Measurement of the t[bar over t] production cross section in pp collisions at √s = 8 TeV in dilepton final states containing one τ lepton

Abstract

The top-quark pair production cross section is measured in final states with one electron or muon and one hadronically decaying τ lepton from the process t[bar over t] → (ℓν[subscript ℓ])(τν[subscript τ])b[bar over b], where ℓ = e,μ. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 19.6 fb[superscript −1] collected with the CMS detector in proton–proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV. The measured cross section σ[subscript t [bar over t]] = 257 ± 3 (stat) ± 24 (syst) ± 7 (lumi) pb, assuming a top-quark mass of 172.5 GeV, is consistent with the standard model prediction.