Fingerprinting the Top quark FCNC via anomalous $Ztq$ couplings at the LHeC

Abstract

A study of the top quark \emph{Flavour Changing Neutral Current} (FCNC) through $Z$-boson has been performed in the proposed future $e^-p$ collider for the energy, $E_{e(p)} = 60~(7000)$~GeV. We considered an effective theory where the anomalous FCNC couplings are of vector and tensor nature. The effect of these couplings is probed in the single top production along with the scattered electron. The polar angle $\theta$ of the electrons coming out of the primary vertex in association with the top quark polarization asymmetries constructed from the angular distribution of the secondary lepton arising from the top decay, allow to distinguish the Lorentz structure of the coupling. From a multi-parameter analysis, we obtain a reach of ${\cal O} (10^{-2})$ in the case of $Ztu$ and $Ztc$ couplings at an integrated luminosity of 2~ab$^{-1}$ at 95\% C.L.