Probing Electroweak Top Quark Couplings at Hadron Colliders

Abstract

We consider QCD t\bar{t}γand t\bar{t}Z production at hadron colliders as a tool to measure the ttγand ttZ couplings. At the Tevatron it may be possible to perform a first, albeit not very precise, test of the ttγvector and axial vector couplings in t\bar{t}γproduction, provided that more than 5 fb^{-1} of integrated luminosity are accumulated. The t\bar{t}Z cross section at the Tevatron is too small to be observable. At the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) it will be possible to probe the ttγcouplings at the few percent level, which approaches the precision which one hopes to achieve with a next-generation e^+e^- linear collider. The LHC's capability of associated QCD t\bar{t}V (V=γ, Z) production has the added advantage that the ttγand ttZ couplings are not entangled. For an integrated luminosity of 300 fb^{-1}, the ttZ vector (axial vector) coupling can be determined with an uncertainty of 45-85% (15-20%), whereas the dimension-five dipole form factors can be measured with a precision of 50-55%. The achievable limits improve typically by a factor of 2-3 for the luminosity-upgraded (3 ab^{-1}) LHC.

Revtex3, 30 pages, 9 Figures, 6 Tables