Finite-Width Effects in Top Quark Production at Hadron Colliders

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Production cross sections for tt and ttj events at hadron colliders are calculated, including finite width effects and off resonance contributions for the entire decay chain, t --> bW --> bℓν, for both top quarks. Resulting background rates to Higgs search at the CERN LHC are updated for inclusive H --> WW studies and for H --> ττand H --> WW decays in weak boson fusion events. Finite width effects are large, increasing tt(j) rates by 20% or more, after typical cuts which are employed for top-background rejection.