Multi-top signals of vectorlike quarks at the LHC
arXiv:2508.14960 · doi:10.1007/JHEP12(2025)047
Abstract
We point out that events with 6 or more top quarks may be observed at the LHC if certain particles exist at the TeV scale. In a model where a vectorlike quark of charge 2/3 decays into a top quark and a pseudoscalar particle, which subsequently decays into a top-antitop pair, the LHC production cross section for events with 6 top quarks may be above 10 fb. If the pseudoscalar is part of a complex scalar field, then longer cascade decays, involving the scalar partner, may lead to events with 8 or even 10 top quarks. We show that for a region of parameter space the dominant LHC signal in this model is 8 top quarks (i.e., four pairs). The ensuing signals would be spectacular, including many leptons and jets. A discovery in that case would allow several cross section measurements that may determine the masses of all three new particles.
27 pages, 7 figures; v2: included table with branching fractions for the top-prime quark, added references, matches published version
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