We present formulas and results on top-quark production by $W$-gluon fusion. A detailed comparison is made between the rate for this process and the backgrounds at the Fermilab Tevatron. The main backgrounds to this process come from $t\overline{t}$ production and from the production of a $W$-boson plus jets in QCD. Using standard cuts at the Tevatron and a $b$-quark tag we find that the $t\overline{b}$ production rate is smaller than at least one of these backgrounds for all top-quark masses accessible at Fermilab.

• Received 13 May 1992

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.46.3785