Measurement of the $t\bar{t}Z$ and $t\bar{t}W$ cross sections in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector

Abstract

A measurement of the associated production of a top-quark pair ($t\bar{t}$) with a vector boson ($W$, $Z$) in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is presented, using $36.1\,\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events are selected in channels with two same- or opposite-sign leptons (electrons or muons), three leptons or four leptons, and each channel is further divided into multiple regions to maximize the sensitivity of the measurement. The $t\bar{t}Z$ and $t\bar{t}W$ production cross sections are simultaneously measured using a combined fit to all regions. The best-fit values of the production cross sections are $$\sigma_{t\bar{t}Z}=0.95\pm 0.08\,\text{(stat.)}\pm 0.10\,\text{(syst.)}\,\mathrm{pb}$$ and $$\sigma_{t\bar{t}W}=0.87\pm 0.13\,\text{(stat.)}\pm 0.14\,\text{(syst.)}\,\mathrm{pb},$$ in agreement with the Standard Model predictions. The measurement of the $t\bar{t}Z$ cross section is used to set constraints on effective field theory operators which modify the $t\bar{t}Z$ vertex.

Baptiste Ravina

Senior Research Fellow

I’m an experimental particle physicist looking for new physics at the ATLAS experiment with machine learning.