Top-quark pair production at hadron colliders

In this thesis we investigate several phenomenologically important properties of top-quark pair production at hadron colliders. We calculate double differential cross sections in two different kinematical setups, pair invariant-mass (PIM) and single-particle inclusive (1PI) kinematics. In pair invariant-mass kinematics we are able to present results for the double differential cross section with respect to the invariant mass of the top-quark pair and the top-quark scattering angle. Working in the threshold region, where the pair invariant mass M is close to the partonic center-of-mass energy sqrt{hat{s}}, we are able to factorize the partonic cross section into different energy regions. We use renormalization-group (RG) methods to resum large threshold logarithms to next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic (NNLL) accuracy. On a technical level this is done using effective field theories, such as heavy-quark effective theory (HQET) and soft-collinear effective theory (SCET). The same techniques are applied when working in 1PI kinematics, leading to a calculation of the double differential cross section with respect to transverse-momentum pT and the rapidity of the top quark. We restrict the phase-space such that only soft emission of gluons is possible, and perform a NNLL resummation of threshold logarithms. The obtained analytical expressions enable us to precisely predict several observables, and a substantial part of this thesis is devoted to their detailed phenomenological analysis. Matching our results in the threshold regions to the exact ones at next-to-leading order (NLO) in fixed-order perturbation theory, allows us to make predictions at NLO+NNLL order in RG-improved, and at approximate next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) in fixed order perturbation theory. We give numerical results for the invariant mass distribution of the top-quark pair, and for the top-quark transverse-momentum and rapidity spectrum. We predict the total cross section, separately for both kinematics. Using these results, we analyze subleading contributions to the total cross section in 1PI and PIM originating from power corrections to the leading terms in the threshold expansions, and compare them to previous approaches. We later combine our PIM and 1PI results for the total cross section, this way eliminating uncertainties due to these corrections. The combined predictions for the total cross section are presented as a function of the top-quark mass in the pole, the minimal-subtraction (MS), and the 1S mass scheme. In addition, we calculate the forward-backward (FB) asymmetry at the Tevatron in the laboratory, and in the ttbar rest frames as a function of the rapidity and the invariant mass of the top-quark pair at NLO+NNLL. We also give binned results for the asymmetry as a function of the invariant mass and the rapidity difference of the ttbar pair, and compare those to recent measurements. As a last application we calculate the charge asymmetry at the LHC as a function of a lower rapidity cut-off for the top and anti-top quarks.

Production of antihydrogen via double charge exchange

Spectroscopy of the 1S-2S transition of antihydrogen confined in a neutral atom trap and comparison with the equivalent spectral line in hydrogen will provide an accurate test of CPT symmetry and the first one in a mixed baryon-lepton system. Also, with neutral antihydrogen atoms, the gravitational interaction between matter and antimatter can be tested unperturbed by the much stronger Coulomb forces.rnAntihydrogen is regularly produced at CERN's Antiproton Decelerator by three-body-recombination (TBR) of one antiproton and two positrons. The method requires injecting antiprotons into a cloud of positrons, which raises the average temperature of the antihydrogen atoms produced way above the typical 0.5 K trap depths of neutral atom traps. Therefore only very few antihydrogen atoms can be confined at a time. Precision measurements, like laser spectroscopy, will greatly benefit from larger numbers of simultaneously trapped antihydrogen atoms.rnTherefore, the ATRAP collaboration developed a different production method that has the potential to create much larger numbers of cold, trappable antihydrogen atoms. Positrons and antiprotons are stored and cooled in a Penning trap in close proximity. Laser excited cesium atoms collide with the positrons, forming Rydberg positronium, a bound state of an electron and a positron. The positronium atoms are no longer confined by the electric potentials of the Penning trap and some drift into the neighboring cloud of antiprotons where, in a second charge exchange collision, they form antihydrogen. The antiprotons remain at rest during the entire process, so much larger numbers of trappable antihydrogen atoms can be produced. Laser excitation is necessary to increase the efficiency of the process since the cross sections for charge-exchange collisions scale with the fourth power of the principal quantum number n.rnThis method, named double charge-exchange, was demonstrated by ATRAP in 2004. Since then, ATRAP constructed a new combined Penning Ioffe trap and a new laser system. The goal of this thesis was to implement the double charge-exchange method in this new apparatus and increase the number of antihydrogen atoms produced.rnCompared to our previous experiment, we could raise the numbers of positronium and antihydrogen atoms produced by two orders of magnitude. Most of this gain is due to the larger positron and antiproton plasmas available by now, but we could also achieve significant improvements in the efficiencies of the individual steps. We therefore showed that the double charge-exchange can produce comparable numbers of antihydrogen as the TBR method, but the fraction of cold, trappable atoms is expected to be much higher. Therefore this work is an important step towards precision measurements with trapped antihydrogen atoms.