Measurement of the Ratio σtt̅ /σZ/γ*→ll and Precise Extraction of the tt̅ Cross Section

Abstract

We report a measurement of the ratio of the tt̅ to Z/γ* production cross sections in √s=1.96 TeV pp̅ collisions using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of up to 4.6 fb-1, collected by the CDF II detector. The tt̅ cross section ratio is measured using two complementary methods, a b-jet tagging measurement and a topological approach. By multiplying the ratios by the well-known theoretical Z/γ*→ll cross section predicted by the standard model, the extracted tt̅ cross sections are effectively insensitive to the uncertainty on luminosity. A best linear unbiased estimate is used to combine both measurements with the result σtt̅ =7.70±0.52 pb, for a top-quark mass of 172.5 GeV/c2.