiquark event sample they are {P}_{x^{prime }} = −0.02 ± 0.20, {P}_{y^{prime }} = −0.007 ± 0.051, {P}_{z^{prime }} = 0.79 ± 0.16. Normalised differential cross-sections corrected to a fiducial region at the stable-particle level are presented as a function of the charged-lepton angles for top-quark and top-antiquark events inclusively and separately. These measurements are in agreement with Standard Model predictions. The angular differential cross-sections are used to derive bounds on the complex Wilson coefficient of the dimension-six mathcal{O} tW operator in the framework of an effective field theory. The obtained bounds are CtW ∈ [−0.9, 1.4] and CitW ∈ [−0.8, 0.2], both at 95% confidence level.

Machine learning the Higgs boson-top quark CP phase

We explore the direct Higgs boson-top $CP$ measurement via the $pp\ensuremath{\rightarrow}t\overline{t}h$ channel at the high-luminosity LHC. We show that a combination of machine learning techniques and efficient kinematic reconstruction methods can boost new physics sensitivity, effectively probing the complex $t\overline{t}h$ multiparticle phase space. Special attention is devoted to top quark polarization observables, uplifting the analysis from a raw rate to a polarization study. Through a combination of hadronic, semileptonic, and dileptonic top pair final states in association with $h\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\gamma}\ensuremath{\gamma}$, we obtain that the HL-LHC can probe the Higgs boson-top coupling modifier and $CP$ phase, respectively, up to $|{\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{t}|\ensuremath{\lesssim}8%$ and $|\ensuremath{\alpha}|\ensuremath{\lesssim}13\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}$ at 68% C.L.

Boosted top quark tagging and polarization measurement using machine learning

Machine learning techniques are used for treating jets as images to explore the performance of boosted top quark tagging. Tagging performances are studied in both hadronic and leptonic channels of top quark decay, employing a convolutional neural network (CNN) based technique along with boosted decision trees (BDT). This computer vision approach is also applied to distinguish between left and right polarized top quarks. In this context, an experimentally measurable asymmetry variable is proposed to estimate the polarization. Results indicate that the CNN based classifier is more sensitive to top quark polarization than the standard kinematic variables. It is observed that the overall tagging performance in the leptonic channel is better than the hadronic case, and the former also serves as a better probe for studying polarization.

Inclusive and differential cross section measurements of single top quark production in association with a Z boson in proton-proton collisions at sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

Inclusive and differential cross sections of single top quark production in association with a Z boson are measured in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1 recorded by the CMS experiment. Events are selected based on the presence of three leptons, electrons or muons, associated with leptonic Z boson and top quark decays. The measurement yields an inclusive cross section of {87.9}_{-7.3}^{+7.5}{left(mathrm{stat}right)}_{-6.0}^{+7.3}left(mathrm{syst}right) fb for a dilepton invariant mass greater than 30 GeV, in agreement with standard model (SM) calculations and represents the most precise determination to date. The ratio between the cross sections for the top quark and the top antiquark production in association with a Z boson is measured as {2.37}_{-0.42}^{+0.56}{left(mathrm{stat}right)}_{-0.13}^{+0.27}left(mathrm{syst}right) . Differential measurements at parton and particle levels are performed for the first time. Several kinematic observables are considered to study the modeling of the process. Results are compared to theoretical predictions with different assumptions on the source of the initial-state b quark and found to be in agreement, within the uncertainties. Additionally, the spin asymmetry, which is sensitive to the top quark polarization, is determined from the differential distribution of the polarization angle at parton level to be 0.54 ± 0.16 (stat) ± 0.06 (syst), in agreement with SM predictions.

