Abstract

Electroweak production of the top quark is measured for the first time in pp collisions at √s=7  TeV, using a data set collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36  pb-1. With an event selection optimized for t-channel production, two complementary analyses are performed. The first one exploits the special angular properties of the signal, together with background estimates from the data. The second approach uses a multivariate analysis technique to probe the compatibility with signal topology expected from electroweak top-quark production. The combined measurement of the cross section is 83.6±29.8(stat+syst)±3.3(lumi)  pb, consistent with the standard model expectation.

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© 2011 CERN, for the CMS Collaboration