Single-Top Cross Section Measurements at ATLAS

Abstract

The single-top production cross section is one third that of the top-pair production cross section at the LHC. During the first year of data taking, the determination of the major contributions to the total single-top cross section should be achievable. Comparisons between the measured cross sections and the theoretical predictions will provide a crucial test of the standard model. These measurements should also lead to a direct measurement of |V_tb| with a precision at the level of a few percent. In addition, they will probe for new physics via the search for evidence of anomalous couplings to the top quark and measurements of additional bosonic contributions to single-top production. Methods developed to optimize the selection of single-top events in the three production channels are presented and the potential for the cross section measurements is established.