PRODUCTION AT THE TEVATRON: EVENT SELECTION AND CROSS SECTION MEASUREMENT

The Fermilab Tevatron is currently the only collider capable of producing and studying top quarks. The dominant mechanism for top quark production at the Tevatron is production via the strong interaction. The precise measurement of the cross section of this process is a test of the QCD prediction. In Run II of the Tevatron it should be possible to achieve an experimental error on this cross section which is comparable or better than the current theoretical precision. This paper presents the basic event selection criteria for events at the Tevatron and the latest measurements of the cross section.