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Characterizing the background in tt events with a J/ψ → µ −µ + in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV using the ATLAS detector

So far, various measurements have been performed for the top quark mass using jets as a dominant experimental signature. The leading precision measurement of 1732.44 ±0.13±0.47 GeV is a combination of top quark mass measurements conducted by the CMS collaboration. However, these various measurements...

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Main Author: Barends, Kevin Nicholas
Other Authors: Yacoob, Sahal
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Physics 2020
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access_status_str Open Access
author Barends, Kevin Nicholas
author2 Yacoob, Sahal
author_browse Barends, Kevin Nicholas
Yacoob, Sahal
author_facet Yacoob, Sahal
Barends, Kevin Nicholas
author_sort Barends, Kevin Nicholas
collection Thesis
description So far, various measurements have been performed for the top quark mass using jets as a dominant experimental signature. The leading precision measurement of 1732.44 ±0.13±0.47 GeV is a combination of top quark mass measurements conducted by the CMS collaboration. However, these various measurements suffered from large jet reconstruction uncertainties. This study looked at a different experimental signature involving a lepton and J/ψ such that the top quark decay mode is t → W (→ lν)b (→ J/ψ [→ µ +µ −]+X). This signature combines the kinematics of the three leptons in the final state and therefore, is not significantly dependent on the reconstructed kinematics of the jets. The statistical uncertainty in the top mass measurement was determined from the invariant mass of the lepton and J/ψ distribution through a template morphing maximum likelihood method, giving a value of 2.9 GeV. This signature comes with background contributions from non-prompt and mis-reconstructed leptons and from selecting J/ψ mesons which did not originate from top quark B-hadron decays. The background contribution from non-prompt and mis-reconstructed leptons was determined to be overestimated in the muon channel but more accurately estimated in the electron channel in the signal region. This background lepton contribution was determined using the common methodology by the ATLAS experiment. The background contribution from J/ψ mesons was determined by applying a two-dimensional fit on the mass and pseudo-proper time of the J/ψ. These background contributions were reduced by applying a tighter selection cut on the J/ψ mass and including an additional selection cut on the pseudo-proper time of the J/ψ mesons. These cuts improved the signal contribution but, due to limited statistics, could not be shown to improve the uncertainty in the mass measurement.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:31:50.330Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2020
publishDateRange 2020
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/31431 Characterizing the background in tt events with a J/ψ → µ −µ + in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV using the ATLAS detector Barends, Kevin Nicholas Yacoob, Sahal Andeen, Tim Onyisi, Peter Physics So far, various measurements have been performed for the top quark mass using jets as a dominant experimental signature. The leading precision measurement of 1732.44 ±0.13±0.47 GeV is a combination of top quark mass measurements conducted by the CMS collaboration. However, these various measurements suffered from large jet reconstruction uncertainties. This study looked at a different experimental signature involving a lepton and J/ψ such that the top quark decay mode is t → W (→ lν)b (→ J/ψ [→ µ +µ −]+X). This signature combines the kinematics of the three leptons in the final state and therefore, is not significantly dependent on the reconstructed kinematics of the jets. The statistical uncertainty in the top mass measurement was determined from the invariant mass of the lepton and J/ψ distribution through a template morphing maximum likelihood method, giving a value of 2.9 GeV. This signature comes with background contributions from non-prompt and mis-reconstructed leptons and from selecting J/ψ mesons which did not originate from top quark B-hadron decays. The background contribution from non-prompt and mis-reconstructed leptons was determined to be overestimated in the muon channel but more accurately estimated in the electron channel in the signal region. This background lepton contribution was determined using the common methodology by the ATLAS experiment. The background contribution from J/ψ mesons was determined by applying a two-dimensional fit on the mass and pseudo-proper time of the J/ψ. These background contributions were reduced by applying a tighter selection cut on the J/ψ mass and including an additional selection cut on the pseudo-proper time of the J/ψ mesons. These cuts improved the signal contribution but, due to limited statistics, could not be shown to improve the uncertainty in the mass measurement. 2020-03-02T09:59:42Z 2020-03-02T09:59:42Z 2019 2020-03-02T09:37:59Z Master Thesis Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31431 eng application/pdf Department of Physics Faculty of Science
spellingShingle Physics
Barends, Kevin Nicholas
Characterizing the background in tt events with a J/ψ → µ −µ + in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV using the ATLAS detector
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Characterizing the background in tt events with a J/ψ → µ −µ + in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV using the ATLAS detector
title_full Characterizing the background in tt events with a J/ψ → µ −µ + in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV using the ATLAS detector
title_fullStr Characterizing the background in tt events with a J/ψ → µ −µ + in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV using the ATLAS detector
title_full_unstemmed Characterizing the background in tt events with a J/ψ → µ −µ + in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV using the ATLAS detector
title_short Characterizing the background in tt events with a J/ψ → µ −µ + in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV using the ATLAS detector
title_sort characterizing the background in tt events with a j ψ µ µ in proton proton collisions at √ s 13 tev using the atlas detector
topic Physics
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31431
work_keys_str_mv AT barendskevinnicholas characterizingthebackgroundintteventswithajpsmminprotonprotoncollisionsats13tevusingtheatlasdetector