A minimal set of top anomalous couplings

We simplify the general form of the fermion-fermion-gauge boson interactions generated by dimension-six gauge-invariant effective operators by using the equations of motion to remove redundant operators. It is found that the most general vertex for off-shell fermions fi, fj and an off-shell boson V=W,Z,gamma,g only involves gamma^mu and sigma^{mu nu} q_nu terms, with q=p_i-p_j. Examples are given for the Wtb, Ztt, gamma tt and gtt interactions, whose general expression is greatly simplified with respect to previous results in the literature. The same arguments apply to top flavour-changing neutral interactions with the Z boson, the photon or the gluon, which can also be parameterised in full generality with only gamma^mu and sigma^{mu nu} q_nu couplings. Explicit expressions are given for these vertices in terms of dimension-six gauge-invariant operators. We also discuss how effective operator coefficients might be determined from eventual measurements of anomalous couplings.Comment: LaTeX 29 pages, 3 PS figures. Minor comments added, final version to appear in NP

Rare top decays t -> c gamma, t -> c g and CKM unitarity

Top flavour-changing neutral decays are extremely suppressed within the Standard Model (SM) by the GIM mechanism, but can reach observable rates in some of its extensions. We compute the branching ratios for t -> c gamma and t -> c g in minimal SM extensions where the addition of a vector-like up or down quark singlet breaks the unitarity of the 3 x 3 Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix. The maximum rates obtained indicate to what extent present experimental data allow 3 x 3 CKM unitarity to be broken in these models, and are too small to be observed in the near future. As a by-product, we reproduce the calculation of these branching ratios in the SM, and with an improved set of parameters we obtain values one order of magnitude smaller than the ones usually quoted in the literature. We study the CP asymmetries between the decay rates of the top quark and antiquark, which can be much larger than in the SM, also as a consequence of the partial breaking of 3 x 3 CKM unitarity.Comment: LaTeX, 15 pages, 12 PS figures, minor changes. To be published in PL

Effective four-fermion operators in top physics: a roadmap

We write down a minimal basis for dimension-six gauge-invariant four-fermion operators, with some operator replacements with respect to previous ones which make it simpler for calculations. Using this basis we classify all four-fermion operator contributions involving one or two top quarks. Taking into account the different fermion chiralities, possible colour contractions and independent flavour combinations, a total number of 572 gauge-invariant operators are involved. We apply this to calculate all three-body top decay widths t -> d_k u_i dbar_j, t -> d_k e_i+ nu_j, t -> u_k u_i ubar_j, t -> u_k e_j+ e_i-, t -> u_k nu_j nu_i (with i,j,k generation indices) mediated by dimension-six four-fermion operators, including the interference with the Standard Model amplitudes when present. All single top production cross sections in pp, p pbar and e+ e- collisions are calculated as well, namely u_i d_k -> d_j t, dbar_j d_k -> ubar_i t, u_i dbar_j -> dbar_k t, u_i u_k -> u_j t, u_i ubar_j -> ubar_k t, e+ e- -> ubar_k t and the charge conjugate processes. We also compute all top pair production cross sections, ubar_i u_j -> t tbar, dbar_i d_j -> t tbar, u_i u_j -> t t and e+ e- -> t tbar. Our results are completely general, without assuming any particular relation among effective operator coefficients.Comment: LaTeX 43 pages, 1 PS figure. Cross sections for uu,cc -> tt correcte

Multilepton production via top flavour-changing neutral couplings at the CERN LHC

Zt and gamma t production with Z -> l+ l- and t -> Wb -> l nu b provides the best determination of top flavour-changing neutral couplings at the LHC. The bounds on tc couplings eventually derived from these processes are similar to those expected from top decays, while the limits on tu couplings are better by a factor of two. The other significant Z and W decay modes are also investigated.Comment: 30 pages, 23 PS figures. Uses epsfig.sty and elsart.sty. Added some references and corrected some typos. Added more comments about statistics. Using elsart.sty reduces the size to 30 pages. Published in Nucl. Phys.

