Measurement of the ratio σ{tt}/σ{Z/γ{*}→ll} and precise extraction of the tt cross section

Phys Rev Lett. 2010 Jul 2;105(1):012001. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.012001. Epub 2010 Jun 28.

Abstract

We report a measurement of the ratio of the tt to Z/γ{*} production cross sections in sqrt[s]=1.96 TeV pp collisions using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of up to 4.6 fb{-1}, collected by the CDF II detector. The tt cross section ratio is measured using two complementary methods, a b-jet tagging measurement and a topological approach. By multiplying the ratios by the well-known theoretical Z/γ{*}→ll cross section predicted by the standard model, the extracted tt cross sections are effectively insensitive to the uncertainty on luminosity. A best linear unbiased estimate is used to combine both measurements with the result σ{tt}=7.70±0.52 pb, for a top-quark mass of 172.5 GeV/c{2}.