Search for s-channel single-top-quark production in events with missing energy plus jets in pp collisions at sqrt[s] = 1.96 TeV

The first search for single-top-quark production from the exchange of an s-channel virtual W boson using events with an imbalance in the total transverse energy, b-tagged jets, and no identified leptons is presented. Assuming the electroweak production of top quarks of mass 172.5 GeV/c(2) in the s channel, a cross section of 1.12(-0.57)(+0.61) (stat+syst) pb with a significance of 1.9 standard deviations is measured. This measurement is combined with the result obtained from events with an imbalance in total transverse momentum, b-tagged jets, and exactly one identified lepton, yielding a cross section of 1.36(-0.32)(+0.37) (stat+syst) pb, with a significance of 4.2 standard deviations.

Observation of s-channel production of single top quarks at the Tevatron

We report the first observation of single-top-quark production in the s channel through the combination of the CDF and D0 measurements of the cross section in proton-antiproton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV. The data correspond to total integrated luminosities of up to 9.7 fb(-1) per experiment. The measured cross section is σ(s) = 1.29(-0.24)(+0.26) pb. The probability of observing a statistical fluctuation of the background to a cross section of the observed size or larger is 1.8 × 10(-10), corresponding to a significance of 6.3 standard deviations for the presence of an s-channel contribution to the production of single-top quarks.

Measurement of B(t→Wb)/B(t→Wq) in top-quark-pair decays using dilepton events and the full CDF Run II data set

We present a measurement of the ratio of the top-quark branching fractions R=B(t→Wb)/B(t→Wq), where q represents any quark flavor, in events with two charged leptons, imbalance in total transverse energy, and at least two jets. The measurement uses proton-antiproton collision data at center-of-mass energy 1.96 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 8.7  fb^{-1} collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab during Run II of the Tevatron. We measure R to be 0.87±0.07, and extract the magnitude of the top-bottom quark coupling to be |V_{tb}|=0.93±0.04, assuming three generations of quarks. Under these assumptions, a lower limit of |V_{tb}|>0.85(0.87) at 95% (90%) credibility level is set.

The ignitability of petrol vapours and potential for vapour phase explosion by use of TASER® law enforcement electronic control device

An experimental study was made of the potential of the TASER-X26™ law enforcement electronic control device to ignite petrol vapours if used by an officer to incapacitate a person soaked in petrol, or within a flammable atmosphere containing petrol vapour. Bench scale tests have shown that a wooden mannequin with pig skin covering the chest was a suitable representation of a human target. Full scale tests using the mannequin have shown that the arc from a TASER-X26™ is capable of igniting petrol/air vapours on a petrol-soaked person. Further tests in a 1/5 scale and a full scale compartment have shown that if a TASER is used within a compartment, a petrol vapour explosion (deflagration) may be achieved. It is evident from this research that if used in a flammable vapour rich environment, the device could prove fatal not only to the target but the TASER® operator as well.

First search for exotic Z Boson decays into photons and neutral pions in hadron collisions

A search for forbidden and exotic Z boson decays in the diphoton mass spectrum is presented for the first time in hadron collisions, based on data corresponding to 10.0 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity from proton-antiproton collisions at √s = 1.96 TeV collected by the CDF experiment. No evidence of signal is observed, and 95% credibility level Bayesian upper limits are set on the branching ratios of decays of the Z boson to a photon and neutral pion (which is detected as a photon), a pair of photons, and a pair of neutral pions. The observed branching ratio limits are 2.01 × 10(-5) for Z → π(0)γ, 1.46 × 10(-5) for Z → γγ, and 1.52 × 10(-5) for Z → π(0)π(0). The Z → π(0)γ and Z → γγ limits improve the most stringent results from other experiments by factors of 2.6 and 3.6, respectively. The Z → π(0)π(0) branching ratio limit is the first experimental result on this decay.

Patterns of care for malignant pleural mesothelioma patients compensated by the Dust Diseases Board in New South Wales, Australia

BACKGROUND

The silent epidemic of mesothelioma in Australia is steadily increasing, and 30% of cases occur in New South Wales (NSW).

