Top Quark Production Cross Section
E. Laenen, J. Smith, W. L. van Neerven
TL;DR
This paper addresses the large theoretical uncertainties in top-quark production at the Tevatron by combining the exact $O(\alpha_s^3)$ cross section with all-orders resummation of leading soft-gluon corrections. It introduces a nonperturbative scale $\mu_0$ to regulate the resummation and defines an improved cross section $\sigma_{\rm imp}$ that blends resummed and exact terms. The analysis disentangles the $q\bar q$ and $gg$ channels, showing particularly large resummation effects in the gluon-fusion channel and providing central, upper, and lower estimates under different $\mu_0$ choices within the DIS factorization scheme. The findings underscore the importance of resummation for reliable cross-section predictions and their use in mass determination and limits, with results shown to be robust against PDF variations.
Abstract
The production rate for top quarks at the Fermilab Tevatron is presented using the exact order $α_s^3$ corrected cross section and the resummation of the leading soft gluon corrections in all orders of perturbation theory.