Dr Farrukh Azfar

Abstract:

We present a measurement of the fractions F0 and F+ of longitudinally polarized and right-handed W bosons in top-quark decays using data collected with the CDF II detector. The data set used in the analysis corresponds to an integrated luminosity of approximately 318pb-1. We select tt̄ candidate events with one lepton, at least four jets, and missing transverse energy. Our helicity measurement uses the decay angle θ*, which is defined as the angle between the momentum of the charged lepton in the W boson rest frame and the W momentum in the top-quark rest frame. The cos θ* distribution in the data is determined by full kinematic reconstruction of the tt̄ candidates. We find F0=0.85-0.22+0.15(stat)±0.06(syst) and F+=0.05-0.05+0.11(stat)±0.03(syst), which is consistent with the standard model prediction. We set an upper limit on the fraction of right-handed W bosons of F+<0.26 at the 95% confidence level. © 2007 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

We present the first observation of exclusive e+e- production in hadron-hadron collisions, using pp̄ collision data at s=1.96TeV taken by the run II Collider Detector at Fermilab, and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 532pb-1. We require the absence of any particle signatures in the detector except for an electron and a positron candidate, each with transverse energy ET>5GeV and pseudorapidity |η|<2. With these criteria, 16 events are observed compared to a background expectation of 1.9±0.3 events. These events are consistent in cross section and properties with the QED process pp̄→p+e+e-+p̄ through two-photon exchange. The measured cross section is 1.6-0.3+0.5(stat)±0.3(syst)pb. This agrees with the theoretical prediction of 1.71±0.01pb. © 2007 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

We report a measurement of the top-quark mass, Mt, in the dilepton decay channel of tt̄→b ′+ν ′b̄ -ν̄ using an integrated luminosity of 1.0fb-1 of pp̄ collisions collected with the CDF II detector. We apply a method that convolutes a leading-order matrix element with detector resolution functions to form event-by-event likelihoods; we have enhanced the leading-order description to describe the effects of initial-state radiation. The joint likelihood is the product of the likelihoods from 78 candidate events in this sample, which yields a measurement of Mt=164.5±3.9(stat.)±3.9(syst.)GeV/c2, the most precise measurement of Mt in the dilepton channel. © 2007 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

A search for a manifestly exotic S=-2 baryon state decaying to Ξ-π-, and its neutral partner decaying to Ξ-π+, has been performed using 220pb-1 of pp̄ collisions at s=1.96TeV collected by the Collider Detector at Fermilab. The Ξ- trajectories were measured in a silicon tracker before their decay, resulting in a sample with low background and excellent position resolution. No evidence was found for S=-2 pentaquark candidates in the invariant mass range of 1600-2100MeV/c2. Upper limits on the product of pentaquark production cross section times its branching fraction to Ξ-π+,-, relative to the cross section of the well-established Ξ(1530) resonance, are presented for neutral and doubly negative candidates with pT>2GeV/c and |y|<1 as a function of pentaquark mass. At 1862MeV/c2, these upper limits for neutral and doubly negative final states were found to be 3.2% and 1.7% at the 90% confidence level, respectively. © 2007 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

Using 355pb-1 of data collected by the CDF II detector in pp̄ collisions at s=1.96TeV at the Fermilab Tevatron, we study the fully reconstructed hadronic decays B(s)0→D(s)-π+ and B(s)0→D(s)- π+π+π-. We present the first measurement of the ratio of branching fractions B(Bs0→Ds-π+π+π-)/B(B0→D-π+π+π-)=1. 05±0.10(stat)±0.22(syst). We also update our measurement of B(Bs0→Ds-π+)/B(B0→D-π+) to 1.13±0.08(stat)±0. 23(syst), improving the statistical uncertainty by more than a factor of 2. We find B(Bs0→Ds-π+)=[3.8±0.3(stat)±1.3(syst)]×10-3 and B(Bs0→Ds-π+π+π-)=[8.4±0.8(stat)±3.2(syst)] ×10-3. © 2007 The American Physical Society.