Evidence for top quark production in p¯p collisions at √s =1.8 TeV

We summarize a search for the top quark with the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) in a sample of p¯p collisions at √s =1.8 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 19.3 ${\mathrm{pb}}^{\mathrm{-}1}$. We find 12 events consistent with either two W bosons, or a W boson and at least one b jet. The probability that the measured yield is consistent with the background is 0.26%. Though the statistics are too limited to establish firmly the existence of the top quark, a natural interpretation of the excess is that it is due to tt¯ production. Under this assumption, constrained fits to individual events yield a top quark mass of 174±${10}_{\mathrm{-}12}^{+13\mathrm{}}$ GeV/${\mathit{c}}^2$. The tt¯ production cross section is measured to be 13.$9_{\mathrm{-}4.8}^{+6.1\mathrm{}}$ pb.

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