Top flavour-changing neutral coupling signals at a linear collider

We present an analysis of the sensitivity of the TESLA e+ e- collider to top flavour-changing neutral couplings to the Z boson and photon. We consider the cases without beam polarization, with only e- polarization and with e- and e+ polarization, showing that the use of the latter substantially enhances the sensitivity to discover or bound these vertices. For some of the couplings the expected LHC limits could be improved up to an order of magnitude for equal running times.Comment: 12 pages, 5 PS figures. Added some references and corrected a typo. Final version to appear in PL

A minimal set of top-Higgs anomalous couplings

We use the equations of motion to simplify the general form of fermion-fermion-Higgs interactions generated by dimension-six gauge-invariant effective operators. After removing redundant operators it is found that the most general H f_i f_j vertex for off-shell fermions f_i, f_j and an off-shell Higgs boson only involves scalar and pseudo-scalar terms, without derivatives. Examples are presented for the Htt and Htq interactions, where q=u,c, giving the explicit expressions of the vertices in terms of gauge-invariant operators. The new operator equalities obtained here also reduce the number of operators relevant for the Ztq vertices, although the general form of these interactions is not simplified with respect to previous results.Comment: LaTeX 16 pages, 2 PS figures. Typos corrected. Final version which appeared on the journa

Combined analysis of Z' -> t tbar and Z' -> t tbar j production for vector resonance searches at LHC

We have implemented a code for Z' + n jets production in ALPGEN, with Z' decays into several final states, including l+ l- and t tbar. The MLM prescription is used for matching the matrix element with the parton shower, including in this way the leading soft and collinear corrections. In order to demonstrate its capabilities, we perform a combined analysis of Z' -> t tbar and Z' -> t tbar j production for a heavy leptophobic gauge boson. It is found that the effect of the extra jet cannot only be accounted for by a K factor multiplying the leading-order cross section. In fact, the combined analysis for Z' -> t tbar and Z' -> t tbar j presented improves the statistical significance of the signal by 25% (8.55 sigma versus 6.77 sigma for a Z' mass of 1 TeV), compared with the results of an inclusive analysis carried out on the same sample of t tbar + t tbar j events.Comment: LaTeX 17 pages, 13 PS figure

Electroweak constraints on new physics

We briefly review the limits on new interactions implied by electroweak precision data. Special attention is payed to the bounds on the Higgs boson mass. We also comment on the required cancellation among the new contributions to precisely measured electroweak observables in any Standard Model extension, if the new particles have to evade the indirect constraints on their couplings and masses but still remain at the LHC reach.Comment: Latex 4 pages, 1 table, 2 figures. To appear in the proceedings of 10th Hellenic School and Workshops on Elementary Particle Physics and Gravity (Corfu 2010), Corfu, Greece, Aug 29 - Sep 19, 201

Heavy neutrino signals at large hadron colliders

We study the LHC discovery potential for heavy Majorana neutrino singlets in the process pp -> W+ -> l+ N -> l+ l+ jj (l=e,mu) plus its charge conjugate. With a fast detector simulation we show that backgrounds involving two like-sign charged leptons are not negligible and, moreover, they cannot be eliminated with simple sequential kinematical cuts. Using a likelihood analysis it is shown that, for heavy neutrinos coupling only to the muon, LHC has 5 sigma sensitivity for masses up to 200 GeV in the final state mu+- mu+- jj. This reduction in sensitivity, compared to previous parton-level estimates, is driven by the ~ 10^2-10^3 times larger background. Limits are also provided for e+- e+- jj and e+- mu+- jj final states, as well as for Tevatron. For heavy Dirac neutrinos the prospects are worse because backgrounds involving two opposite charge leptons are much larger. For this case, we study the observability of the lepton flavour violating signal e+- mu-+ jj. As a by-product of our analysis, heavy neutrino production has been implemented within the ALPGEN framework.Comment: Latex 36 pages, 49 PS figures. Major extension incorporating analysis for e+- e+-, e+- mu+- and e+- mu-+ final states. Final version to appear in JHE

Top effective operators at the ILC

We investigate the effect of top trilinear operators in t tbar production at the ILC. We find that the sensitivity to these operators largely surpasses the one achievable by the LHC either in neutral or charged current processes, allowing to probe new physics scales up to 4.5 TeV for a centre of mass energy of 500 GeV. We show how the use of beam polarisation and an eventual energy upgrade to 1 TeV allow to disentangle all effective operator contributions to the Ztt and gamma tt vertices.Comment: LaTeX 13 pages. Typos corrected. Final version in JHE