Evidence for Top Quark Production in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

CMS Collaboration

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.222001

Evidence for Top Quark Production in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

CMS Collaboration

Department of Physics Engineering

A. Alikhanian Yerevan Institute of Physics
Austrian Academy of Sciences
TU Wien
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Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions recreate in the laboratory the thermodynamical conditions prevailing in the early universe up to 10-6 sec, thereby allowing the study of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP), a state of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) matter with deconfined partons. The top quark, the heaviest elementary particle known, is accessible in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the CERN LHC, and constitutes a novel probe of the QGP. Here, we report the first evidence for the production of top quarks in nucleus-nucleus collisions, using lead-lead collision data at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV recorded by the CMS experiment. Two methods are used to measure the cross section for top quark pair production (σtt) via the selection of charged leptons (electrons or muons) and bottom quarks. One method relies on the leptonic information alone, and the second one exploits, in addition, the presence of bottom quarks. The measured cross sections, σtt=2.54-0.74+0.84 and 2.03-0.64+0.71 μb, respectively, are compatible with expectations from scaled proton-proton data and QCD predictions.

Original language	English
Article number	222001
Journal	Physical Review Letters
Volume	125
Issue number	22
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.222001
Publication status	Published - 24 Nov 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 CERN.

Funding

We congratulate our colleagues in the CERN accelerator departments for the excellent performance of the LHC and thank the technical and administrative staffs at CERN and at other CMS institutes for their contributions to the success of the CMS effort. In addition, we gratefully acknowledge the computing centers and personnel of the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid for delivering so effectively the computing infrastructure essential to our analyses. Finally, we acknowledge the enduring support for the construction and operation of the LHC and the CMS detector provided by the following funding agencies: BMBWF and FWF (Austria); FNRS and FWO (Belgium); CNPq, CAPES, FAPERJ, FAPERGS, and FAPESP (Brazil); MES (Bulgaria); CERN; CAS, MoST, and NSFC (China); COLCIENCIAS (Colombia); MSES and CSF (Croatia); RIF (Cyprus); SENESCYT (Ecuador); MoER, ERC IUT, PUT and ERDF (Estonia); Academy of Finland, MEC, and HIP (Finland); CEA and CNRS/IN2P3 (France); BMBF, DFG, and HGF (Germany); GSRT (Greece); NKFIA (Hungary); DAE and DST (India); IPM (Iran); SFI (Ireland); INFN (Italy); MSIP and NRF (Republic of Korea); MES (Latvia); LAS (Lithuania); MOE and UM (Malaysia); BUAP, CINVESTAV, CONACYT, LNS, SEP, and UASLP-FAI (Mexico); MOS (Montenegro); MBIE (New Zealand); PAEC (Pakistan); MSHE and NSC (Poland); FCT (Portugal); JINR (Dubna); MON, RosAtom, RAS, RFBR, and NRC KI (Russia); MESTD (Serbia); SEIDI, CPAN, PCTI, and FEDER (Spain); MOSTR (Sri Lanka); Swiss Funding Agencies (Switzerland); MST (Taipei); ThEPCenter, IPST, STAR, and NSTDA (Thailand); TUBITAK and TAEK (Turkey); NASU (Ukraine); STFC (United Kingdom); DOE and NSF (USA).

Funders	Funder number
CNRS/IN2P3
CPAN
ERC IUT
LNS
MESTD
MON
MSES
MSHE
MoER
PCTI
STAR
Swiss Funding Agencies
TUBITAK
ThEPCenter
UASLP-FAI
National Science Foundation
U.S. Department of Energy
Hispanics in Philanthropy
CS Fund
Maryland Ornithological Society
Departamento Administrativo de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (COLCIENCIAS)
California Earthquake Authority
Secretaría de Educación Pública
Türkiye Atom Enerjisi Kurumu
Louisiana Academy of Sciences
Missouri University of Science and Technology
CERN
College of Arts and Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Norwegian Sequencing Centre
Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology
Mountain Equipment Co-operative
Science and Technology Facilities Council	GRIDPP
Royal Astronomical Society
Ministry of Education - Singapore
Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India
Taighde Éireann - Research Ireland
Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Russian Foundation for Basic Research
Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
Academy of Finland
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
Austrian Science Fund
Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS
Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
General Secretariat for Research and Technology
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning
Ministry of Science and Technology
National Research Foundation of Korea
Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
National Science and Technology Development Agency	Thailand
Politechnika Poznańska
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul
Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación
Universiti Malaya
Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
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National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Ministry of Education and Science
Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences
Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla
Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación
European Regional Development Fund
State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM
Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission
Department of Science and Technology, Government of West Bengal
Ministry of Science,Technology and Research
Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie
Nemzeti Kutatási, Fejlesztési és Innovaciós Alap
National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute"

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10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.222001