AIM

To describe the patterns of care and outcomes of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) in NSW.

METHODS

MPM patients in NSW applying for compensation at the NSW Dust Diseases Board from 2007 to 2009 were included. Survival from time of diagnosis was determined by the Kaplan-Meier method. The Chi-squared test was used to determine if there was an association between utilisation of treatment and geographical location.

RESULTS

A total of 138 patients was included: median age was 72.5; 91.3% male; 60.1% epithelial subtype; and 65.2% lived in major cities. All patients had at least one chest X-ray and computed tomography scan, and 21% had a positron emission tomography scan; 93.5% and 4.3% had histological or cytological confirmation respectively. Thoracoscopy (59.4%) was the most commonly used diagnostic procedure. Treatment utilisation: 53.6% chemotherapy; 35.5% radiotherapy; 9.4% extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP); and 72.5% had palliative care involvement. There were no major differences in treatment utilisation between patients living in major cities and those in regional NSW (chemotherapy P = 0.42; radiotherapy P = 0.13 and palliative care P = 0.60), except for a higher rate of EPP in regional patients (16.7% vs 5.6%; P = 0.03). Median survival was 9.7 versus 12.3 months for city and regional patients respectively (P = 0.22).

CONCLUSION

Survival and treatment utilisation was not significantly different between MPM patients living in major cities and regional NSW, except for a higher rate of EPP in patients in regional NSW.

Observation of D⁰-D¯⁰ mixing using the CDF II detector

We measure the time dependence of the ratio of decay rates for D0→K(+)π(-) to the Cabibbo-favored decay D(0)→K(-)π(+). The charge conjugate decays are included. A signal of 3.3×10(4) D(*+)→π(+)D(0), D(0)→K(+)π(-) decays is obtained with D0 proper decay times between 0.75 and 10 mean D0 lifetimes. The data were recorded with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 9.6  fb(-1) for pp¯ collisions at √s=1.96  TeV. Assuming CP conservation, we search for D0-D¯0 mixing and measure the mixing parameters to be R(D)=(3.51±0.35)×10(-3), y'=(4.3±4.3)×10(-3), and x'2=(0.08±0.18)×10(-3). We report Bayesian probability intervals in the x'2-y' plane and find that the significance of excluding the no-mixing hypothesis is equivalent to 6.1 Gaussian standard deviations, providing the second observation of D0-D¯0 mixing from a single experiment.

Direct measurement of the total decay width of the top quark

We present a measurement of the total decay width of the top quark using events with top-antitop quark pair candidates reconstructed in the final state with one charged lepton and four or more hadronic jets. We use the full Tevatron run II data set of sqrt[s]=1.96  TeV proton-antiproton collisions recorded by the CDF II detector. The top quark mass and the mass of the hadronically decaying W boson are reconstructed for each event and compared with distributions derived from simulated signal and background samples to extract the top quark width (Γtop) and the energy scale of the calorimeter jets with in situ calibration. For a top quark mass Mtop=172.5  GeV/c2, we find 1.10<Γtop<4.05  GeV at 68% confidence level, which is in agreement with the standard model expectation of 1.3 GeV and is the most precise direct measurement of the top quark width to date.

Measurement of the differential cross section dσ/d(cosθ(t)) for Top-Quark Pair Production in pp Collisions at sqrt[s] = 1.96 TeV

We report a measurement of the differential cross section dσ/d(cosθ(t)) for top-quark pair production as a function of the top-quark production angle in proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt[s] = 1.96 TeV. This measurement is performed using data collected with the CDF II detector at the Tevatron, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.4 fb(-1). We employ the Legendre polynomials to characterize the shape of the differential cross section at the parton level. The observed Legendre coefficients are in good agreement with the prediction of the next-to-leading-order standard-model calculation, with the exception of an excess linear-term coefficient a(1) = 0.40 ± 0.12, compared to the standard-model prediction of a(1)=0.15(-0.03)(+0.07).

