Description:

The Standard Model of physics has been successful in predicting the existence of the Higgs boson, which was discovered by the CMS and ATLAS collaborations in 2012. While the fundamental particles of the Standard Model have all been observed, there are still many predicted rare processes that have yet to be observed, but may hold clues toward questions unanswered by the Standard Model. Among these rare processes is triple-top quark production with a cross-section of 2 fb--5 times more rare than four-top production, which was only recently observed in 2023. Triple-top quark production is a unique process not only because it requires the electroweak interaction for production, but because its low cross-section makes it more sensitive to Beyond the Standard Model contributions. This talk will present the first search for Standard Model triple-top quark production in the single lepton final state using the data collected within the CMS detector from 2016 to 2018. In the absence of a discovery, an upper limit is set on the production cross-section using novel methods in machine learning to improve the search sensitivity. Further opportunities for gains in sensitivity will be discussed in the context of the upcoming High-Luminosity LHC upgrade which will increase the available data tenfold. 

Daniel Li, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Brown University

Host: Mayda Velasco 

Host: Eric Dahl