Associated Production of a Neutral Top-Higgs with Top Quark Pairs at the LHC within the TC2 model

Within the context of the topcolor-assisted technicolor (TC2) model we investigate the associated production of the neutral top-higgs h_t⁰ with a pair of top quarks, i.e.pp →tth_t⁰ at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which proceeds through the partonic processes qq→tth_t⁰ and gg →tth_t⁰. We calculate the production rate and show the distributions of the transverse momenta of h_t⁰. It is found that the cross section of pp →tth_t⁰ can reach a few hundred fb in the most part of the allowed parameter space and even a few tens of pb for the light top−higgs. Due to the large cross section of tth_t⁰ production and the top−charm decay mode of h_t⁰ for m_h(_o^t)<2m_t, the process pp →tth_t⁰ can play an important role in the probe of neutral top-higgs and the test of the TC2 model.