Search for Flavor-Changing Neutral Current Top Quark Decays t → Hq, with H → bb̅ , in pp Collisions at √s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS Detector

This PhD thesis focuses on the search for flavor-changing neutral currents in the decay of a top quark to an up-type quark (q = u, c) and the Standard Model Higgs boson, where the Higgs boson decays to bb. Further, the thesis presents the combination of this search for top quark pair events with other ATLAS searches – in the course of which the most restrictive bounds to date on tqH interactions were obtained. Following on from the discovery of the Higgs boson, it is particularly important to measure the Yukawa couplings of the Standard Model fermions; these parameters may provide crucial insights to help solve the flavor puzzle and may help reveal the presence of new physics before it is directly observed in experiments. Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii Introduction and Theoretical Framework (Shota Tsiskaridze)....Pages 1-36 The ATLAS Experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (Shota Tsiskaridze)....Pages 37-58 Event Simulation (Shota Tsiskaridze)....Pages 59-71 Event Reconstruction (Shota Tsiskaridze)....Pages 73-101 Event Samples and Preselection (Shota Tsiskaridze)....Pages 103-124 Analysis Strategy (Shota Tsiskaridze)....Pages 125-142 Systematic Uncertainties (Shota Tsiskaridze)....Pages 143-159 Statistical Analysis (Shota Tsiskaridze)....Pages 161-167 Results (Shota Tsiskaridze)....Pages 169-191 Prospects (Shota Tsiskaridze)....Pages 193-203 Summary (Shota Tsiskaridze)....Pages 205-206 Back Matter ....Pages 207-242