Professor Chris Hays

Abstract:

We present a measurement of the ratio of the top-quark branching fractions R=B(t→Wb)/B(t→Wq), where q represents quarks of type b, s, or d, in the final state with a lepton and hadronic jets. The measurement uses √s=1.96 TeV proton-antiproton collision data from 8.7 fb-1 of integrated luminosity collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab during Run II of the Tevatron. We simultaneously measure R=0.94±0.09 (stat+syst) and the tt̄ production cross section σtt̄=7. 5±1.0 (stat+syst) pb. The magnitude of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element, |Vtb|=0.97±0.05 (stat+syst) is extracted assuming three generations of quarks, and a lower limit of |V tb|>0.89 at 95% credibility level is set. © 2013 American Physical Society.

Abstract:

This paper reports a measurement of the W +b-jets (W +b+ X and W+b̄b+X) production cross-section in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV at the LHC. These results are based on data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb-1, collected with the ATLAS detector. Cross-sections are presented as a function of jet multiplicity and of the transverse momentum of the leading b-jet for both the muon and electron decay modes of the W boson. The W +b-jets cross-section, corrected for all known detector effects, is quoted in a limited kinematic range. Combining the muon and electron channels, the fiducial cross-section for W +b-jets is measured to be 7.1 ± 0.5 (stat) ± 1.4 (syst) pb, consistent with the next-to-leading order QCD prediction, corrected for non-perturbative and double-parton interactions (DPI) contributions, of 4.70 ± 0.09 (stat)-0.49+0.60 (scale) ±0.06 (PDF) ±0.16 (non-pert)-0.38+0.52 (DPI) pb. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration.

Abstract:

We present a search for a standard model Higgs boson decaying to two $W$ bosons that decay to leptons using the full data set collected with the CDF II detector in $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV $p\bar{p}$ collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.7 fb${}^{-1}$. We obtain no evidence for production of a standard model Higgs boson with mass between 110 and 200 GeV/$c^2$, and place upper limits on the production cross section within this range. We exclude standard model Higgs boson production at the 95% confidence level in the mass range between 149 and 172 GeV/$c^2$, while expecting to exclude, in the absence of signal, the range between 155 and 175 GeV/$c^2$. We also interpret the search in terms of standard model Higgs boson production in the presence of a fourth generation of fermions and within the context of a fermiophobic Higgs boson model. For the specific case of a standard model-like Higgs boson in the presence of fourth-generation fermions, we exclude at the 95% confidence level Higgs boson production in the mass range between 124 and 200 GeV/$c^2$, while expecting to exclude, in the absence of signal, the range between 124 and 221 GeV/$c^2$.

Abstract:

We present a search for chargino-neutralino associated production using like electric charge dilepton events collected by the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron in proton-antiproton collisions at √s=1.96 TeV. One lepton is identified as the hadronic decay of a tau lepton, while the other is an electron or muon. In data corresponding to 6.0 fb-1 of integrated luminosity, we obtain good agreement with standard model predictions and set limits on the chargino-neutralino production cross section for simplified gravity- and gauge-mediated models. As an example, assuming that the chargino and neutralino decays to taus dominate, in the simplified gauge-mediated model we exclude cross sections greater than 300 fb at 95% credibility level for chargino and neutralino masses of 225 GeV/c2. This analysis is the first to extend the LHC searches for electroweak supersymmetric production of gauginos to high tanâ¡β and slepton next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle scenarios. © 2013 American Physical Society.