The detector of the D0 experiment at the proton anti-proton collider Tevatron in Run II is discussed in detail. The performance of the collider and the experiment is presented. Standard model Higgs searches with integrated luminosities between 260 pb{sup -1} and 950 pb{sup -1} and their combination are performed. No deviation from SM background expectation has been observed. Sensitivity prospects at the Tevatron are shown.

We performed a search for Standard Model Higgs boson production in association with W boson (p{bar p} {yields} W{sup {+-}}H {yields} {ell}{nu}b{bar b}) in p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV. The search uses the data collected between February 2002 and February 2006 at Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF), which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of about 1 fb{sup -1}. The experimental final state of WH {yields} {ell}{nu}b{bar b} process is lepton (e{sup {+-}}/{mu}{sup {+-}}), missing transverse energy and two jets. The largest background in lepton+jets events is W+light flavor process, therefore the identification of jets as b-jets reduces this kind of background significantly. We used displaced SECondary VerTeX b-tagging (SECVTX) technique, which utilizes the signature that b-jets have secondary vertex displaced away from primary vertex because of the long life time of B-mesons. However, there is still much contamination in SECVTX b-tagged jets. Finite resolution of secondary vertex tracking measurements results in false tags, and c-jets are also identified as b-jets due to the long life time of D-mesons frequently. For the purpose of increasing the purity of the SECVTX b-tagged jets, we applied Neural Network to SECVTX tagged jets for the first time by using secondary vertex …

A measurement is presented of the inclusive jet cross section using the Midpoint jet clustering algorithm in five different rapidity regions. This is the first analysis which measures the inclusive jet cross section using the Midpoint algorithm in the forward region of the detector. The measurement is based on more than 1 fb{sup -1} of integrated luminosity of Run II data taken by the CDF experiment at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The results are consistent with the predictions of perturbative quantum chromodynamics.

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The top quark is the most massive fundamental particle observed so far, and the study of its properties is interesting for several reasons ranging from its possible special role in electroweak symmetry breaking to its sensitivity to physics beyond the standard model (SM). In particular, the measurement of the top quark pair production cross section {sigma}{sub t{bar t}} is of interest as a test of QCD predictions. Recent QCD calculations done with perturbation theory to next-to-leading order predict {sigma}{sub t{bar t}} with an uncertainty of less than 15%, which motivate measurements of comparable precision. In this thesis, the author reports a measurement of the cross section for pair production of top quarks in the lepton+jets channel in 318 pb{sup -1} of p{bar p} collision data at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV. The data were recorded between March 2002 and September 2004, during Run II of the Tevatron, by the CDF II detector, a general purpose detector which combines charged particle trackers, sampling calorimeters, and muon detectors. processes in which a W boson is produced in association with several jets with large transverse momentum can be misidentified at t{bar t}, since they have the same signature. In order to separate the t{bar …

We search for third generation vector leptoquarks (V LQ3) produced in colliding p{bar p} beams operating at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV at the CDF experiment in Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron. We use 322 pb{sup -1} of data to search for the V LQ3 signal in the di-tau plus di-jet channel. For the first time, the full matrix element is used in the Monte Carlo simulation of this signal. With no events observed in the signal region, we set a 95% C.L. upper limit on the V LQ3 pair production cross section of {sigma} < 344fb, assuming Yang-Mills couplings and Br(V LQ3 {yields} b{tau}) = 1, and a lower limit on the V LQ3 mass of m{sub V LQ3} > 317 GeV=c{sup 2}. If theoretical uncertainties on the cross section are applied in the least favorable manner the results are {sigma} < 360fb and m{sub V LQ3} > 294 GeV=c{sup 2}. The Minimal coupling V LQ3 result is an upper limit on the cross section of {sigma} < 493fb ({sigma} < 610fb) and the lower limit on the mass is m{sub V LQ3} > 251 GeV=c{sup 2} (m{sub V LQ3} > 223 GeV=c{sup 2}) for the nominal (1{sigma} varied) …

