Semileptonic decays of top quarks

The lepton spectrum from the semileptonic decay of a heavy top quark is calculated, including the effect of the W propagator and QCD corrections. Lepton spectra from the decay of top quarks in toponium are affected by bound state effects, in particular by Fermi motion. Semileptonic decays may therefore probe the toponium wave function at very small distances.     

Radiative corrections to semileptonic decays of charged hyperons

We have studied the radiative corrections to the lepton energy spectrum in semileptonic hyperon decays. The calculation is performed relativistically for the baryons as well as for the leptons, under the assumption of the effective current-current interaction of the V-?A type for the baryonic part. We obtain the explicit formula of radiative corrections to the lepton energy spectrum which we can exactly evaluate in case of charged hyperon decays. Numerical values of the radiative corrections to the decays rate and the shape of the lepton energy spectrum are also given for some decay modes. It is shown that the spectral shape is little affected by the radiative corrections.     

Weak decays of charm and quark masses

We calculate the effects of finite quark masses for the semileptonic and nonleptonic decays of charmed particles. The total lifetimes of charmed particles are not sensitive to the masses of the quarks in the final state. However the semileptonic branching ratios changes considerably. Using conventional constituent quark masses, one expect e.g. B_e(D⁺)≈ 21%. The brancing ratios and lifetimes of the charmed particles are estimated, taking into account the annihilation hypothesis.     

Charm,bottom and top production in high energy electron proton collisions

Differential cross sections for electroproduction of charm, bottom and top quarks are calculated via all contributing 2 → 2 and 2 → 3 QCD subprocesses. Fragmentation of heavy quarks to heavy hadrons and effects due to weak chain decays of the heavy quarks are taken into account. We also calculated background contributions given by the production of two or three light-quark jets both via the neutral and charged current processes. We point out that, similarly to the case of hadron colliders, it will be necessary to require final state lepton(s) to suppress the jet background. To separate charm and bottom production we have to require at least one hard muon or two isolated leptons and one jet in the final state. We show that two or more jet production via the charged current mechanism and bottom production with hard gluon bremssrahlung are the most important background contributions in top search. However, we also show that they become negligible by requiring one lepton, two or three jets and large missing energy in the final state. We estimate that the discovery limit on the top quark mass value is about 70 GeV at HERA.     

Heavy-to-light-quark decays with two-loop accuracy

We present a determination of a new class of three-loop Feynman diagrams describing heavy-to-light transitions. We apply it to find the O(alpha2(s)) corrections to the top quark decay t --> bW and to the distribution of lepton invariant mass in the semileptonic b quark decay b --> ulnu. We also confirm the previously determined total rate of that process as well as the O(alpha2) corrections to the muon lifetime.     

Top quark polarization in polarized e+e− annihilation near threshold

Top quark polarization in e⁺e^{t -} annihilation into tt? is calculated for linearly polarized beams. The Green function formalism is applied to this reaction near threshold. The Lippmann—Schwinger equations for the S-wave and P-wave Green functions are solved numerically for the QCD chromostatic potential given by the two-loop formula for large momentum transfer and Richardson’s ansatz for intermediate and small momenta. S- P— wave interference contributes to all components of the top quark polarization vector. Rescattering of the decay products is considered. The mean values 〈nl〉 of the charged lepton four-momentum projections on appropriately chosen directions n in semileptonic top decays are proposed as experimentally observable quantities sensitive to top quark polarization. The results for 〈nl〉 are obtained including S- P— wave interference and rescattering of the decay products. It is demonstrated that for the longitudinally polarized electron beam a highly polarized sample of top quarks can be produced.     

Forward-backward asymmetry in top quark semileptonic decay

The semileptonic decay of the top quark t → bW⁺ → bl⁺ν_l is analyzed in the rest system of the W. The forward-backward asymmetry of the lepton l⁺ with respect to the heavy quark direction is defined and computed. It is argued that this observable will be an ideal tool to study top quark properties at Tevatron and LHC. Higher order QCD corrections are calculated and their structure is elucidated in some detail.     

