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Machine learning approaches to top quark flavor-changing four-fermion interactions in trilepton signals at the LHC

Meisam Ghasemi Bostanabad and Mojtaba Mohammadi Najafabadi

Phys. Rev. D 111, 112003 – Published 11 June, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/mk8x-nrpn

Abstract

We explore the top quark flavor-changing four-fermion interactions (tuee and tcee) with scalar, vector, and tensor structures using machine learning models to analyze trilepton processes at the LHC. The study is performed using tt¯ and tW processes, where a top quark decays into u/c+e++e−. The analysis incorporates both reducible and irreducible backgrounds while accounting for realistic detector effects. The dominant backgrounds for these trilepton signatures arise from tt¯ production, single top quark production in association with V, and VV production (where V=W, Z). These backgrounds are significantly reduced using machine-learning-based classification models, which optimize event selection and improve signal sensitivity. For an integrated luminosity of 3000  fb−1 at the LHC, we find that the expected 95% confidence level (CL) limits on the scale of four-fermion flavor-changing neutral current interactions reach Λ≤5.5  TeV for tuee and Λ≤5.7  TeV for tcee in the tt¯ channel, and Λ≤1.9  TeV (tuee) and Λ≤2.0  TeV (tcee) in the tW channel. We also provide an interpretation of our EFT analysis in the context of a specific Z′ model, illustrating how the derived constraints translate into bounds on the parameter space of a heavy neutral gauge boson mediating flavor-changing interactions.

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