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@article{dd9f91561b504cd7b0865d44fbf5ade0,

title = "Evidence for Top Quark Production in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions",

abstract = "Ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions recreate in the laboratory the thermodynamical conditions prevailing in the early universe up to 10-6 sec, thereby allowing the study of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP), a state of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) matter with deconfined partons. The top quark, the heaviest elementary particle known, is accessible in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the CERN LHC, and constitutes a novel probe of the QGP. Here, we report the first evidence for the production of top quarks in nucleus-nucleus collisions, using lead-lead collision data at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV recorded by the CMS experiment. Two methods are used to measure the cross section for top quark pair production (σtt) via the selection of charged leptons (electrons or muons) and bottom quarks. One method relies on the leptonic information alone, and the second one exploits, in addition, the presence of bottom quarks. The measured cross sections, σtt=2.54-0.74+0.84 and 2.03-0.64+0.71 μb, respectively, are compatible with expectations from scaled proton-proton data and QCD predictions.",

author = "\{CMS Collaboration\} and Sirunyan, \{A. M.\} and A. Tumasyan and W. Adam and F. Ambrogi and T. Bergauer and M. Dragicevic and J. Er{\"o} and \{Escalante Del Valle\}, A. and R. Fr{\"u}hwirth and M. Jeitler and N. Krammer and L. Lechner and D. Liko and T. Madlener and I. Mikulec and N. Rad and J. Schieck and R. Sch{\"o}fbeck and M. Spanring and S. Templ and W. Waltenberger and Wulz, \{C. E.\} and M. Zarucki and V. Chekhovsky and A. Litomin and V. Makarenko and \{Suarez Gonzalez\}, J. and Darwish, \{M. R.\} and \{De Wolf\}, \{E. A.\} and \{Di Croce\}, D. and X. Janssen and T. Kello and A. Lelek and M. Pieters and \{Rejeb Sfar\}, H. and \{Van Haevermaet\}, H. and \{Van Mechelen\}, P. and \{Van Putte\}, S. and \{Van Remortel\}, N. and F. Blekman and Bols, \{E. S.\} and Chhibra, \{S. S.\} and J. D{\textquoteright}Hondt and \{De Clercq\}, J. and D. Lontkovskyi and S. Lowette and I. Marchesini and S. Moortgat and Q. Python and A. Cakir",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 CERN.",

year = "2020",

month = nov,

day = "24",

doi = "10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.222001",

language = "English",

volume = "125",

journal = "Physical Review Letters",

issn = "0031-9007",

publisher = "American Physical Society",

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T1 - Evidence for Top Quark Production in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

AU - CMS Collaboration

AU - Sirunyan, A. M.

AU - Tumasyan, A.

AU - Adam, W.

AU - Ambrogi, F.

AU - Bergauer, T.

AU - Dragicevic, M.

AU - Erö, J.

AU - Escalante Del Valle, A.

AU - Frühwirth, R.

AU - Jeitler, M.

AU - Krammer, N.

AU - Lechner, L.

AU - Liko, D.

AU - Madlener, T.

AU - Mikulec, I.

AU - Rad, N.

AU - Schieck, J.

AU - Schöfbeck, R.

AU - Spanring, M.

AU - Templ, S.

AU - Waltenberger, W.

AU - Wulz, C. E.

AU - Zarucki, M.

AU - Chekhovsky, V.

AU - Litomin, A.

AU - Makarenko, V.

AU - Suarez Gonzalez, J.

AU - Darwish, M. R.

AU - De Wolf, E. A.

AU - Di Croce, D.

AU - Janssen, X.

AU - Kello, T.

AU - Lelek, A.

AU - Pieters, M.

AU - Rejeb Sfar, H.

AU - Van Haevermaet, H.

AU - Van Mechelen, P.

AU - Van Putte, S.

AU - Van Remortel, N.

AU - Blekman, F.

AU - Bols, E. S.

AU - Chhibra, S. S.

AU - D’Hondt, J.

AU - De Clercq, J.

AU - Lontkovskyi, D.

AU - Lowette, S.

AU - Marchesini, I.

AU - Moortgat, S.

AU - Python, Q.

AU - Cakir, A.

PY - 2020/11/24

Y1 - 2020/11/24

N2 - Ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions recreate in the laboratory the thermodynamical conditions prevailing in the early universe up to 10-6 sec, thereby allowing the study of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP), a state of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) matter with deconfined partons. The top quark, the heaviest elementary particle known, is accessible in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the CERN LHC, and constitutes a novel probe of the QGP. Here, we report the first evidence for the production of top quarks in nucleus-nucleus collisions, using lead-lead collision data at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV recorded by the CMS experiment. Two methods are used to measure the cross section for top quark pair production (σtt) via the selection of charged leptons (electrons or muons) and bottom quarks. One method relies on the leptonic information alone, and the second one exploits, in addition, the presence of bottom quarks. The measured cross sections, σtt=2.54-0.74+0.84 and 2.03-0.64+0.71 μb, respectively, are compatible with expectations from scaled proton-proton data and QCD predictions.

AB - Ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions recreate in the laboratory the thermodynamical conditions prevailing in the early universe up to 10-6 sec, thereby allowing the study of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP), a state of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) matter with deconfined partons. The top quark, the heaviest elementary particle known, is accessible in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the CERN LHC, and constitutes a novel probe of the QGP. Here, we report the first evidence for the production of top quarks in nucleus-nucleus collisions, using lead-lead collision data at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV recorded by the CMS experiment. Two methods are used to measure the cross section for top quark pair production (σtt) via the selection of charged leptons (electrons or muons) and bottom quarks. One method relies on the leptonic information alone, and the second one exploits, in addition, the presence of bottom quarks. The measured cross sections, σtt=2.54-0.74+0.84 and 2.03-0.64+0.71 μb, respectively, are compatible with expectations from scaled proton-proton data and QCD predictions.

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U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.222001

DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.222001

M3 - Article

C2 - 33315428

AN - SCOPUS:85097318502

SN - 0031-9007

VL - 125

JO - Physical Review Letters

JF - Physical Review Letters

IS - 22

M1 - 222001

ER -

Evidence for Top Quark Production in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

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