A New Paradigm for Precision Top Physics: Weighing the Top with Energy Correlators

Abstract: Final states in collider experiments are characterized by correlation functions, $\langle E(\vec n_1) \cdots E(\vec n_k) \rangle$, of the energy flow operator $ E(\vec n_i)$. We show that the top quark imprints itself as a peak in the three-point correlator at an angle $\zeta \sim m_t^2/p_T^2$, with $m_t$ the top quark mass and $p_T$ its transverse momentum, providing access to one of the most important parameters of the Standard Model in one of the simplest field theoretical observables. Our analysis provides the first step towards a new paradigm for a precise top mass determination that is, for the first time, highly insensitive to soft physics and underlying event contamination whilst remaining directly calculable from the Standard Model Lagrangian.