Measurement of the cross section for direct-photon production in association with a heavy quark in pp[over ¯] collisions at sqrt[s]=1.96 TeV

We report on a measurement of the cross section for direct-photon production in association with a heavy quark using the full data set of sqrt[s]=1.96  TeV proton-antiproton collisions corresponding to 9.1  fb-1 of integrated luminosity collected by the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. The measurements are performed as a function of the photon transverse momentum, covering a photon transverse momentum between 30 and 300 GeV, photon rapidities |yγ|<1.0, a heavy-quark-jet transverse momentum pTjet>20  GeV, and jet rapidities |yjet|<1.5. The results are compared with several theoretical predictions.

Search for pair production of strongly interacting particles decaying to pairs of jets in pp collisions at √s=1.96 TeV

We present a search for the pair production of a narrow nonstandard-model strongly interacting particle that decays to a pair of quarks or gluons, leading to a final state with four hadronic jets. We consider both nonresonant production via an intermediate gluon as well as resonant production via a distinct nonstandard-model intermediate strongly interacting particle. We use data collected by the CDF experiment in proton-antiproton collisions at √[s]=1.96 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 6.6 fb(-1). We find the data to be consistent with nonresonant production. We report limits on σ(pp[over ¯]→jjjj) as a function of the masses of the hypothetical intermediate particles. Upper limits on the production cross sections for nonstandard-model particles in several resonant and nonresonant processes are also derived.

Search for supersymmetry with like-sign lepton-tau events at CDF

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 sqrt[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/c(2). This analysis is the first to extend the LHC searches for electroweak supersymmetric production of gauginos to high tanβ and slepton next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle scenarios.

Search for resonant top-antitop production in the lepton plus jets decay mode using the full CDF data set

This Letter reports a search for a narrow resonant state decaying into two W bosons and two b quarks where one W boson decays leptonically and the other decays into a quark-antiquark pair. The search is particularly sensitive to top-antitop resonant production. We use the full data sample of proton-antiproton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV collected by the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.45 fb(-1). No evidence for resonant production is found, and upper limits on the production cross section times branching ratio for a narrow resonant state are extracted. Within a specific benchmark model, we exclude a Z' boson with mass, M(Z'), below 915 GeV/c(2) decaying into a top-antitop pair at the 95% credibility level assuming a Z' boson decay width of Γ(Z') = 0.012 M(Z'). This is the most sensitive search for a narrow qq-initiated tt resonance in the mass region below 750 GeV/c(2).

Search for a two-Higgs-boson doublet using a simplified model in pp collisions at sqrt[s] = 1.96 TeV

We present a search for new particles in an extension to the standard model that includes a heavy Higgs boson (H(0)), a lighter charged Higgs boson (H(±)), and an even lighter Higgs boson h(0), with decays leading to a W-boson pair and a bottom-antibottom quark pair in the final state. We use events with exactly one lepton, missing transverse momentum, and at least four jets in data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 8.7 fb(-1) collected by the CDF II detector in proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt[s]= 1.96 TeV. We find the data to be consistent with standard model predictions and report the results in terms of a simplified Higgs-cascade-decay model, setting 95% confidence level upper limits on the product of cross section and branching fraction from 1.3 pb to 15 fb as a function of H(0) and H(±) masses for m(h)(0) = 126 GeV/c(2).

Measurement of the cross section for prompt isolated diphoton production using the full CDF run II data sample

This Letter reports a measurement of the cross section for producing pairs of central prompt isolated photons in proton-antiproton collisions at a total energy sqrt[s] = 1.96 TeV using data corresponding to 9.5 fb(-1) integrated luminosity collected with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. The measured differential cross section is compared to three calculations derived from the theory of strong interactions. These include a prediction based on a leading order matrix element calculation merged with a parton shower model, a next-to-leading order calculation, and a next-to-next-to-leading order calculation. The first and last calculations reproduce most aspects of the data, thus showing the importance of higher-order contributions for understanding the theory of strong interaction and improving measurements of the Higgs boson and searches for new phenomena in diphoton final states.