Precision predictions for the t(t)over-bar production cross section at hadron colliders

We make use of recent results in effective theory and higher-order perturbative calculations to improve the theoretical predictions of the top-quark pair production cross section at hadron colliders. In particular, we supplement the fixed-order NLO calculation with higher-order corrections from soft gluon resummation at NNLL accuracy. Uncertainties due to power corrections to the soft limit are estimated by combining results from single-particle inclusive and pair invariant-mass kinematics. We present our predictions as functions of the top-quark mass in both the pole scheme and the (MS) over bar scheme. We also discuss the merits of using threshold masses as an alternative, and calculate the cross section with the top-quark mass defined in the 1S scheme as an illustrative example. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.