The authors present a measurement of the mass of the top quark. The event sample is selected from proton-antiproton collisions, at 1.96 TeV center-of-mass energy, observed with the CDF detector at Fermilab's Tevatron. They consider a 318 pb{sup -1} dataset collected between March 2002 and August 2004. They select events that contain one energetic lepton, large missing transverse energy, exactly four energetic jets, and at least one displaced vertex b tag. The analysis uses leading-order t{bar t} and background matrix elements along with parameterized parton showering to construct event-by-event likelihoods as a function of top quark mass. From the 63 events observed with the 318 pb{sup -1} dataset they extract a top quark mass of 172.0 {+-} 2.6(stat) {+-} 3.3(syst) GeV/c{sup 2} from the joint likelihood. The mean expected statistical uncertainty is 3.2 GeV/c{sup 2} for m{sub t} = 178 GTeV/c{sup 2} and 3.1 GeV/c{sup 2} for m{sub t} = 172.5 GeV/c{sup 2}. The systematic error is dominated by the uncertainty of the jet energy scale.

By way of retaining the gauge invariance of the Standard Model (SM) and giving masses to the W{sup {+-}} and Z{sup 0} bosons and the fermions, the Higgs mechanism predicts the existence of a neutral scalar bosonic particle, whose mass is not exactly known. The Higgs boson is the only experimentally unconfirmed SM particle to date. This thesis documents a search for the Higgs boson in p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV at the Tevatron, using 360 {+-} pb {sup -1} data collected by the Run II Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF II), as part of the most important quest for contemporary particle physicists. The search was for a Higgs boson decaying to a pair of W{sup {+-}} bosons, where each W boson decays to an electron, a muon or a tau that further decays to an electron or a muon with associated neutrinos. Events with two charged leptons plus large missing energy were selected in data triggered on a high p{sub t} lepton and compared to the signal and backgrounds modeled using Monte Carlo and jet data. No signal-like excess was observed in data. Therefore, upper limits on the HWW production cross-section in the analyzed mass range …

Fatigue and wear in micron-scale polysilicon structural films can severely impact the reliability of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Despite studies on fatigue and wear behavior of these films, there is still an on-going debate regarding the precise physical mechanisms for these two important failure modes. Although macro-scale silicon does not fatigue, this phenomenon is observed in micron-scale silicon. It is shown that for polysilicon devices fabricated in the MUMPs foundry and SUMMiT process stress-lifetime data exhibits similar trends in ambient air, shorter lifetimes in higher relative humidity environments and no fatigue failure at all in high vacuum. Transmission electron microscopy of the surface oxides of the samples show an approximate four-fold thickening of the oxide at stress concentrations after fatigue failure, but no thickening after fracture in air or after fatigue cycling in vacuo. It is found that such oxide thickening and fatigue failure (in air) occurs in devices with initial oxide thicknesses of {approx}4-20 nm. Such results are interpreted and explained by a reaction layer fatigue mechanism; specifically, moisture-assisted subcritical cracking within a cyclic stress-assisted thickened oxide layer occurs until the crack reaches a critical size to cause catastrophic failure. Polysilicon specimens from the SUMMiT process are used to study …

A measurement of the top pair production cross section in the dimuon final state for proton-antiproton collisions at ps = 1:96 TeV is presented. Approximately 420 pb{sup -1} of data collected with the Run II D{O} detector are used for this measurement. Two data events are observed with a total expected signal plus background yield of 3.6 events. Assuming a top mass of 175 GeV, the measured cross section is: {sigma}{sub {bar u}} = 3.13{sup +4.17}{sub -2.60}(stat){sup +0.92}{sub -0.86}(sys){+-}0.19(lumi)pb, which is consistent with a NNLO prediction of 6.77 {+-} 0.42 pb.