Observation of Top Quark Production in the Forward Region at LHCb

Abstract

Forward top production is observed, in the ${\mu}+b$ final state, with the 3 fb$^{-1}$ Run I dataset collected by the LHCb detector. The combined cross-section for $t\bar{t}$ and single top production at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV and $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV is measured, for muons from the W boson with $p_{\rm T} > 25$ GeV in the pseudo-rapidity range 2.0$< \eta <$4.5 and with a b-tagged jet with 50$ < p_{\rm T} < 100$ GeV in the pseudorapidity range 2.2$< \eta <$4.2. The production cross-sections are found to be in agreement with NLO predictions.