Collider Cross Talk
Single top cross-sections at CMS
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Europe/Zurich
4/2-011 - TH common room (CERN)
Description
The measurement of the single-top cross-section requires a complex analysis in order to separate signal and background. In this session, we discuss the analysis undertaken at the CMS experiment with 36pb^-1 of integrated luminosity. Leptonic decay channels with an electron or a muon in the final state are considered. After a selection optimized for the t-channel mode, two different and complementary analyses have been performed. The first analysis exploits the peculiar angular properties of the signal with data-driven background estimates. The second approach is based on a multivariate analysis technique that probes the compatibility of the candidate events with the signal, profiting of the excellent agreement of the CMS simulation with the data. Both analyses confirm Tevatron's observation of single top, and their combination measures a cross section of 83.6 +- 29.8 (stat.+syst.) +- 3.3 (lumi.) pb which is consistent with the Standard Model prediction.