First measurement of the ratio B(t --> Wb)/B(t --> Wq) and associated limit on the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa element /V(tb)/

Phys Rev Lett. 2001 Apr 9;86(15):3233-8. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.3233.

Abstract

We present the first measurement of the ratio of branching fractions R identical withB(t-->Wb)/B(t-->Wq) from p_p collisions at sqrt[s] = 1.8 TeV. The data set corresponds to 109 pb(-1) of data recorded by the Collider Detector at Fermilab during the 1992-95 Tevatron run. We measure R = 0.94(+0.31)(-0.24)(stat+syst) or R>0.61 (0.56) at 90% (95)% C.L., in agreement with the standard model predictions. This measurement yields a limit on the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa quark mixing matrix element /V(tb)/ under the assumption of three generations and unitarity.