Search for scalar top quark production in p&pmacr; collisions at sqrt

We have searched for direct production of scalar top quarks at the Collider Detector at Fermilab in 88 pb(-1) of p&pmacr; collisions at sqrt[s] = 1.8 TeV. We assume the scalar top quark decays into either a bottom quark and a chargino or a bottom quark, a lepton, and a scalar neutrino. The event signature for both decay scenarios is a lepton, missing transverse energy, and at least two b-quark jets. For a chargino mass of 90 GeV/c(2) and scalar neutrino masses of at least 40 GeV/c(2), we find no evidence for scalar top production and present upper limits on the production cross section in both decay scenarios.     

Study of charm production in Z decays

The production rates of , , , , , and in decays are measured using the LEP I data sample recorded by the ALEPH detector. The fractional energy spectrum of the is well described as the sum of three contributions: charm hadronisation, b hadron decays and gluon splitting into a pair of heavy quarks. The probability for a c quark to hadronise into a is found to be . The average fraction of the beam energy carried by mesons in events is measured to be The energy and the hemisphere mass imbalance distributions are simultaneously used to measure the fraction of hadronic Z decays in which a gluon splits to a pair: The ratio of the Vector/(Vector+Pseudoscalar) production rates in charmed mesons is found to be . The fractional decay width of the Z into pairs is determined from the sum of the production rates for various weakly decaying charmed states to be Received: 21 September 1999 / Published online: 8 June 2000     

An approach to the study of heavy quarks ine + e − collisions

The production ofb- andt-quarks ine ⁺ e ^? collisions may be appropriately investigated from the observation of like-sign dileptons. We estimate the branching ratios and the average lepton energies in semileptonic decays of heavy particles, taking into account both cascade decays and the mass-mixing of neutral mesons. They are found to be relatively large. Then, we consider the angular distribution and correlations for events wheighted by powers of the lepton energies. These quantities (moments) have a transparent decomposition, where each factor corresponds to a dynamical step in the production of dileptons. Our computations suggest that the study of like-sign dileptons along these lines would provide interesting information on the heavy quark fragmentation and decay.     

Bounds on a top quark with charged Higgs decay

If the top quark decays to a charged Higgs boson t→bH⁺, semileptonic decay signatures are suppressed and the mass bounds set by the UA1 top search are evaded. However the charged Higgs decay mode H⁺→τ⁺ν_τ gives a missing-ϱ_T signature; depending on the decay branching fraction and using the UA1 limits on new physics contributions to missing-ϱ_T, we set bounds on the top mass in this scenario. We also evaluate the feasibility of seeking visible-τ-jet signals for top at a pp̄ collider.     

Measurements of inclusive semileptonic branching fractions of b hadrons in \boldmath Z^0z decays

A measurement of inclusive semileptonic branching fractions of b hadrons produced in Z decays is presented. An enriched Z sample is obtained with a lifetime flavour-tagging technique. The leptonic events are then selected from this sample, and classified according to their origin, which is determined by comparing the distribution of several kinematic variables using artificial neural network techniques. Using 3.6 million multihadronic events collected with the OPAL detector at energies near the Z resonance, the values are measured, where b denotes all weakly decaying b hadrons and represents either e or . The second error includes all experimental systematic uncertainties whereas the last error is due to uncertainties in modelling of the lepton momentum spectrum in semileptonic decays and b quark fragmentation. The average fraction of the beam energy carried by the weakly decaying b hadron, , is measured to be where the modelling error is dominated by the choice of b fragmentation model. The agreement between data and various semileptonic decay models and fragmentation functions is also investigated. Received: 11 June 1999 / Published online: 3 February 2000     

Effects of multiple QCD and QED radiations in semileptonic decays of top particles

The charged lepton spectrum in semileptonic decays of top particles is calculated including the effects of multiple QCD and QED radiations, treated in the leading logarithm approximation. A comparison with QCDO(α _S ) results is made. Nonperturbative effects associated with the hadronization of the decay partons are also discussed. The effects of QED radiation are found to be important. Calculations have been done by means of a Monte Carlo algorithm, which also allows to calculate the full decay final state.     

Rare semileptonic decays of heavy mesons in the heavy quark limit

We study the branching ratios of D+→D0e+ν,DS+→D0e+ν,BS0→B+e-ν,DS+→D+e-e+ and BS0→B0e-e+ rare semileptonic decay processes,which are induced by decays of light quarks,the heavy quarks remain unchanged.The branching ratios of these decay processes are estimated in the heavy quark limit and with SU(3) flavor symmetry.We find that the decay rates are very tiny in the framework of the Standard Model.We also estimate the sensitivities of the measurements of these rare decays at the future experiments,such as BES-Ⅲ,super-B and LHC-b.Observations of these decays may shed some light on new physics beyond the standard model.     

