The top quark has been discovered by CDF and D0 experiments in 1995 at the proton-antiproton collider Tevatron. The amount of data recorded by both experiments makes it possible to accurately study the properties of this quark: its mass is now known to better than 1% accuracy. This thesis describes the measurement of the top pair cross section in the electron muon channel with 4, 3 fb−1 recorded data between 2006 and 2009 by the D0 experiment. Since the final state included a muon, improvements of some aspects of its identification have been performed : a study of the contamination of the cosmic muons and a study of the quality of the muon tracks. The cross section measurement is in good agreement with the theoretical calculations and the other experimental measurements. This measurement has been used to extract a value for the top quark mass. This method allows for the extraction of a better defined top mass than direct measurements as it depends less on Monte Carlo simulations. The uncertainty on this extracted mass, dominated by the experimental one, is however larger than for direct measurements. In order to decrease this uncertainty, the ratio of the Z boson and the top pair production cross sections has been studied to look for some possible theoretical correlations. At the Tevatron, the two cross sections are not theoretically correlated: no decrease of the uncertainty on the extracted top mass is therefore possible.

This thesis presents the first experimental calibration of the top-quark Monte-Carlo mass. It also provides the top-quark mass-independent and most precise top-quark pair production cross-section measurement to date. The most precise measurements of the top-quark mass obtain the top-quark mass parameter (Monte-Carlo mass) used in simulations, which are partially based on heuristic models. Its interpretation in terms of mass parameters used in theoretical calculations, e.g. a running or a pole mass, has been a long-standing open problem with far-reaching implications beyond particle physics, even affecting conclusions on the stability of the vacuum state of our universe. In this thesis, this problem is solved experimentally in three steps using data obtained with the compact muon solenoid (CMS) detector. The most precise top-quark pair production cross-section measurements to date are performed. The Monte-Carlo mass is determined and a new method for extracting the top-quark mass from theoretical calculations is presented. Lastly, the top-quark production cross-sections are obtained – for the first time – without residual dependence on the top-quark mass, are interpreted using theoretical calculations to determine the top-quark running- and pole mass with unprecedented precision, and are fully consistently compared with the simultaneously obtained top-quark Monte-Carlo mass.

We present a measurement of the t{anti t} production cross section in p{anti p} collisions at √s = 1.8 TeV and a measurement of top quark mass m{sub t} by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron. The measurements are based on the data from the 1992- 1996 run during which the D0 detector was exposed to the integrated luminosity of approximately 125 pb−1. We observe 39 t{anti t} candidate events in the dilepton and lepton+jets decay channels with an expected background of 13.7 ± 2.2 events. We measure the top quark mass m{sub t} using a two constraint fit to m{sub t} in t{anti t} → bW {anti b}W− final states with one W decaying to q{anti q} and the other to e? or??. Events are binned in the fit mass versus a measure of probability for events to be the signal rather than a background. Likelihood fits to the data yield m{sub t} = 173.3 ± 5.6 (stat) ± 6.2 (syst) GeV/c2. For this mass we measure the t{anti t} production cross section to be 5.5 ± 1.8 pb.

In these proceedings, I review recent measurements in the top quark sector in pp-bar collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 1.96 TeV in Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron Collider using the D0 detector. I will present the differential measurement of the tt-bar production cross section and the Tevatron combination of inclusive tt-bar cross section measurements; the first evidence of the production of single top quarks in the s-channel by D0 and the observation in combination with CDF. Furthermore, I will review the measurements of the forward-backward asymmetry in tt-bar events, and conclude with the world's most precise single measurement of the top quark mass, which is a fundamental parameter of the standard model, and present the Tevatron combination, which is the world's most precise determination of the top quark mass, with a relative precision of 0.37%.

Since the discovery of the top quark in 1995 at the Fermliab Tevatron Collider, top quark properties have been measured with ever higher precision. In this article, recent measurements of the top quark mass and its width using up to 3.6 fb−1 of D0 data are summarized. Different techniques and final states have been examined and no deviations within these measurements have been observed. In addition to the direct measurements, a measurement of the top quark mass from its production cross section and a measurement of the top-antitop quark mass difference are discussed. With a mass of 173.3 ± 1.1 GeV, the top quark is the heaviest of all known fundamental particles. Due to the high mass, its Yukawa coupling is close to unity suggesting that it may play a special role in electroweak symmetry breaking. Precise measurements of both, the W boson and the top quark mass, constrain the mass of the yet unobserved Higgs boson and allow to restrict certain extensions of the Standard Model. At the Tevatron collider with a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV, 85% of the top quark pairs are produced in quark-antiquark annihilation; 15% originate from gluon fusion. Top quarks are predicted to decay almost exclusively to a W boson and a bottom quark. According to the number of hadronic W decays, top events are classified into all-jets, lepton+jets and dilepton events. The lepton+jets channel is characterized by four jets, one isolated, energetic charged lepton and missing transverse energy. With 30%, the branching fraction of the lepton+jets channel is about seven times larger than the one of the dilepton channel whereas the signal to background ratio is about three times smaller. The main background in this final state comes from W +jets events. Instrumental background arises from events in which a jet is misidentified as an electron and events with heavy hadrons that decay into leptons which pass the isolation requirements. The topology of the dilepton channel is described by two jets, two isolated, energetic charged leptons and significant missing transverse energy from the undetected neutrinos. The main background are Z + jets and diboson events (WW/WZ/ZZ+jets) as well as instrumental background as characterized above. At the D0 experiment, different techniques are used to measure the top quark mass. They are summarized in the following sections together with the first measurement of the top anti-top quark mass difference and the first precise determination of the top quark width.

Top quark pair production cross section has been measured at the Tevatron by CDF and D0 collaborations using different channels and methods, in order to test standard model predictions, and to search for new physics hints affecting the t{bar t} production mechanism or decay. Measurements are carried out with an integrated luminosity of 1.0 to 2.0 fb−1, and are found to be consistent with standard model expectations.

At particle accelerators the Standard Model has been tested and will be tested further to a great precision. The data analyzed in this thesis have been collected at the world's highest energetic-collider, the Tevatron, located at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) in the vicinity of Chicago, IL, USA. There, protons and antiprotons are collided at a center-of-mass energy of √s = 1.96 TeV. The discovery of the top quark was one of the remarkable results not only for the CDF and D0 experiments at the Tevatron collider, but also for the Standard Model, which had predicted the existence of the top quark because of symmetry arguments long before already. Still, the Tevatron is the only facility able to produce top quarks. The predominant production mechanism of top quarks is the production of a top-antitop quark pair via the strong force. However, the Standard Model also allows the production of single top quarks via the electroweak interaction. This process features the unique opportunity to measure the.