Optimized Probes of the CP Nature of the Top Quark Yukawa Coupling at Hadron Colliders

We summarize our recent proposals for probing the CP-odd iκ˜t¯γ5th interaction at the LHC and its projected upgrades directly using associated on-shell Higgs boson and top quark or top quark pair production. We first recount how to construct a CP-odd observable based on top quark polarization in Wb→th scattering with optimal linear sensitivity to κ˜. For the corresponding hadronic process pp→thj we then present a method of extracting the phase-space dependent weight function that allows to retain close to optimal sensitivity to κ˜. For the case of top quark pair production in association with the Higgs boson, pp→tt¯h, with semileptonically decaying tops, we instead show how one can construct manifestly CP-odd observables that rely solely on measuring the momenta of the Higgs boson and the leptons and b-jets from the decaying tops without having to distinguish the charge of the b-jets. Finally, we introduce machine learning (ML) and non-ML techniques to study the phase-space optimization of such CP-odd observables. We emphasize a simple optimized linear combination α·ω that gives similar sensitivity as the studied fully fledged ML models. Using α·ω we review sensitivity projections to κ˜ at HL-LHC, HE-LHC, and FCC-hh.

Angular analysis of bottom-flavored hadron production in semileptonic decays of polarized top quarks

We study the inclusive production of bottom-flavored hadrons from semileptonic decays of polarized top quarks at next-to-leading order in QCD using fragmentation functions recently determined from a global fit to $e^+e^-$ data. We provide the relevant differential decay widths at parton level in analytic form. These results fill an important gap in the theoretical interpretation of recent measurements of the top-quark polarization and the $t\bar{t}$ spin correlations using dilepton final states in proton-proton collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. As an illustration, we study the distributions in the scaled bottom-hadron energy of the polarized-top-quark decay widths for different $W$-boson helicities.

Searching for heavy charged Higgs bosons through top quark polarization

We study the production of a heavy charged Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in [Formula: see text] within a 2-Higgs Doublet Model (2HDM). The chiral structure of the [Formula: see text] coupling can trigger a particular spin state of the top quark produced in the decay of a charged Higgs boson and, therefore, is sensitive to the underlying mechanism of the Electroweak Symmetry Breaking (EWSB). Taking two benchmark models (2HDM type-I and 2HDM type-Y) as an example, we show that inclusive rates, differential distributions and forward–backward asymmetries of the top quark’s decay products can be used to search for heavy charged Higgs bosons and also as model discriminators.

Measurement of differential cross sections and charge ratios for t-channel single top quark production in proton\u2013proton collisions at sqrt{s}=13,text {Te}text {V}

A measurement is presented of differential cross sections for t-channel single top quark and antiquark production in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13,text {Te}text {V} by the CMS experiment at the LHC. From a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9,text {fb}^{-1}, events containing one muon or electron and two or three jets are analysed. The cross section is measured as a function of the top quark transverse momentum (p_{mathrm{T}} ), rapidity, and polarisation angle, the charged lepton p_{mathrm{T}} and rapidity, and the p_{mathrm{T}} of the text {W}{}{} boson from the top quark decay. In addition, the charge ratio is measured differentially as a function of the top quark, charged lepton, and text {W}{}{} boson kinematic observables. The results are found to be in agreement with standard model predictions using various next-to-leading-order event generators and sets of parton distribution functions. Additionally, the spin asymmetry, sensitive to the top quark polarisation, is determined from the differential distribution of the polarisation angle at parton level to be 0.440 pm 0.070, in agreement with the standard model prediction.

Probing the C P nature of the top quark Yukawa at hadron colliders

We analyze the prospects of probing the C P -odd itilde{kappa}overline{t}gamma 5th interaction at the LHC and its projected upgrades, the high-luminosity and high-energy LHC, directly using associated on-shell Higgs boson and top quark or top quark pair production. To this end we first construct a C P -odd observable based on top quark polarization in Wb → th scattering with optimal linear sensitivity to tilde{kappa} . For the corresponding hadronic process pp → thj we present a method of extracting the phase-space dependent weight function that allows to retain close to optimal sensitivity to tilde{kappa} . We project future sensitivity to the signal in pp → t(→ ℓ\U0001d708b)h(→ b overline{b} )j. We also propose novel C P -odd observables for top quark pair production in association with the Higgs, pp → t overline{t} h, with semileptonically decaying tops and h → b overline{b} , that rely solely on measuring the momenta of leptons and b-jets from the decaying tops without having to distinguish the charge of the b-jets. Among the many possibilities we single out an observable that can potentially probe tilde{kappa} ∼ 0.1 at the high-energy LHC with 2\U0001d70e confidence.

