A search for pair-produced heavy vector-like charge-2/3 quarks, T, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, is performed with the CMS detector at the LHC. Events consistent with the flavor-changing-neutral-current decay of a T quark to a top quark and a Z boson are selected by requiring two leptons from the Z-boson decay, as well as an additional isolated charged lepton. In a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.14 inverse femtobarns, the number of observed events is found to be consistent with the standard model background prediction. Assuming a branching fraction of 100% for the decay T to tZ, a T quark with a mass less than 475 GeV/c2̂ is excluded at the 95% confidence level.

An inclusive search for same-sign top-quark pair production in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV is performed using a data sample recorded with the CMS detector in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35 inverse picobarns. This analysis is motivated by recent studies of p p-bar to t t-bar reporting mass-dependent forward-backward asymmetries larger than expected from the standard model. These asymmetries could be due to Flavor Changing Neutral Currents (FCNC) in the top sector induced by t-channel exchange of a massive neutral vector boson (Z'). Models with such a Z' also predict enhancement of same-sign top-pair production in pp or p p-bar collisions. Limits are set as a function of the Z' mass and its couplings to u and t quarks. These limits disfavour the FCNC interpretation of the Tevatron results.