Model-independent measurement of t-channel single top quark production in p(p)over-bar collisions at,root s=1.96 TeV

Abazov, V. M. and Abbott, B. and Acharya, B. S. and Adams, M. and Adams, T. and Alexeev, G. D. and Alkhazov, G. and Alton, A. and Alverson, G. and Alves, G. A. and Ancu, L. S. and Aoki, M. and Arov, M. and Askew, A. and Asman, B. and Atramentov, O. and Avila, C. and BackusMayes, J. and Badaud, F. and Bagby, L. and Baldin, B. and Bandurin, D. V. and Banerjee, S. and Barberis, E. and Baringer, R. and Barreto, J. and Bartlett, J. F. and Bassler, U. and Bazterra, V. and Beale, S. and Bean, A. and Begalli, M. and Begel, M. and Belanger-Champagne, C. and Bellantoni, L. and Beri, S. B. and Bernardi, G. and Bernhard, R. and Bertram, I. and Besancon, M. and Beuselinck, R. and Bezzubov, V. A. and Bhat, P. C. and Bhatnagar, V. and Borissov, G. and Fox, H. and Price, D. and Ratoff, P. N. and Ross, A. and Williams, M. R. J. (2011) Model-independent measurement of t-channel single top quark production in p(p)over-bar collisions at,root s=1.96 TeV. Physics Letters B, 705 (4). pp. 313-319. ISSN 0370-2693

Abstract

We present a model-independent measurement of t-channel electroweak production of single top quarks in p collisions at root s = 1.96 TeV. Using 5.4 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity collected by the DO detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider, and selecting events containing an isolated electron or muon, missing transverse energy and one or two jets originating from the fragmentation of b quarks, we measure a cross section sigma (p (p) over bar -> tqb + X) = 2.90 +/- 0.59 (stat + syst) pb for a top quark mass of 172.5 GeV. The probability of the background to fluctuate and produce a signal as large as the one observed is 1.6 x 10(-8), corresponding to a significance of 5.5 standard deviations. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.