Search for the Production of Single Top Quarks in High Energy Proton-Antiprotons Collisions 

B.~Vachon, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory  

The Top quark, the heaviest of all the known quarks that make up our
Universe,  was discovered at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
in 1995.  In high energy proton-antiproton collisions, top quarks are
predominantly produced in pairs via the strong interaction.  The
Standard Model of particle physics also predicts the electroweak
production of events containing a single top quark.  Due to its small
expected cross-section and large background contamination, the
production of single top quarks has never been observed.

The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, near Chicago, is home of
the highest energy proton-antiproton collider in the world.  The
Tevatron collider is the only facility in the world capable of
directly producing top quarks. Given the current collision
centre-of-mass energy and the considerable data sample foreseen, the
production of single top events is expected to be observed for the
first time at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

The D\O\ experiment is one of two large multi-purpose detectors
recording the results of these high energy proton-antiproton
collisions.  A brief overview of the D\O\ experiment will be
presented.  Details of the ongoing data analyses searching for
evidence of single top quark production in the current data sample
recorded will be discussed.  Preliminary results and outlook will be
presented.