Speaker
Jacob Searcy
(University of Oregon)
Description
We present a measurement of the tt production cross section with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at √s= 7 TeV, using events containing an isolated µ and a τ lepton decaying hadronically. The analysis utilizes a multivariate technique based on boosted decision trees to identify τ leptons. Backgrounds are measured using a method that combines charge subtraction and template fitting. The measurement of the tt cross section using a hadronic tau is an important test of the Standard Model. For example, the top quark could have a significant branching ratio to t → H± + b for a charged Higgs boson with mass lower than the top quark mass. For large tan β the charged Higgs decays mainly to τ ν, making this measurement sensitive to beyond the Standard Model physics.
Primary author
Jacob Searcy
(University of Oregon)
