Study of single top production at high energy electron positron colliders

Abstract

The effect of single top production on the study of top quark pair production in future high energy electron--positron colliders is evaluated. The rate of the single top quark production process is sizeable throughout a large range of center-of-mass energies and cannot easily be distinguished from the dominant pair production process. We discuss the impact on the top quark mass extraction from a scan through the pair production threshold and the determination of top quark form factors in the continuum. These results advocate for the exploration of the inclusive $e^+e^-\rightarrow W^+bW^-\bar{b}$ process, that includes both top quark pair and single top quark production.