Measurement of the top quark polarization and tt¯ spin correlations using dilepton final states in proton-proton collisions at s=13 TeV

Measurements of the top quark polarization and top quark pair ($\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$) spin correlations are presented using events containing two oppositely charged leptons (e$^+$e$^-$, e$^\pm\mu^\mp$, or $\mu^+\mu^-$) produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data were recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. A set of parton-level normalized differential cross sections, sensitive to each of the independent coefficients of the spin-dependent parts of the $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$ production density matrix, is measured for the first time at 13 TeV. The measured distributions and extracted coefficients are compared with standard model predictions from simulations at next-to-leading-order (NLO) accuracy in quantum chromodynamics (QCD), and from NLO QCD calculations including electroweak corrections. All measurements are found to be consistent with the expectations of the standard model. The normalized differential cross sections are used in fits to constrain the anomalous chromomagnetic and chromoelectric dipole moments of the top quark to $-$0.24 $<C_\text{tG}/\Lambda^{2}$ $<$ 0.07 TeV$^{-2}$ and $-$0.33 $< C^{I}_\text{tG}/\Lambda^{2}$ $<$ 0.20 TeV$^{-2}$, respectively, at 95% confidence level.

Boosted top quark polarization

In top quark production, the polarization of top quarks, decided by the chiral structure of couplings, is likely to be modified in the presence of any new physics contribution to the production. Hence the same is a good discriminator for those new physics models wherein the couplings have a chiral structure different than that in the Standard Model (SM). In this note we construct probes of the polarization of a top quark decaying hadronically, using easily accessible kinematic variables such as the energy fraction or angular correlations of the decay products. Tagging the boosted top quark using the usual jet sub structure technique we study robustness of these observables for a benchmark process, $W^{\prime} \to tb$. We demonstrate that the energy fraction of b-jet in the laboratory frame and a new angular variable, constructed by us in the top rest frame, are both very powerful tools to discriminate between the left and right polarized top quarks. Based on the polarization sensitive angular variables, we construct asymmetries which reflect the polarization. We study the efficiency of these variables for two new physics processes where which give rise to boosted top quarks: (i) decay of the top squark in the context of supersymmetry searches, and (ii) decays of the Kaluza-Klein(KK) graviton and KK gluon, in Randall Sundrum(RS) model. Remarkably, it is found that the asymmetry can vary over a wide range about +20\% to -20\%. The dependence of asymmetry on top quark couplings of the new particles present in these models beyond the SM (BSM) is also investigated in detail.

Fingerprinting the top quark FCNC via anomalous Ztq couplings at the LHeC

A study of the top quark \emph{Flavour Changing Neutral Current} (FCNC) through $Z$-boson has been performed in the proposed future $e^-p$ collider for the energy, $E_{e(p)} = 60~(7000)$~GeV. We considered an effective theory where the anomalous FCNC couplings are of vector and tensor nature. The effect of these couplings is probed in the single top production along with the scattered electron. The polar angle $\theta$ of the electrons coming out of the primary vertex in association with the top quark polarization asymmetries constructed from the angular distribution of the secondary lepton arising from the top decay, allow to distinguish the Lorentz structure of the coupling. From a multi-parameter analysis, we obtain a reach of ${\cal O} (10^{-2})$ in the case of $Ztu$ and $Ztc$ couplings at an integrated luminosity of 2~ab$^{-1}$ at 95\% C.L.

Polarization of top and chargino from stop decay in natural SUSY

Top squark (stop) plays a crucial role in the naturalness of supersymmetry (SUSY) models, which has been extensively searched for in the LHC experiments. Due to the parity-violating couplings, top quark and chargino thus produced from stop decay are expected to be polarized. We investigate the polarization of top quark and chargino, from which we find that the mass differences between neutralino and stop/chargino can affect the degree of polarization of top quark/chargino in the stop decay. We then examine the top polarization effects on kinematics of stop decay in natural SUSY (NSUSY) at the LHC and the results show that several observables have the discriminating power for different polarized top quark at the LHC, which may be useful for testing the nature of stop couplings in NSUSY.

