Probing R-violating top quark decays at hadron colliders

Abstract

We examine the possibility of observing exotic top quark decays via R-violating SUSY interactions at the Fermilab Tevatron and CERN LHC. We present cross-sections for $t\bar t$ production followed by the subsequent decay of either $t$ or $\bar t$ via the R-violating interaction while the other undergoes the SM decay. With suitable kinematic cuts, we find that the exotic decays can possibly be detected over standard model backgrounds at the future runs of the Tevatron and LHC, but not at Run 1 of the Tevatron due to limited statistics. Discovery limits for R-Violating couplings in the top sector are presented.