The $ZZ$ production cross section in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV center-of-mass energy is measured using 3.2 fb$^{-1}$ of data recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The considered $Z$ boson candidates decay to an electron or muon pair of mass 66-116 GeV. The cross section is measured in a fiducial phase space reflecting the detector acceptance. It is also extrapolated to a total phase space for $Z$ bosons in the same mass range and of all decay modes, giving $16.7^{+2.2}_{-2.0}$(stat.)$^{+0.9}_{-0.7}$(syst.)$^{+1.0}_{-0.7}$(lumi.) pb. The results agree with standard model predictions.

Results from a search for supersymmetry in events with four or more charged leptons (electrons, muons and taus) are presented. The analysis uses a data sample corresponding to 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Four-lepton signal regions with up to two hadronically decaying taus are designed to target a range of supersymmetric scenarios that can be either enriched in or depleted of events involving the production and decay of a $Z$ boson. Data yields are consistent with Standard Model expectations and results are used to set upper limits on the event yields from processes beyond the Standard Model. Exclusion limits are set at the 95% confidence level in simplified models of General Gauge Mediated supersymmetry, where higgsino masses are excluded up to 295 GeV. In $R$-parity-violating simplified models with decays of the lightest supersymmetric particle to charged leptons, lower limits of 1.46 TeV, 1.06 TeV, and 2.25 TeV are placed on wino, slepton and gluino masses, respectively.

Jet substructure quantities are measured using jets groomed with the soft-drop grooming procedure in dijet events from 32.9 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions collected with the ATLAS detector at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV. These observables are sensitive to a wide range of QCD phenomena. Some observables, such as the jet mass and opening angle between the two subjets which pass the soft-drop condition, can be described by a high-order (resummed) series in the strong coupling constant $\alpha_S$. Other observables, such as the momentum sharing between the two subjets, are nearly independent of $\alpha_S$. These observables can be constructed using all interacting particles or using only charged particles reconstructed in the inner tracking detectors. Track-based versions of these observables are not collinear safe, but are measured more precisely, and universal non-perturbative functions can absorb the collinear singularities. The unfolded data are directly compared with QCD calculations and hadron-level Monte Carlo simulations. The measurements are performed in different pseudorapidity regions, which are then used to extract quark and gluon jet shapes using the predicted quark and gluon fractions in each region. All of the parton shower and analytical calculations provide an excellent description of the data in most regions of phase space.

The prevalence of hadronic jets at the LHC requires that a deep understanding of jet formation and structure is achieved in order to reach the highest levels of experimental and theoretical precision. There have been many measurements of jet substructure at the LHC and previous colliders, but the targeted observables mix physical effects from various origins. Based on a recent proposal to factorize physical effects, this Letter presents a double-differential cross-section measurement of the Lund jet plane using 139 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector using jets with transverse momentum above 675 GeV. The measurement uses charged particles to achieve a fine angular resolution and is corrected for acceptance and detector effects. Several parton shower Monte Carlo models are compared with the data. No single model is found to be in agreement with the measured data across the entire plane.

The result of a search for pair production of the supersymmetric partner of the Standard Model bottom quark ($\tilde{b}_1$) is reported. The search uses 3.2 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$13 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015. Bottom squarks are searched for in events containing large missing transverse momentum and exactly two jets identified as originating from $b$-quarks. No excess above the expected Standard Model background yield is observed. Exclusion limits at 95% confidence level on the mass of the bottom squark are derived in phenomenological supersymmetric $R$-parity-conserving models in which the $\tilde{b}_1$ is the lightest squark and is assumed to decay exclusively via $\tilde{b}_1 \rightarrow b \tilde{\chi}_1^0$, where $\tilde{\chi}_1^0$ is the lightest neutralino. The limits significantly extend previous results; bottom squark masses up to 800 (840) GeV are excluded for the $\tilde{\chi}_1^0$ mass below 360 (100) GeV whilst differences in mass above 100 GeV between the $\tilde{b}_1$ and the $\tilde{\chi}_1^0$ are excluded up to a $\tilde{b}_1$ mass of 500 GeV.

