Aspects of top-quark searches in TeV hadron collisions

Abstract

The prospect of obtaining a sample of p¯p collisions at √s =1.8 TeV in excess of one event per pb of cross section implies that searches for top quarks up to masses greater than that of the W are of immediate interest. The most sensitive and direct search methods vary considerably as the top-quark mass varies from its present lower limit to masses well above that of the W. Examples are given of several such search methods. Attention is paid to the interplay of the β-decay matrix element and the W propagator for values of $m_t$≃$M_W$.