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CMS-PAS-TOP-24-009
Observation of tWZ production at the CMS experiment
Abstract: The first observation is reported of single top quark production in association with a W and a Z boson in proton-proton collisions. The analysis uses data at center-of-mass energies of 13 and 13.6 TeV recorded with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 200 fb$ ^{-1} $. Events with three or four charged leptons are selected, which can be electrons or muons. Advanced machine learning algorithms and improved reconstruction methods compared to an earlier analysis result in an unprecedented sensitivity to tWZ production. The measured cross sections for tWZ production are 248 $ \pm $ 52 fb and 244 $ \pm $ 74 fb for $ \sqrt{s}= $ 13 and 13.6 TeV, respectively. The measurement results in a statistical significance of 5.8 standard deviations, with 3.5 expected, compared to the background-only hypothesis.
Figures Summary Additional Figures References CMS Publications
Figures

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Figure 1:
Example Feynman diagrams for $ \mathrm{t}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z} $ production in the SM (left) and for anomalous $ \mathrm{t}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z} $ production through an effective interaction (right).

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Figure 1-a:
Example Feynman diagrams for $ \mathrm{t}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z} $ production in the SM (left) and for anomalous $ \mathrm{t}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z} $ production through an effective interaction (right).

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Figure 1-b:
Example Feynman diagrams for $ \mathrm{t}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z} $ production in the SM (left) and for anomalous $ \mathrm{t}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z} $ production through an effective interaction (right).

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Figure 2:
Distribution in the trailing lepton $ p_{\mathrm{T}} $ for the $ \text{CR}_{\mathrm{DY}} $ (left) and $ \text{CR}_{{\mathrm{t}\overline{\mathrm{t}}} } $ (right) after a fit to the data. The dashed band shows the postfit uncertainty. The results from fits to 13 and 13.6 TeV data are combined for illustration purposes. The ratio of data to the predictions from MC simulations is shown below the distributions.

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Figure 2-a:
Distribution in the trailing lepton $ p_{\mathrm{T}} $ for the $ \text{CR}_{\mathrm{DY}} $ (left) and $ \text{CR}_{{\mathrm{t}\overline{\mathrm{t}}} } $ (right) after a fit to the data. The dashed band shows the postfit uncertainty. The results from fits to 13 and 13.6 TeV data are combined for illustration purposes. The ratio of data to the predictions from MC simulations is shown below the distributions.

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Figure 2-b:
Distribution in the trailing lepton $ p_{\mathrm{T}} $ for the $ \text{CR}_{\mathrm{DY}} $ (left) and $ \text{CR}_{{\mathrm{t}\overline{\mathrm{t}}} } $ (right) after a fit to the data. The dashed band shows the postfit uncertainty. The results from fits to 13 and 13.6 TeV data are combined for illustration purposes. The ratio of data to the predictions from MC simulations is shown below the distributions.

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Figure 3:
Distributions in the ML output scores for the $ \mathrm{t}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z} $ (upper left) and $ \mathrm{t} \overline{\mathrm{t}} $ Z (upper right) output scores in the $ \text{SR}_{3\ell} $, and in the ML output score in $ \text{SR}_{4\ell} $ (lower) after a fit to the data. The dashed band shows the postfit uncertainty. The results from fits to 13 and 13.6 TeV data are combined for illustration purposes. The ratio of data to the predictions from MC simulations is shown below the distributions.

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Figure 3-a:
Distributions in the ML output scores for the $ \mathrm{t}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z} $ (upper left) and $ \mathrm{t} \overline{\mathrm{t}} $ Z (upper right) output scores in the $ \text{SR}_{3\ell} $, and in the ML output score in $ \text{SR}_{4\ell} $ (lower) after a fit to the data. The dashed band shows the postfit uncertainty. The results from fits to 13 and 13.6 TeV data are combined for illustration purposes. The ratio of data to the predictions from MC simulations is shown below the distributions.

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Figure 3-b:
Distributions in the ML output scores for the $ \mathrm{t}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z} $ (upper left) and $ \mathrm{t} \overline{\mathrm{t}} $ Z (upper right) output scores in the $ \text{SR}_{3\ell} $, and in the ML output score in $ \text{SR}_{4\ell} $ (lower) after a fit to the data. The dashed band shows the postfit uncertainty. The results from fits to 13 and 13.6 TeV data are combined for illustration purposes. The ratio of data to the predictions from MC simulations is shown below the distributions.

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Figure 3-c:
Distributions in the ML output scores for the $ \mathrm{t}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z} $ (upper left) and $ \mathrm{t} \overline{\mathrm{t}} $ Z (upper right) output scores in the $ \text{SR}_{3\ell} $, and in the ML output score in $ \text{SR}_{4\ell} $ (lower) after a fit to the data. The dashed band shows the postfit uncertainty. The results from fits to 13 and 13.6 TeV data are combined for illustration purposes. The ratio of data to the predictions from MC simulations is shown below the distributions.