This letter presents a combination of searches for Higgs boson pair production using up to 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The combination is performed using six analyses searching for Higgs boson pairs decaying into the bbbb, bbWW, bb$\tau\tau$, WWWW, bb$\gamma \gamma$ and WW$\gamma\gamma$ final states. Results are presented for non-resonant and resonant Higgs boson pair production modes. No statistically significant excess in data above the Standard Model predictions is found. The combined observed (expected) limit at 95% confidence level on the non-resonant Higgs boson pair production cross-section is 6.9 (10) times the predicted Standard Model cross-section. Limits are also set on the ratio ($ \kappa_{\lambda} $) of the Higgs boson self-coupling to its Standard Model value. This ratio is constrained at 95% confidence level in observation (expectation) to $ -5.0 < \kappa_{\lambda} <12.0 $ ($ -5.8 < \kappa_{\lambda} <12.0 $). In addition, limits are set on the production of narrow scalar resonances and spin-2 Kaluza-Klein Randall-Sundrum gravitons. Exclusion regions are also provided in the parameter space of the habemus Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model and the Electroweak Singlet Model.

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with at least two hadronically decaying tau leptons is presented. The analysis uses a dataset of $pp$ collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$, recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. No significant deviation from the Standard Model background expectation is observed. Limits are derived in scenarios of $\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{+}\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{-}$ pair production and of $\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{\pm}\tilde{\chi}_{2}^{0}$ and $\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{+}\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{-}$ production in simplified models where the neutralinos and charginos decay solely via intermediate left-handed staus and tau sneutrinos, and the mass of the $\tilde{\tau}_{\mathrm L}$ state is set to be halfway between the masses of the $\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{\pm}$ and the $\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{0}$. Chargino masses up to 630 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level in the scenario of direct production of $\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{+}\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{-}$ for a massless $\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{0}$. Common $\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{\pm}$, $\tilde{\chi}_{2}^{0}$ masses up to 760 GeV are excluded in the case of production of $\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{\pm}\tilde{\chi}_{2}^{0}$ and $\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{+}\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{-}$ assuming a massless $\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{0}$. Exclusion limits for additional benchmark scenarios with large and small mass-splitting between the $\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{\pm}$ and the $\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{0}$ are also studied by varying the $\tilde{\tau}_{\mathrm L}$ mass between the masses of the $\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{\pm}$ and the $\tilde{\chi}_{1}^{0}$.

Narrow resonances decaying into $WW$, $WZ$ or $ZZ$ boson pairs are searched for in 36.7 fb $^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 and 2016. The diboson system is reconstructed using pairs of large-radius jets with high transverse momentum and tagged as compatible with the hadronic decay of high-momentum $W$ or $Z$ bosons, using jet mass and substructure properties. The search is sensitive to diboson resonances with masses in the range 1.2-5.0 TeV. No significant excess is observed in any signal region. Exclusion limits are set at the 95% confidence level on the production cross section times branching ratio to dibosons for a range of theories beyond the Standard Model. Model-dependent lower limits on the mass of new gauge bosons are set, with the highest limit set at 3.5 TeV in the context of mass-degenerate resonances that couple predominantly to bosons.

A search for direct pair production of top squarks in final states with two tau leptons, $b$-jets, and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 and 2016. Two exclusive channels with either two hadronically decaying tau leptons or one hadronically and one leptonically decaying tau lepton are considered. No significant deviation from the Standard Model predictions is observed in the data. The analysis results are interpreted in terms of model-independent limits and used to derive exclusion limits on the masses of the top squark $\tilde t_1$ and the tau slepton $\tilde \tau_1$ in a simplified model of supersymmetry with a nearly massless gravitino. In this model, masses up to $m(\tilde t_1) = 1.16$ TeV and $m(\tilde \tau_1) = 1.00$ TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level.

This paper presents a measurement of quantities related to the formation of jets from high-energy quarks and gluons (fragmentation). Jets with transverse momentum 100 GeV $<p_T<$ 2.5 TeV and pseudorapidity $|\eta| < 2.1$ from an integrated luminosity of 33 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV proton-proton collisions are reconstructed with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Charged-particle tracks with $p_T > 500$ MeV and $|\eta| < 2.5$ are used to probe the detailed structure of the jet. The fragmentation properties of the more forward and the more central of the two leading jets from each event are studied. The data are unfolded to correct for detector resolution and acceptance effects. Comparisons with parton shower Monte Carlo generators indicate that existing models provide a reasonable description of the data across a wide range of phase space, but there are also significant differences. Furthermore, the data are interpreted in the context of quark- and gluon-initiated jets by exploiting the rapidity dependence of the jet flavor fraction. A first measurement of the charged-particle multiplicity using model-independent jet labels (topic modeling) provides a promising alternative to traditional quark and gluon extractions using input from simulation. The simulations provide a reasonable description of the quark-like data across the jet $p_T$ range presented in this measurement, but the gluon-like data have systematically fewer charged particles than the simulations.