The top quark was discovered in 1995 by the CDF and D0 experiments at the Fermilab Tevatron during the Run I operation. Since the start of the Tevatron Run II in 2001, both experiments have collected (almost equal to)2 fb−1 data samples, which are over twenty times larger than that used in the Run 1 discovery. This larger data sample allows more precise studies of top-quark properties; differences between observed top-quark properties and the Standard Model (SM) prediction may give hints to possible physics beyond the SM. Here we present the latest results on the measurements of top-quark properties and the search for electroweak (EW) single top quark production from the CDF and D0 collaborations. The integrated luminosity used for the measurements corresponds to about 1 fb−1.

The top quark is by far the heaviest known fundamental particle with a mass nearing that of a gold atom. Because of this strikingly high mass, the top quark has several unique properties and might play an important role in electroweak symmetry breaking—the mechanism that gives all elementary particles mass. Creating top quarks requires access to very high energy collisions, and at present only the Tevatron collider at Fermilab is capable of reaching these energies. Until now, top quarks have only been observed produced in pairs via the strong interaction. At hadron colliders, it should also be possible to produce single top quarks via the electroweak interaction. Studies of single top quark production provide opportunities to measure the top quark spin, how top quarks mix with other quarks, and to look for new physics beyond the standard model. Because of these interesting properties, scientists have been looking for single top quarks for more than 15 years. This thesis presents the first discovery of single top quark production. It documents one of the flagship measurements of the D0 experiment, a collaboration of more than 600 physicists from around the world. It describes first observation of a physical process known as “single top quark production”, which had been sought for more than 10 years before its eventual discovery in 2009. Further, his thesis describes, in detail, the innovative approach Dr. Gillberg took to this analysis. Through the use of Boosted Decision Trees, a machine-learning technique, he observed the tiny single top signal within an otherwise overwhelming background. This Doctoral Thesis has been accepted by Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.

The standard model of elementary particle physics (SM) predicts, besides the top-quark pair production via the strong interaction, also the electroweak production of single top-quarks [19]. Up to now, the Fermilab Tevatron proton-antiproton-collider is the only place to produce and study top quarks emerging from hadron-hadron-collisions. Top quarks were directly observed in 1995 during the Tevatron Run I at a center-of-mass energy of √s = 1.8 TeV simultaneously by the CDF and D0 Collaborations via the strong production of top-quark pairs. Run II of the Tevatron data taking period started 2001 at √s = 1.96 TeV after a five year upgrade of the Tevatron accelerator complex and of both experiments. One main component of its physics program is the determination of the properties of the top quark including its electroweak production. Even though Run II is still ongoing, the study of the top quark is already a successful endeavor, confirmed by dozens of publications from both Tevatron experiments. A comprehensive review of top-quark physics can be found in reference. The reasons for searching for single top-quark production are compelling. As the electroweak top-quark production proceeds via a Wtb vertex, it provides the unique opportunity of the direct measurement of the CKM matrix element.

After many years searching for electroweak production of top quarks, the Tevatron collider experiments have now moved from obtaining first evidence for single top quark production to an impressive array of measurements that test the standard model in several directions. This paper describes measurements of the single top quark cross sections, limits set on the CKM matrix element.

This paper reports on the first observation of electroweak production of single top quarks by the D0 and CDF collaborations. At Fermilab's 1.96 TeV proton-antiproton collider, a few thousand events are selected from several inverse femtobarns of data that contain an isolated electron or muon and/or missing transverse energy, together with jets that originate from the decays of b quarks. Using sophisticated multivariate analyses to separate signal from background, the D0 collaboration measures a cross section [sigma] (p{bar p} → tb + X, tqb + X) = 3.94 ± 0.88 pb (for a top quark mass of 170 GeV) and the CDF collaboration measures a value of 2.3{sub -0.5}{sup +0.6} pb (for a top quark mass of 175 GeV). These values are consistent with theoretical predictions at next-to-leading order precision. Both measurements have a significance of 5.0 standard deviations, meeting the benchmark to be considered unambiguous observation.