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Figure 4:
Likelihood scan of the signal strengths for $ \mathrm{t}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z} $ and $ \mathrm{t} \overline{\mathrm{t}} $ Z production. The black cross shows the best fit value, while the black diamond indicates the SM expected value. The contours in different shades of blue correspond to the 68%, 95%, and 99% confidence level.
Summary
In summary, a measurement of $ \mathrm{t}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z} $ production in proton-proton (pp) collisions has been presented in events with three and four charged leptons. The analysis is performed using data recorded with the CMS detector at center-of-mass energies of 13 and 13.6 TeV, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity 200 fb$ ^{-1} $. Advanced machine learning algorithms are employed to significantly improve the sensitivity of the analysis compared to an earlier analysis. Analyzing the same data, an expected significance of 3.0 standard deviations (s.d. ) is achieved, compared to 1.4 s.d. obtained previously. Combining the 13 and 13.6 TeV data, a combined significance of 5.8 s.d. is observed. The measured signal strength $ \mu_{\mathrm{t}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z}}= $ 1.77 $ \pm $ 0.32 (tot) agrees with the standard model (SM) prediction within 2.3 s.d. The measured cross sections are 248 $ \pm $ 52 fb and 242 $ \pm $ 77 fb for $ \sqrt{s}= $ 13 and 13.6 TeV, respectively. This is the first observation of $ \mathrm{t}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z} $ production in pp collisions. This measurement represents a significant step forward in our understanding of rare processes involving the top quark and electroweak bosons. It opens up the possibility for future studies of top quark-electroweak interactions in the context of the SM and in extensions to it.
Additional Figures

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Additional Figure 1:
Distribution in the ML output score for other backgrounds than $ \mathrm{t} \overline{\mathrm{t}} $ Z in the $ \text{SR}_{3\ell} $ after a fit to the data. The dashed band shows the postfit uncertainty. The results from fits to 13 and 13.6 TeV data are combined for illustration purposes. The ratio of data to the predictions from MC simulations is shown below.

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Additional Figure 2:
Distribution in the number of jets measured in the $ \text{CR}_{\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z}} $ after a fit to the data. The dashed band shows the postfit uncertainty. The results from fits to 13 and 13.6 TeV data are combined for illustration purposes. The ratio of data to the predictions from MC simulations is shown below.

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Additional Figure 3:
Number of events measured in the $ \text{CR}_{\mathrm{Z}\mathrm{Z}} $ after a fit to the data. The dashed band shows the postfit uncertainty. The results from fits to 13 and 13.6 TeV data are combined for illustration purposes. The ratio of data to the predictions from MC simulations is shown below.

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Additional Figure 4:
Distribution in the invarinat mass of the dilepton pair measured in the $ \text{SR}_{3\ell} $ for data collected at 13 TeV. The predictions from MC simulations are shown before the fit to the data, with the dashed band corresponding to the total uncertainty. The ratio of data to the predictions is shown below.

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Additional Figure 5:
Distribution in the invarinat mass of the dilepton pair measured in the $ \text{SR}_{3\ell} $ for data collected at 13.6 TeV. The predictions from MC simulations are shown before the fit to the data, with the dashed band corresponding to the total uncertainty. The ratio of data to the predictions is shown below.

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Additional Figure 6:
The negative log-likelihood as a function of the signal strength $ \mu $ for $ \mathrm{t}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z} $ production, obtained from 13 TeV data. The result obtained with statistical uncertainties only is shown as a red dashed line.

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Additional Figure 7:
The negative log-likelihood as a function of the signal strength $ \mu $ for $ \mathrm{t}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z} $ production, obtained from 13.6 TeV data. The result obtained with statistical uncertainties only is shown as a red dashed line.

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Additional Figure 8:
The negative log-likelihood as a function of the signal strength $ \mu $ for $ \mathrm{t}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z} $ production, obtained from a simultaneous analysis of 13 and 13.6 TeV data. The result obtained with statistical uncertainties only is shown as a red dashed line.

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Additional Figure 9:
Values of the signal strength for $ \mathrm{t}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z} $ production obtained from events with different lepton flavors: three electrons (eee), two electrons and one muon (eem), one electron and two muons (emm), and three muons (mmm). If there are more than three leptons in an event, the three $ p_{\mathrm{T}} $-leading leptons are used to determine the flavor. The result from the combined fit to 13 and 13.6 TeV data is shown as a red line with the corresponding uncertainty shown as a red band. The SM prediction is shown as a gray band.

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Additional Figure 10:
Values of the signal strength for $ \mathrm{t}\mathrm{W}\mathrm{Z} $ production obtained from the different data-taking periods. The combined results from 13 TeV data (Run 2) and from 13.6 TeV data (Run 3) are also shown. The result from the combined fit to 13 and 13.6 TeV data is shown as a red line with the corresponding uncertainty shown as a red band. The SM prediction is shown as a gray band.
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Compact Muon Solenoid
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