Probing the Higgs Yukawa coupling to the top quark at the LHC via single top+Higgs production

The conjoined production at the LHC of single top and Higgs boson via $t$-channel weak boson exchange is ideal to probe the top-quark Yukawa coupling, due to a delicate cancellation between the amplitudes with the $htt$ and the $hWW$ couplings. We find that the top quark is produced with $100\%$ polarization in the leading order, and its quantum state is determined by the spin-vector direction in the $t$-quark rest frame. We relate the spin direction to the four-momenta of the top, Higgs and a jet in the helicity amplitude framework. We identify a polarization asymmetry that is sensitive to CP violation, even after partial integration over the forward jet momentum. This CP violating asymmetry may be observed at the LHC via the component of the top-quark polarization that is perpendicular to the $th$ scattering plane.

Polarization of top quark in vector-like quark decay

Vector-like quarks (VLQs) are attractive extensions to the Standard Model. They mix with the SM quarks and can lead to rich phenomenology. Determination of VLQ's interaction structure with the SM is then an important issue, which can be inferred from the decay products of VLQs, such as top quark. We calculate the spin-analyzing powers for charged leptons from top quark in VLQ decay for various VLQ scenarios. We find that the top polarization effect will be helpful to distinguish different natures of the VLQ couplings with the SM.

Top quark polarization as a probe of charged Higgs bosons

We study the production and decay of a heavy charged Higgs boson in the $bg\to tH^-$ and $H^-\to b\bar t$ processes at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We show that the chiral structure of the $H^-t\bar b$ vertex entering both stages is sensitive to the underlying Higgs mechanism of Electro-Weak Symmetry Breaking (EWSB) and we specifically demonstrate that one could distinguish between two popular realizations of a 2-Higgs Double Model (2HDM) embedding a new $H^\pm$ state, i.e., those with Type-I and -Y Yukawa couplings. The chiral structure of such a vertex, which is different in the two cases, in turn triggers a particular spin state of the top quark which is then transmitted to its decay products. Hence, both inclusive rates and exclusive observables can be used to extract the presence of such a charged Higgs boson state in LHC data.

Top quark properties and mass measurements with the ATLAS detector

Highlights on recent measurements of top quark properties in ATLAS, using pp collision data at s = 8 TeV and 13 TeV, are presented. The measurements of the top quark polarization and spin correlation coefficients, the W boson helicity fractions, the structure of the Wtb vertex, the associated production of a tt‾ pair with a vector boson or a photon, and the top quark mass are all in agreement with the Standard Model expectations.

Analysis of the Wtb vertex from the measurement of triple-differential angular decay rates of single top quarks produced in the t-channel at sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The electroweak production and subsequent decay of single top quarks in the t-channel is determined by the properties of the Wtb vertex, which can be described by the complex parameters of an effective Lagrangian. An analysis of a triple-differential decay rate in t-channel production is used to simultaneously determine five generalised helicity fractions and phases, as well as the polarisation of the produced top quark. The complex parameters are then constrained. This analysis is based on 20.2 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The fraction of decays containing transversely polarised W bosons is measured to be f1 = 0.30 ± 0.05. The phase between amplitudes for transversely and longitudinally polarised W bosons recoiling against left-handed b-quarks is measured to be δ− = 0.002π+ 0.017π+ 0.016π, giving no indication of CP violation. The fractions of longitudinal or transverse W bosons accompanied by right-handed b-quarks are also constrained. Based on these measurements, limits are placed at 95% CL on the ratio of the complex coupling parameters Re [gR/VL ∈ [−0.12, 0.17] and Im [gR/VL ∈ [−0.07, 0.06]. Constraints are also placed on the ratios |VR/VL| and |gL/VL|. In addition, the polarisation of single top quarks in the t-channel is constrained to be P > 0.72 (95% CL). None of the above measurements make assumptions about the value of any of the other parameters or couplings and all of them are in agreement with the Standard Model.