Search for single production of a vector-like T quark decaying to a Z boson and a top quark in proton–proton collisions at s=13TeV

The CMS Collaboration

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Abstract

A search is presented for single production of a vector-like quark (T) decaying to a Z boson and a top quark, with the Z boson decaying leptonically and the top quark decaying hadronically. The search uses data collected by the CMS experiment in proton–proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV in 2016, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9fb−1. The presence of forward jets is a particular characteristic of single production of vector-like quarks that is used in the analysis. For the first time, different T quark width hypotheses are studied, from negligibly small to 30% of the new particle mass. At the 95% confidence level, the product of cross section and branching fraction is excluded above values in the range 0.26–0.04 pb for T quark masses in the range 0.7–1.7 TeV, assuming a negligible width. A similar sensitivity is observed for widths of up to 30% of the T quark mass. The production of a heavy Z boson decaying to Tt, with T→tZ, is also searched for, and limits on the product of cross section and branching fractions for this process are set between 0.13 and 0.06 pb for Z boson masses in the range from 1.5 to 2.5 TeV.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)574-600
Number of pages27
JournalPhysics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics
Volume781
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 10 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Author(s)

Keywords

  • CMS
  • Physics
  • Vector-like quarks

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