A preliminary measurement of the t{bar t} production cross section at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV is presented. The {mu}-plus-jets final state is analyzed in a data sample of 94 pb{sup -1} and a total of 14 events are selected with a background expectation of 11.7 {+-} 1.9 events. The measurement yields: {sigma}{sub p{bar p} {yields} t{bar t} + X} = 2.4{sub -3.5}{sup +4.2}(stat.){sub -2.6}{sup +2.5}(syst.) {+-} 0.3(lumi.) pb. The analysis, being part of a larger effort to re-observe the top quark in Tevatron Run II data and to measure the production cross section, is combined with results from all available analyses channels. The combined result yields: {sigma}{sub p{bar p}} {yields} t{bar t} + X = 8.1{sub -2.0}{sup +2.2}(stat.){sub -1.4}{sup +1.6}(syst.) {+-} 0.8(lumi.) pb.

The nucleon elastic electromagnetic form factors are fundamental quantities needed for an understanding of nucleon and nuclear electromagnetic structure. The evolution of the Sachs electric and magnetic form factors with Q2, the square of the four-momentum transfer, is related to the distribution of charge and magnetization within the nucleon. High precision measurements of the nucleon form factors are essential for stringent tests of our current theoretical understanding of confinement within the nucleon. Measurements of the neutron form factors, in particular, those of the neutron electric form factor, have been notoriously difficult due to the lack of a free neutron target and the vanishing integral charge of the neutron. Indeed, a precise measurement of the neutron electric form factor has eluded experimentalists for decades; however, with the advent of high duty-factor polarized electron beam facilities, experiments employing polarization degrees of freedom have finally yielded the first precise measurements of this fundamental quantity. Following a general overview of the experimental and theoretical status of the nucleon form factors, a detailed description of an experiment designed to extract the neutron electric form factor from measurements of the neutron's recoil polarization in quasielastic 2H(e, e')1H scattering is presented. The experiment described here employed the …

This dissertation presents a preliminary measurement of the B{sup {+-}} lifetime through the full reconstruction of its decay chain, and the identification of top quark production in the electron plus jets channel using the displaced vertex b-tagging method. Its main contribution is the development, implementation and optimization of the Kalman filter algorithm for vertex reconstruction, and of the displaced vertex technique for tagging jets arising from b quark fragmentation, both of which have now become part of the standard D0 reconstruction package. These two algorithms fully exploit the new state-of-the-art tracking detectors, recently installed as part of the Run 2 D0 upgrade project. The analysis is based on data collected during Run 2a at the Fermilab Tevatron p{bar p} Hadron Collider up to April 2003, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 60 pb{sup -1}. The measured B meson lifetime of {tau} = 1.57 {+-} 0.18 ps is in agreement with the current world average, with a competitive level of precision expected when the full data sample becomes available.

The direct observation of the top quark was first achieved at the Tevatron proton anti-proton collider at Fermilab. This discovery completed the third generation quark sector where the top quark is expected to accompany the bottom quark in the weak isospin doublet. This dissertation discusses the experimental verification of the production cross section as predicted by the Standard Model. A measurement of the t{bar t} production cross section using 107.9 pb{sup -1} of p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab between March of 2003 and June of 2003 is presented. The measurement focuses on the t{bar t} production in the ''lepton plus jets'' final state in which one of the W bosons from the t{bar t} decay subsequently decays leptonically to an electron or a muon, and the other decays hadronically. The B-tagging technique which utilizes the precision silicon detector tracking is used to enhance the signal for t{bar t} events relative to the background through identification of the bottom quark from its measurable lifetime. The t{bar t} production cross section is measured to be {sigma}{sub t{bar t}} = 4.5 {+-} 1.4(stat) {+-} 0.8(sys) pb.