New rare pairs of heavy friends at the LHC: production of a single top in association with a Z boson

by Lidia Dell'Asta (INFN)

Tuesday 3 Apr 2018, 15:00 → 16:00 Europe/Rome

605 (Dip.to Fisica Univ.Genova)

The top quark is the heaviest particle in the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. With a coupling strength to the Higgs boson of the order of unity, the top quark may be a key player in understanding the details of electroweak symmetry breaking. Moreover, it is a sensitive probe for physics beyond the SM. A detailed study of the top quark at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN is therefore of primary importance. The unprecedented amount of data provided by the LHC allows for precise measurements in the top sector and opens the gates to the observation of rare processes involving the top quark. Of particular interest is the production of a single top quark in association with a Z boson, which has never been observed so far. In this talk I will present the results about the search for this process.