Measurements of the cross sections for top quark pairs produced in association with a W or Z boson are presented, using 8 TeV pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.5 inverse femtobarns, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. Final states are selected in which the associated W boson decays to a charged lepton and a neutrino or the Z boson decays to two charged leptons. Signal events are identified by matching reconstructed objects in the detector to specific final state particles from ttW or ttZ decays. The ttW cross section is measured to be 382 +117 -102 fb with a significance of 4.8 standard deviations from the background-only hypothesis. The ttZ cross section is measured to be 242 +65 -55 fb with a significance of 6.4 standard deviations from the background-only hypothesis. These measurements are used to set bounds on five anomalous dimension-six operators that would affect the ttW and ttZ cross sections.
Expected yields after the final fit, compared to the observed data for OS t$\bar{\mathrm{t}}$Z final states. Here ``hf'' and ``lf'' stand for heavy and light flavors, respectively.
Expected yields after the final fit, compared to the observed data for SS t$\bar{\mathrm{t}}$W final states. The multiboson process includes WWW, WWZ, and W$^{\pm}$W$^{\pm}$; t$\mathrm{\bar{t}}$+X includes t$\mathrm{\bar{t}}\gamma$, t$\mathrm{\bar{t}}\gamma^{*}$, and t$\bar{\mathrm{t}}$WW.
Expected yields after the final fit, compared to the observed data for 3$\ell$ t$\bar{\mathrm{t}}$W and three and 4$\ell$ t$\bar{\mathrm{t}}$Z final states. The 4$\ell$ ``Z-veto'' channel has exactly one lepton pair consistent with a Z boson decay; the ``Z'' channel has two. The multiboson process includes WWW and WWZ; t$\mathrm{\bar{t}}$+X includes t$\mathrm{\bar{t}}\gamma$, t$\mathrm{\bar{t}}\gamma^{*}$, and t$\bar{\mathrm{t}}$WW.
A search for a standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a top-quark pair and decaying to bottom quarks is presented. Events with hadronic jets and one or two oppositely charged leptons are selected from a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.5 inverse femtobarns collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. In order to separate the signal from the larger t t-bar + jets background, this analysis uses a matrix element method that assigns a probability density value to each reconstructed event under signal or background hypotheses. The ratio between the two values is used in a maximum likelihood fit to extract the signal yield. The results are presented in terms of the measured signal strength modifier, mu, relative to the standard model prediction for a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV. The observed (expected) exclusion limit at a 95% confidence level is mu < 4.2 (3.3), corresponding to a best fit value mu-hat = 1.2 +1.6 -1.5.
The best-fit values of the signal strength modifier obtained from the single lepton (SL) and dilepton (DL) channels alone,and from their combination (COMBINED). The observed 95% CL upper limit (UL) on mu are given in the third column, and are compared to the median expected limits for both the signal-plus-background and for the background-only hypotheses. For the latter, the 1sigma and 2sigma CL intervals are also given.
A search is presented for standard model (SM) production of four top quarks (t t-bar t t-bar) in pp collisions in the lepton + jets channel. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.6 inverse femtobarns recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The expected cross section for SM four top quark production is approximately 1 fb. A combination of kinematic reconstruction and multivariate techniques is used to distinguish between the small signal and large background. The data are consistent with expectations of the SM, and an upper limit of 32 fb is set at a 95% confidence level on the cross section for producing four top quarks in the SM, where a limit of 32 +/- 17 fb is expected.
Measurement of an upper limit on tttt is set by performing a simultaneous maximum likelihood fit to the distributions in the BDT event discriminant for signal and background in six event categories in the single muon plus jets and single electron plus jets channels.
A search for pair production of third-generation scalar leptoquarks and supersymmetric top quark partners, top squarks, in final states involving tau leptons and bottom quarks is presented. The search uses events from a data sample of proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC with sqrt(s) = 8 TeV. The number of observed events is found to be in agreement with the expected standard model background. Third-generation scalar leptoquarks with masses below 740 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level, assuming a 100% branching fraction for the leptoquark decay to a tau lepton and a bottom quark. In addition, this mass limit applies directly to top squarks decaying via an R-parity violating coupling lambda'[333]. The search also considers a similar signature from top squarks undergoing a chargino-mediated decay involving the R-parity violating coupling lambda'[3jk]. Each top squark decays to a tau lepton, a bottom quark, and two light quarks. Top squarks in this model with masses below 580 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level. The constraint on the leptoquark mass is the most stringent to date, and this is the first search for top squarks decaying via lambda'[3jk].
The estimated backgrounds, observed event yields, and expected number of signal events for the leptoquark search. For the simulation-based entries, the statistical and systematic uncertainties are shown separately, in that order.
The estimated backgrounds, observed event yields, and expected number of signal events for the top squark search. For the simulation-based entries, the statistical and systematic uncertainties are shown separately, in that order.
Selection efficiencies in % for the signal in the leptoquark search, estimated from the simulation.
The first observation of the associated production of a single top quark and a W boson is presented. The analysis is based on a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 12.2 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC. Events with two leptons and a jet originating from a b quark are selected. A multivariate analysis based on kinematic and topological properties is used to separate the signal from the dominant t t-bar background. An excess consistent with the signal hypothesis is observed, with a significance which corresponds to 6.1 standard deviations above a background-only hypothesis. The measured production cross section is 23.4 +- 5.4 pb, in agreement with the standard model prediction.
Measured cross section for associated production of a single top quark and a W boson, where the uncertainty is mainly systematic.
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