Measurement of the ttbar Production Cross Section in ppbar Collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV

We present a measurement of the top quark pair production cross section in ppbar collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV using 318 pb^{-1} of data collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab. We select ttbar decays into the final states e nu + jets and mu nu + jets, in which at least one b quark from the t-quark decays is identified using a secondary vertex-finding algorithm. Assuming a top quark mass of 178 GeV/c^2, we measure a cross section of 8.7 +-0.9 (stat) +1.1-0.9 (syst) pb. We also report the first observation of ttbar with significance greater than 5 sigma in the subsample in which both b quarks are identified, corresponding to a cross section of 10.1 +1.6-1.4(stat)+2.0-1.3 (syst) pb.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physics Review Letters, 7 page

Top quark mass measurement using the template method at CDF

We present a measurement of the top quark mass in the lepton+jets and dilepton channels of $t\bar{t}$ decays using the template method. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.6 fb$^{-1}$ of $p\bar{p}$ collisions at Tevatron with $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV, collected with the CDF II detector. The measurement is performed by constructing templates of three kinematic variables in the lepton+jets and two kinematic variables in the dilepton channel. The variables are two reconstructed top quark masses from different jets-to-quarks combinations and the invariant mass of two jets from the $W$ decay in the lepton+jets channel, and a reconstructed top quark mass and $m_{T2}$, a variable related to the transverse mass in events with two missing particles, in the dilepton channel. The simultaneous fit of the templates from signal and background events in the lepton+jets and dilepton channels to the data yields a measured top quark mass of $M_{top} = 172.1 \pm 1.1(stat) \pm 0.9(syst).$Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.

Evidence for the exclusive decay Bc+- to J/psi pi+- and measurement of the mass of the Bc meson

We report first evidence for a fully reconstructed decay mode of the B_c^{\pm} meson in the channel B_c^{\pm} \to J/psi \pi^{\pm}, with J/psi \to mu^+mu^-. The analysis is based on an integrated luminosity of 360 pb$^{-1} in p\bar{p} collisions at 1.96 TeV center of mass energy collected by the Collider Detector at Fermilab. We observe 14.6 \pm 4.6 signal events with a background of 7.1 \pm 0.9 events, and a fit to the J/psi pi^{\pm} mass spectrum yields a B_c^{\pm} mass of 6285.7 \pm 5.3(stat) \pm 1.2(syst) MeV/c^2. The probability of a peak of this magnitude occurring by random fluctuation in the search region is estimated as 0.012%.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. Version 3, accepted by PR

Inclusive Search for Anomalous Production of High-pT Like-Sign Lepton Pairs in Proton-Antiproton Collisions at sqrt{s}=1.8 TeV

We report on a search for anomalous production of events with at least two charged, isolated, like-sign leptons with pT > 11 GeV/c using a 107 pb^-1 sample of 1.8 TeV ppbar collisions collected by the CDF detector. We define a signal region containing low background from Standard Model processes. To avoid bias, we fix the final cuts before examining the event yield in the signal region using control regions to test the Monte Carlo predictions. We observe no events in the signal region, consistent with an expectation of 0.63^(+0.84)_(-0.07) events. We present 95% confidence level limits on new physics processes in both a signature-based context as well as within a representative minimal supergravity (tanbeta = 3) model.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures. Minor textual changes, cosmetic improvements to figures and updated and expanded reference

Measurement of WγW\gamma and ZγZ\gamma Production in ppˉp\bar{p} Collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV

The Standard Model predictions for $W\gamma$ and $Z\gamma$ production are tested using an integrated luminosity of 200 pb$^{-1}$ of \ppbar collision data collected at the Collider Detector at Fermilab. The cross sections are measured selecting leptonic decays of the $W$ and $Z$ bosons, and photons with transverse energy $E_T>7$ GeV that are well separated from leptons. The production cross sections and kinematic distributions for the $W\gamma$ and $Z\gamma$ are compared to SM predictions.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR

Measurement of the ttbar Production Cross Section in ppbar Collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV using Lepton + Jets Events with Secondary Vertex b-tagging

