Direct Bound on the Total Decay Width of the Top Quark in p(p)over-bar Collisions at root s=1.96 TeV

Abstract

We present the first direct experimental bound on the total decay width of the top quark, Gamma(t), using 955 pb(-1) of the Tevatron's p (p) over bar collisions recorded by the Collider Detector at Fermilab. We identify 253 top-antitop pair candidate events. The distribution of reconstructed top quark mass from these events is fitted to templates representing different values of the top quark width. Using a confidence interval based on likelihood-ratio ordering, we extract an upper limit at 95% C.L. of Gamma(t) < 13.1 GeV for an assumed top quark mass of 175 GeV/c(2).