We present results for the next-to-leading order QCD corrections to the production and semi-leptonic decays of a top quark pair in hadron collisions, retaining all spin correlations. To evaluate the virtual corrections, we employ generalized D-dimensional unitarity. The computation is implemented in a numerical program which allows detailed studies of ttbar-related observables at the Tevatron and the LHC.
We compute the QCD corrections to the production of a top quark pair in association with one hard jet at the Tevatron and the LHC, using the method of generalized D-dimensional unitarity. Top quark decays are included at leading order in perturbative QCD. We present kinematic distributions of top quark decay products in lepton plus jets and dilepton final states at the Tevatron and the LHC, using realistic selection cuts. We confirm a strong reduction of the top quark forward-backward asymmetry for the process ttbar+jet at the Tevatron at next-to-leading order, first observed by Dittmaier, Uwer and Weinzierl. We argue that there is a natural way to understand this reduction and that it does not imply a breakdown of the perturbative expansion for the asymmetry.
In ongoing and upcoming hadron collider experiments, top quark physics will play an important role in testing the Standard Model and its possible extensions. In this work we present analytic results for the differential cross sections of top quark pair production in hadronic collisions at next-to-leading order in the QCD coupling, keeping the full dependence on the spins of the top quarks. These results are combined with the corresponding next-to-leading order results for the decay of polarized top quarks into dilepton, lepton plus jets, and all jets final states. As an application we predict double differential angular distributions which are due to the QCD-induced top quark spin correlations in the intermediate state. In addition to the analytic results, we give numerical results in terms of fit functions that can easily be used in an experimental analysis.
We compute QCD corrections to the production of a ttbar pair in association with a hard photon at the Tevatron and the LHC. This process allows a direct measurement of the top quark electromagnetic couplings that, at the moment, are only loosely constrained. We include top quark decays, treating them in the narrow width approximation, and retain spin correlations of final-state particles. Photon radiation off top quark decay products is included in our calculation and yields a significant contribution to the cross-section. We study next-to-leading order QCD corrections to the ppbar -> ttbar+gamma process at the Tevatron for the selection criteria used in a recent measurement by the CDF collaboration. We also discuss the impact of QCD corrections to the pp -> ttbar+gamma process on the measurement of the top quark electric charge at the 14 TeV LHC.
A fully differential calculation of the next-to-leading order QCD corrections to the production of Z-boson pairs in association with a hard jet at the Tevatron and LHC is presented. This process is an important background for Higgs particle and new physics searches at hadron colliders. We find sizable corrections for cross sections and differential distributions, particularly at the LHC. Residual scale uncertainties are typically at the 10% level and can be further reduced by applying a veto against the emission of a second hard jet. Our results confirm that NLO corrections do not simply rescale LO predictions.