We present a measurement of the ttbar production cross section using events with one charged lepton and jets from ppbar collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV. In these events, heavy flavor quarks from top quark decay are identified with a secondary vertex tagging algorithm. From 162 pb-1 of data collected by the Collider Detector at Fermilab, a total of 48 candidate events are selected, where 13.5 +- 1.8 events are expected from background contributions. We measure a ttbar production cross section of 5.6^{+1.2}_{-1.1} (stat.) ^{+0.9}_{0.6} (syst.) pb.Comment: 28 pages, 20 figures. Published in Physical Review

Tests of analytical hadronisation models using event shape moments in {\epem} annihilation

Predictions of analytical models for hadronisation, namely the dispersive model, the shape function and the single dressed gluon approximation, are compared with moments of hadronic event shape distributions measured in \epem annihilation at centre-of-mass energies between 14 and 209 GeV. In contrast to Monte Carlo models for hadronisation, analytical models require to adjust only two universal parameters, the strong coupling and a second quantity parametrising nonperturbative corrections. The extracted values of as are consistent with the world average and competitive with previous measurements. The variance of event shape distributions is compared with predictions given by some of these models. Limitations of the models, probably due to unknown higher order corrections, are demonstrated and discussed.Comment: Ref.s [19,36] added and footnote 1 adjuste

Top Quark Mass Measurement Using the Template Method in the Lepton + Jets Channel at CDF II

This article presents a measurement of the top quark mass using the CDF II detector at Fermilab. Colliding beams of protons and anti-protons at Fermilab's Tevatron (sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV) produce top/anti-top pairs, which decay to W^+W^-bbbar; events are selected where one W decays to hadrons, and one W decays to either e or mu plus a neutrino. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of approximately 318 pb^-1. A total of 165 ttbar events are separated into four subsamples based on jet transverse energy thresholds and the number of b jets identified by reconstructing a displaced vertex. In each event, the reconstructed top quark invariant mass is determined by minimizing a chi-squared for the overconstrained kinematic system. At the same time, the mass of the hadronically decaying W boson is measured in the same event sample. The observed W boson mass provides an in situ improvement in the determination of the hadronic jet energy scale, JES. A simultaneous likelihood fit of the reconstructed top quark masses and the W boson invariant masses in the data sample to distributions from simulated signal and background events gives a top quark mass of 173.5 +3.7/-3.6 (stat.+JES) +/- 1.3 (other syst.) GeV/c^2, or 173.5 +3.9/-3.8 GeV/c^2.Comment: 77 pages, 32 figures, Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Measurements of Inclusive W and Z Cross Sections in p-pbar Collisions at sqrt{s} =1.96 TeV

We report the first measurements of inclusive W and Z boson cross sections times the corresponding leptonic branching ratios for p pbar collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV based on the decays of the W and Z bosons into electrons and muons. The data were recorded with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 72.0 +/- 4.3 pb-1. We test e-mu lepton universality in W decays by measuring the ratio of the W->mu nu to W->e nu cross sections and determine a value of 0.991 +/- 0.004(stat.) +/- 0.011(syst.) for the ratio of W-l-nu couplings (g_mu/g_e). Since there is no sign of non-universality, we combine our cross section measurements in the different lepton decay modes and obtain sigma*BR(W->lnu) = 2.749 +/- 0.010(stat.) +/- 0.053(syst.) +/- 0.165(lum.) nb and sigma*BR(gamma*/Z->ll)=254.9 +/- 3.3(stat.) +/- 4.6(syst.) +/- 15.2(lum.) pb for dilepton pairs in the mass range between 66 GeV/c^2 and 116 GeV/c^2. We compute the ratio R of the W->lnu to Z->ll cross sections taking all correlations among channels into account and obtain R=10.84 +/- 0.15(stat.) +/- 0.14(syst.) including a correction for the virtual photon exchange component in our measured gamma*/Z->ll cross section. Based on the measured value of R, we extract values for the W leptonic branching ratio, BR(W->lnu) =0.1082 +/- 0.0022; the total width of the W boson, Gamma(W) =2092 +/- 42 MeV; and the ratio of W and Z boson total widths, Gamma(W)/Gamma(Z) = 0.838 +/- 0.017. In addition, we use our extracted value of Gamma(W) whose value depends on various electroweak parameters and certain CKM matrix elements to constrain the V_CS CKM matrix element, |V_CS| = 0.976 +/- 0.030.Comment: 88 pages, 37 figures, published J. Phys.