eprintid: 22637 rev_number: 13 eprint_status: archive userid: 2982 dir: disk0/00/02/26/37 datestamp: 2017-02-10 08:56:28 lastmod: 2017-03-17 11:05:16 status_changed: 2017-02-10 08:56:28 type: doctoralThesis metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Schell, Torben Karl title: New Directions in Top Physics subjects: 530 divisions: 130300 adv_faculty: af-13 abstract: The top quark plays an important role for many aspects of particle physics. The coupling of the Higgs boson to top quarks is a key parameter to probe electroweak symmetry breaking and is important for the evolution of the Higgs potential to high energies. In addition, many models of physics beyond the Standard Model predict heavy particles that decay to top-quark pairs. Furthermore, the unexplained hierarchy of fermion masses culminates in the large top-quark mass. In this thesis, we consider resonance searches based on top quarks in the fully hadronic final state. We employ multivariate techniques in form of boosted decision trees and add several improvements to the original HEPTopTagger algorithm. These modifications and extensions result in the new HEPTopTagger2. The achieved improvements are used to estimate the precision to which the top Yukawa coupling can be measured at a future 100 TeV proton-proton collider in the fully hadronic final state of $t\bar{t}H production. We find that at such a collider a precision measurement of the top Yukawa coupling to 1% should be possible. The statistical precision is backed up by demonstrating that in the ratio $\sigma(t\bar{t}H)/\sigma(t\bar{t}Z)$ theoretical uncertainties cancel to below-percent level. Finally, we propose a Froggatt-Nielsen-type model to address the hierarchy of fermion masses in the Standard Model and determine current and projected bounds on the available parameter space. date: 2017 id_scheme: DOI id_number: 10.11588/heidok.00022637 ppn_swb: 1656922223 own_urn: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heidok-226372 date_accepted: 2017-02-01 advisor: HASH(0x556120d8f000) language: eng bibsort: SCHELLTORBNEWDIRECTI2017 full_text_status: public citation: Schell, Torben Karl (2017) New Directions in Top Physics. [Dissertation] document_url: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/22637/1/thesis_schell.pdf