We report the first observation of the associated production of a W boson and a Z boson. This result is based on 1.1 fb-1 of integrated luminosity from ppbar collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV collected with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. We observe 16 WZ candidates passing our event selection with an expected background of 2.7 +/- 0.4 events. A fit to the missing transverse energy distribution indicates an excess of events compared to the background expectation corresponding to a significance equivalent to six standard deviations. The measured cross section is sigma(ppbar -> WZ) = 5.0^{+1.8}_{-1.6} pb, consistent with the standard model expectation.

We report on measurements of the inclusive jet production cross section as a function of the jet transverse momentum in pp-bar collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV}, using the k_T algorithm and a data sample corresponding to 1.0 fb^-1 collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab in Run II. The measurements are carried out in five different jet rapidity regions with |yjet| < 2.1 and transverse momentum in the range 54 < \ptjet < 700 GeV/c. Next-to-leading order perturbative QCD predictions are in good agreement with the measured cross sections.

A measurement of the inclusive bottom jet cross section is presented for events containing a $Z$ boson in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV using the Collider Detector at Fermilab. $Z$ bosons are identified in their electron and muon decay modes, and $b$ jets with $E_T>20$ GeV and $|\eta|&lt;1.5$ are identified by reconstructing a secondary decay vertex. The measurement is based on an integrated luminosity of about 330 ${\rm pb}^{-1}$. A cross section times branching ratio of $\sigma (Z+b {\rm jets}) \times {\cal B}(Z \to \ell^+ \ell^-)= 0.93 \pm 0.36$ pb is found, where ${\cal B}(Z\to \ell^+ \ell^-)$ is the branching ratio of the $Z$ boson or $\gamma^*$ into a single flavor dilepton pair ($e$ or $\mu$) in the mass range between 66 and 116 GeV$/c^2$. The ratio of $b$ jets to the total number of jets of any flavor in the $Z$ sample, within the same kinematic range as the $b$ jets, is $2.36 \pm 0.92%$. Here, the uncertainties are the quadratic sum of statistical and systematic uncertainties. Predictions made with NLO QCD agree, within experimental and theoretical uncertainties, with these measurements.

For comparison of inclusive jet cross sections measured at hadron-hadron colliders to next-to-leading order (NLO) parton-level calculations, the energy deposited in the jet cone by spectator parton interactions must first be subtracted. The assumption made at the Tevatron is that the spectator parton interaction energy is similar to the ambient level measured in minimum bias events. In this paper, we test this assumption by measuring the ambient charged track momentum in events containing large transverse energy jets at $\sqrt{s}=1800$ GeV and $\sqrt{s}=630$ GeV and comparing this ambient momentum with that observed both in minimum bias events and with that predicted by two Monte Carlo models. Two cones in $\eta$--$\phi$ space are defined, at the same pseudo-rapidity, $\eta$, as the jet with the highest transverse energy ($E_T^{(1)}$), and at $\pm 90^o$ in the azimuthal direction, $\phi$. The total charged track momentum inside each of the two cones is measured. The minimum momentum in the two cones is almost independent of $E_T^{(1)}$ and is similar to the momentum observed in minimum bias events, whereas the maximum momentum increases roughly linearly with the jet $E_T^{(1)}$ over most of the measured range. This study will help improve the precision of comparisons of jet cross section data and NLO perturbative QCD predictions. %this is new The distribution of the sum of the track momenta in the two cones is also examined for five different $E_T^{(1)}$ bins. The HERWIG and PYTHIA Monte Carlos are reasonably successful in describing the data, but neither can describe completely all of the event properties.

We present a measurement of the isolated direct photon cross section in p-pbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.8 TeV and |eta| &lt; 0.9 using data collected between 1994 and 1995 by the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF). The measurement is based on events where the photon converts into an electron-positron pair in the material of the inner detector, resulting in a two-track event signature. To remove pi0 -> gamma gamma and eta -> gamma gamma events we use a new background subtraction technique which takes advantage of the tracking information available in a photon conversion event. We find that the shape of the cross section as a function of pT is poorly described by next-to-leading-order QCD predictions, but agrees with previous CDF measurements.

We present a study of the production of K_s^0 and Lambda^0 in inelastic pbar-p collisions at sqrt(s)= 1800 and 630 GeV using data collected by the CDF experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron. Analyses of K_s^0 and Lambda^0 multiplicity and transverse momentum distributions, as well as of the dependencies of the average number and <p_T> of K_s^0 and Lambda^0 on charged particle multiplicity are reported. Systematic comparisons are performed for the full sample of inelastic collisions, and for the low and high momentum transfer subsamples, at the two energies. The p_T distributions extend above 8 GeV/c, showing a <p_T> higher than previous measurements. The dependence of the mean K_s^0(Lambda^0) p_T on the charged particle multiplicity for the three samples shows a behavior analogous to that of charged primary tracks.

We use 106 $\ipb$ of data collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab to search for narrow-width, vector particles decaying to a top and an anti-top quark. Model independent upper limits on the cross section for narrow, vector resonances decaying to $\ttbar$ are presented. At the 95% confidence level, we exclude the existence of a leptophobic $\zpr$ boson in a model of topcolor-assisted technicolor with mass $M_{\zpr}$ $<$ 480 $\gev$ for natural width $\Gamma$ = 0.012 $M_{\zpr}$, and $M_{\zpr}$ $<$ 780 $\gev$ for $\Gamma$ = 0.04 $M_{\zpr}$.

We report on the first measurement of the rapidity distribution dsigma/dy over nearly the entire kinematic region of rapidity for e^+e^- pairs in the Z-boson region of 66<M_{ee}<116 GeV/c^2 and at higher mass M_{ee}>116 GeV/c^2. The data sample consists of 108 pb^{-1} of ppbar collisions at \sqrt{s}=1.8 TeV taken by the Collider Detector at Fermilab during 1992--1995. The total cross section in the $Z$-boson region is measured to be 252 +- 11 pb. The measured total cross section and d\sigma/dy are compared with quantum chromodynamics calculations in leading and higher orders.

We present a study of events with W bosons and hadronic jets produced in p¯p collisions at a center of mass energy of 1.8 TeV. The data consist of 51400 W→eν decay candidates from 108 pb−1 of integrated luminosity collected using the CDF detector at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. Cross sections and jet production properties have been measured for W+>~1 to >~4 jet events. The data compare well to predictions of leading-order QCD matrix element calculations with added gluon radiation and simulated parton fragmentation.

We present a study of pp¯ collisions at s=1800 and 630 GeV collected using a minimum bias trigger by the CDF experiment in which the data set is divided into two classes corresponding to “soft” and “hard” interactions. For each subsample, the analysis includes measurements of the multiplicity, transverse momentum (pT) spectrum, and the average pT and event-by-event pT dispersion as a function of multiplicity. A comparison of results shows distinct differences in the behavior of the two samples as a function of the center of mass (c.m.) energy. We find evidence that the properties of the soft sample are invariant as a function of c.m. energy.