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Measurement of top quark polarization in t(t)over-bar lepton+jets final states

Publication at Faculty of Mathematics and Physics |
2017

Abstract

We present a measurement of top quark polarization in t (t) over bar pair production in p (p) over bar collisions at root s = 1.96 TeV using data corresponding to 9.7 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity recorded with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. We consider final states containing a lepton and at least three jets.

The polarization is measured through the distribution of lepton angles along three axes: the beam axis, the helicity axis, and the transverse axis normal to the t (t) over bar production plane. This is the first measurement of top quark polarization at the Tevatron using lepton + jet final states and the first measurement of the transverse polarization in t (t) over bar production.

The observed distributions are consistent with standard model predictions of nearly no polarization.