Search for tt̄ resonances in the lepton plus jets final state with ATLAS using 4.7 fb–1of pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Abstract

A search for new particles that decay into top quark pairs (tt) is performed with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC using an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb–1of proton–proton (pp) collision data collected at a center-of-mass energy √s = 7 TeV. In the tt̄→ WbWb decay, the lepton plus jets final state is used, where one W boson decays leptonically and the other hadronically. The tt̄system is reconstructed using both small-radius and large-radius jets, the latter being supplemented by a jet substructure analysis. A search for local excesses in the number of data events compared to the Standard Model expectation in the tt̄invariant mass spectrum is performed. No evidence for a tt̄resonance is found and 95% credibility-level limits on the production rate are determined for massive states predicted in two benchmark models. The upper limits on the cross section times branching ratio of a narrow Z′ resonance range from 5.1 pb for a boson mass of 0.5 TeV to 0.03 pb for a mass of 3 TeV. A narrow leptophobic topcolor Z′ resonance with a mass below 1.74 TeV is excluded. Limits are also derived for a broad color-octet resonance with Γ/m = 15.3%. A Kaluza–Klein excitation of the gluon in a Randall–Sundrum model is excluded for masses below 2.07 TeV.