Professor Daniela Bortoletto

Abstract:

We search for annihilation decay modes of neutral b mesons into pairs of charmless charged hadrons with the upgraded Collider Detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. Using a data sample corresponding to 6fb-1 of integrated luminosity, we obtain the first evidence for the Bs0→π+π - decay, with a significance of 3.7σ, and a measured branching ratio B(Bs0→π+π-)=(0.57±0.15(stat) ±0.10(syst))×10-6. A search for the B0→K +K- mode in the same sample yields a significance of 2.0σ, and a central value estimate B(B0→K+K -)=(0.23±0.10(stat)±0.10(syst))×10-6. © 2012 American Physical Society.

Abstract:

We present a search for a new heavy particle X produced in association with a top quark, pp̄→t(X→t̄q) or pp̄→t̄(X̄ →tq̄), where q stands for up quarks and down quarks. Such a particle may explain the recent anomalous measurements of top-quark forward-backward asymmetry. If the light-flavor quark (q) is reconstructed as a jet (j), this gives a t̄+j or t+j resonance in tt̄+jet events, a previously unexplored experimental signature. In a sample of events with exactly one lepton, missing transverse momentum and at least five jets, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 8.7fb-1 collected by the CDF II detector, we find the data to be consistent with the standard model. We set cross-section upper limits on the production (pp̄→Xt or X̄t̄) at 95% confidence level from 0.61 pb to 0.02 pb for X masses ranging from 200GeV/c2 to 800GeV/c2, respectively. © 2012 American Physical Society.