This thesis describes a search for singly produced top quarks via an electroweak vertex in head-on proton-antiproton collisions at a center of mass energy of √s = 1.96 TeV. The analysis uses a total of 2.3 fb−1 of data collected with the D0 detector at Fermilab, corresponding to two different run periods of the Tevatron collider. Two channels contribute to single top quark production at the Tevatron, the s-channel and the t-channel. In the s-channel, a virtual W boson is produced from the aniquilation of a quark and an antiquark and a top and a bottom quarks are produced from the W decay. The top quark decays almost exclusively into a W boson and a bottom quark. Final states are considered in which the W boson decays leptonically into an electron or a muon plus a neutrino. Thus, at the detector level, the final state characterizing the s-channel contains one lepton, missing energy accounting for the neutrino, and two jets from the two bottom quarks. In the t-channel, the final state has an additional jet coming from a light quark. Clearly, a precise reconstruction of the events requires a precise measurement of the energy of the jets. A multivariate technique, Bayesian neural networks, is used to extract the single top signal from the overwhelming background still left after event selection. A Bayesian likelihood probability is then computed to measure the single top cross section. Assuming the observed excess is due to single top events, the measured single top quark production cross section is [sigma](p{bar p} → tb + X, tqb + X) = 4.70{sub -0.93}{sup +1.18} pb. The observed excess is associated with a p-value of (3.2 ± 2.3) x 10−8, assuming the background-only hypothesis. This p-value corresponds to an excess over background of 5.4 standard deviations for a Gaussian density. The p-value computed using the standard model signal cross section of 3.46 pb is (22.7 ± 0.6) x 10−6, corresponding to an expected significance of 4.08 standard deviations.

A measurement of the top quark pair production cross section in proton anti-proton collisions at an interaction energy of √s = 1.96 TeV is presented. This analysis uses 405 pb−1 of data collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. Fully hadronic t{bar t} decays with final states of six or more jets are separated from the multijet background using secondary vertex tagging and a neural network. The t{bar t} cross section is measured as?{sub t{bar t}} = 4.5{sub -1.9}{sup +2.0}(stat){sub -1.1}{sup +1.4}(syst) ± 0.3(lumi) pb for a top quark mass of m{sub t} = 175 GeV/c2.

Abstract Not Provided.

A measurement of the top quark pair production cross section in proton anti-proton collisions at an interaction energy of √s = 1.96 TeV is presented. This analysis uses 405 pb−1 of data collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. Fully hadronic t{bar t} decays with final states of six or more jets are separated from the multijet background using secondary vertex tagging and a neural network. The t{bar t} cross section is measured as [sigma]{sub t{bar t}} = 4.5{sub -1.9}{sup +2.0}(stat){sub -1.1}{sup +1.4}(syst) ± 0.3(lumi) pb for a top quark mass of m{sub t} = 175 GeV/c2.

A measurement of the t{bar t} pair production cross section is presented using 162 pb{sup -1} of data collected by the CDF experiment during Run II at the Tevatron. t{bar t} events in the lepton+jets channel are isolated by identifying electrons and muons, reconstructing jets and transverse missing energy, and identifying b jets with a secondary vertex tagging algorithm. The efficiency of the algorithm is measured in a control sample using a novel technique that is less dependent on the simulation. For a top quark mass of 175 GeV/c{sup 2}, a cross section of {sigma}{sub t{bar t}} = 5.6{sub -1.1}{sup +1.2}(stat.){sub -0.6}{sup +0.9}(syst.)pb is measured.

We present two measurements of the t{bar t} production cross section in collisions of protons and antiprotons at {radical}s = 196 TeV. We analyze a dataset of 310 {+-} 20 pb{sup -1} collected with the CDF 2 detector. In the first measurement, we select events with six to eight jets, at least one of which having a displaced secondary vertex, little or no missing transverse energy and optimized kinematical criteria consistent with the t{bar t} all-hadronic decay channel. In the second measurement, we select events with four or more jets, at least one of which having a displaced secondary vertex, high missing transverse energy, and optimized kinematical criteria consistent with the decay of t{bar t} to {tau}+jets. The averaged t{bar t} production cross section, determined from six different measurements using the CDF 2 detector in the dilepton, lepton+jets and all-hadronic decay channels, is also calculated to be {sigma}{sub t{bar t}} = 7.1 {+-} 0.6(stat) {+-} 0.7(syst) {+-} 0.4(lumi) pb, in agreement with the prediction of the standard model.

I present a measurement of the tt¯ production cross section at s = 1.96 TeV using 2034 pb-1 of CDF Run II data using events with a high transverse momentum electron or muon, three or more jets, and missing transverse energy. The measurement assumes a t → Wb branching fraction of 100 percent. Events consistent with tt¯ decay are found by identifying jets containing heavy-flavor semileptonic decays to muons. The dominant backgrounds are evaluated directly from the data. Based on 248 candidate events and an expected background of 86.8+/-5.6 events, I measure a production cross section of 8.7+/-1.1+0.9-0.8+/-0.6 pb, in agreement with the Standard Model.

The first measurement of the top-antitop production cross section in proton-antiproton collisions at √s = 1.96 TeV using 243 pb-1 of data collected with the D0 detector at Fermilab is presented. In this analysis, only the dielectron final state is considered. Five events are observed, and 0.93 background events are expected. The measured cross section, after accounting for the expected branching ratio to the dielectron channel, is ?t$ar{t}$ = 14.9$+9.4top{-7.0}$(stat)$+2.5top{-1.8}${sup +2.5}(syst) ± 1.0 (lumi) pb, which agrees with the predicted cross section for top quarks with a mass of 175 GeV. In addition, a first-pass at a measurement of the top mass using the neutrino-weighting method is presented. This measurement is also performed in the dielectron channel using the five events observed in the cross section measurement.

We present two measurements of the t{bar t} production cross section in collisions of protons and antiprotons at √s = 196 TeV. We analyze a dataset of 310 ± 20 pb−1 collected with the CDF 2 detector. In the first measurement, we select events with six to eight jets, at least one of which having a displaced secondary vertex, little or no missing transverse energy and optimized kinematical criteria consistent with the t{bar t} all-hadronic decay channel. In the second measurement, we select events with four or more jets, at least one of which having a displaced secondary vertex, high missing transverse energy, and optimized kinematical criteria consistent with the decay of t{bar t} to?+jets. The averaged t{bar t} production cross section, determined from six different measurements using the CDF 2 detector in the dilepton, lepton+jets and all-hadronic decay channels, is also calculated to be?{sub t{bar t}} = 7.1 ± 0.6(stat) ± 0.7(syst) ± 0.4(lumi) pb, in agreement with the prediction of the standard model.