Extracting the charm cross-section from its semileptonic decay at RHIC

We propose a sensitive measurement of the charm total cross-section at RHIC through muon identification from charm semileptonic decay at low transverse momentum (pT$p_T$). This can test the binary-collision scaling (Nbin$N_{\mathrm{bin}}$) properties of the charm total cross-section and be used to study whether heavy-flavor quarks, which are used as a probe, are produced exclusively at the initial impact in hadron–hadron collisions. The effect of the charm semileptonic decay form factor on extracting the total charm cross section and on the shape of the lepton spectra are also discussed in detail. We conclude that lepton spectra from charmed hadron decays at transverse momentum pT?1.0 GeV/c$p_T?1.0\text{GeV}/c$ are sensitive to the charmed hadron spectrum shape. Therefore, the interactions of heavy quarks with the medium created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions, especially the flow effects, can be extracted from the lepton spectra from charmed hadron decays at low pT$p_T$.     

Search for production of single top quarks via tcg and tug flavor-changing-neutral-current couplings

We search for the production of single top quarks via flavor-changing-neutral-current couplings of a gluon to the top quark and a charm (c) or up (u) quark. We analyze 230 pb{-1} of lepton+jets data from pp[over] collisions at a center of mass energy of 1.96 TeV collected by the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. We observe no significant deviation from standard model predictions, and hence set upper limits on the anomalous coupling parameters kappa{g}{c}/Lambda and kappa{g}{u}/Lambda, where kappa{g} define the strength of tcg and tug couplings, and Lambda defines the scale of new physics. The limits at 95% C.L. are kappa{g}{c}/Lambda<0.15 TeV-1 and kappa{g}{u}/Lambda<0.037 TeV-1.     

Opposite sign dimuon events produced in narrow band neutrino and antineutrino beams

On the basis of 315 dimuon events of opposite sign for which the nature (and energy) of the incident neutrino is known, and the momenta and hadronic shower energy are measured, we find a) very similar production by neutrinos and antineutrinos, and therefore confirmation of the GIM model for semileptonic weak interactions, b) energy spectra, excitation functions, angular correlations and transverse momentum distributions which are in remarkable agreement with the hypothesis of charm production and decay, c) evidence against models for which the second muon has a heavy lepton as origin, d) evidence against “bottom” quark production by antineutrinos, e) the amount and the structure function for the strange quark-antiquark sea, and f) an approximate branching ratio, of 0.15 for the muonic decay of the semistable charmed meson.     

Search for charged Higgs bosons in e+e− collisions at s=189 GeV

A search for pair-produced charged Higgs bosons is performed with the L3 detector at LEP using data collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 188.6 GeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 176.4 pb⁻¹. Higgs decays into a charm and a strange quark or into a tau lepton and its associated neutrino are considered. The observed events are consistent with the expectations from Standard Model background processes. A lower limit of 65.5 GeV on the charged Higgs mass is derived at 95% confidence level, independent of the decay branching ratio Br(H^±→τν).     

Joint angular decay distributions in exclusive weak decays of heavy mesons and baryons

We present the results of a comprehensive analysis of the angular decay distributions occurring in the weak exclusive decays of the lowest lying charm and bottom mesons and baryons. We deal with both semileptonic and nonleptonic decays and discuss various decay channels and their subsequent cascade decay chains including lepton mass effects. In the case of baryons we include polarization effects for the parent charm or bottom baryon. We list in table form general formulae which allow one to write down the joint angular decay distributions for the cascade decaysA→B(→b ₁+...+b _n )+C(→c ₁+...+c _n ), for all spin casess _A ≤1/2 ands _B ,s _C ≤3/2 for the prominent decays ofB andC. Two examples involving meson and baryon decays are discussed in detail.     

Investigation of quark-hadron duality in semileptonicB-meson decays

This paper is devoted to the analytical calculation of the lepton spectrum with a restriction on the mass of produced hadron system in semileptonicB-meson decays. Using this analytical dependence, it is shown that the quark-hadron duality in semileptonicB-meson decays could be violated up to 25–30%, and this fact has influence on the semileptonic branching ratio.