We analyze a sample of W + jet events collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) in ppbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.8 TeV to study ttbar production. We employ a simple kinematical variable "H", defined as the scalar sum of the transverse energies of the lepton, neutrino and jets. For events with a W boson and four or more jets, the shape of the "H" distribution deviates by 3.8 standard deviations from that expected from known backgrounds to ttbar production. However this distribution agrees well with a linear combination of background and ttbar events, the agreement being best for a top mass of 180 GeV/c^2.
We summarize a search for the top quark with the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) in a sample of $\bar{p}p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$= 1.8 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 19.3pb$~{-1}$. We find 12 events consistent with either two $W$ bosons, or a $W$ boson and at least one $b$ jet. The probability that the measured yield is consistent with the background is 0.26\%. Though the statistics are too limited to establish firmly the existence of the top quark, a natural interpretation of the excess is that it is due to $t\bar{t}$ production. Under this assumption, constrained fits to individual events yield a top quark mass of $174 \pm 10~{+13}_{-12}$ GeV/c$~2$. The $t\bar{t}$ production cross section is measured to be $13.9~{+6.1}_{-4.8}$pb. (Submitted to Physical Review Letters on May 16, 1994).
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