This work presents a new inclusive search for supersymmetry (SUSY) by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV in final states with jets, missing transverse momentum and one or more isolated electrons and/or muons. The search is based on data from the full 2011 data-taking period, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 inverse fb. Single- and multi-lepton channels are treated together in one analysis. An increase in sensitivity is obtained by simultaneously fitting the number of events in statistically independent signal regions, and the shapes of distributions within those regions. A dedicated signal region is introduced to be sensitive to decay cascades of SUSY particles with small mass differences ("compressed SUSY"). Background uncertainties are constrained by fitting to the jet multiplicity distribution in background control regions. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations, and limits are set or extended on a number of SUSY models.
This Letter reports a search for a heavy particle that decays to WW using events produced in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV. The data were recorded in 2011 by the ATLAS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb-1. WW to l nu l' nu'(l, l' = e or mu) final states are considered and the distribution of the transverse mass of the WW candidates is found to be consistent with Standard Model expectations. Upper limits on the production cross section times branching ratio into W boson pairs are set for Randall-Sundrum and bulk Randall-Sundrum gravitons, which result in observed 95% CL lower limits on the masses of the two particles of 1.23 TeV and 0.84 TeV, respectively.
A search for direct pair production of supersymmetric top squarks (stop_1) is presented, assuming the stop_1 decays into a top quark and the lightest supersymmetric particle, neutralino_1, and that both top quarks decay to purely hadronic final states. A total of 16 (4) events are observed compared to a predicted Standard Model background of 13.5+3.7-3.6 (4.4+1.7-1.3) events in two signal regions based on int(Ldt) = 4.7 fb^-1 of pp collision data taken at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. An exclusion region in the stop_1 versus neutralino_1 mass plane is evaluated: 370<m(stop_1)<465 GeV is excluded for m(neutralino_1)~0 GeV while m(stop_1)=445 GeV is excluded for m(neutralino_1)<=50 GeV.
This paper presents a search for a new heavy particle produced in association with a top or antitop quark. Two models in which the new heavy particle is a color singlet or a color triplet are considered, decaying respectively to tbarq or tq, leading to a resonance within the ttbar + jets signature. The full 2011 ATLAS pp collision dataset from the LHC (4.7 fb-1) is used to search for ttbar events produced in association with jets, in which one of the W bosons from the top quarks decays leptonically and the other decays hadronically. The data are consistent with the Standard Model expectation, and a new particle with mass below 430 GeV for both W boson and color triplet models is excluded at 95% confidence level, assuming unit right-handed coupling.
This Letter presents a search for magnetic monopoles with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider using an integrated luminosity of 2.0 fb^-1 of pp collisions recorded at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s)=7 TeV. No event is found in the signal region, leading to an upper limit on the production cross section at 95% confidence level of 1.6/epsilon fb for Dirac magnetic monopoles with the minimum unit magnetic charge and with mass between 200 GeV and 1500 GeV, where epsilon is the monopole reconstruction efficiency. The efficiency epsilon is high and uniform in the fiducial region given by pseudorapidity |eta|<1.37 and transverse kinetic energy 600-700<E^kin sin(theta)<1400 GeV. The minimum value of 700 GeV is for monopoles of mass 200 GeV, whereas the minimum value of 600 GeV is applicable for higher mass monopoles. Therefore, the upper limit on the production cross section at 95% confidence level is 2 fb in this fiducial region. Assuming the kinematic distributions from Drell-Yan pair production of spin-1/2 Dirac magnetic monopoles, the efficiency is in the range 1%-10%, leading to an upper limit on the cross section at 95% confidence level that varies from 145 fb to 16 fb for monopoles with mass between 200 GeV and 1200 GeV. This limit is weaker than the fiducial limit because most of these monopoles lie outside the fiducial region.
A study of WZ production in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV is presented using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb^-1 collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2011. In total, 317 candidates, with a background expectation of 68+/-10 events, are observed in double-leptonic decay final states with electrons, muons and missing transverse momentum. The total cross-section is determined to be sigma_WZ(tot) = 19.0+1.4/-1.3(stat.)+/-0.9(syst.)+/-0.4(lumi.) pb, consistent with the Standard Model expectation of 17.6+1.1/-1.0 pb. Limits on anomalous triple gauge boson couplings are derived using the transverse momentum spectrum of Z bosons in the selected events. The cross section is also presented as a function of Z boson transverse momentum and diboson invariant mass.
The results of a search for direct pair production of heavy top-quark partners in 4.7 fb-1 of integrated luminosity from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC are reported. Heavy top-quark partners decaying into a top quark and a neutral non-interacting particle are searched for in events with two leptons in the final state. No excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed. Limits are placed on the mass of a supersymmetric scalar top and of a spin-1/2 top-quark partner. A spin-1/2 top-quark partner with a mass between 300 GeV and 480 GeV, decaying to a top quark and a neutral non-interacting particle lighter than 100 GeV, is excluded at 95% confidence level.
A search for diphoton events with large missing transverse momentum has been performed using proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 fb^-1. No excess of events was observed above the Standard Model prediction and model-dependent 95% confidence level exclusion limits are set. In the context of a generalised model of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking with a bino-like lightest neutralino of mass above 50 GeV, gluinos (squarks) below 1.07 TeV (0.87 TeV) are excluded, while a breaking scale Lambda below 196 TeV is excluded for a minimal model of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking. For a specific model with one universal extra dimension, compactification scales 1/R < 1.40 TeV are excluded. These limits provide the most stringent tests of these models to date.
This letter reports the results of a search for top and bottom squarks from gluino pair production in 4.7 fb^-1 of pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The search is performed in events with large missing transverse momentum and at least three jets identified as originating from a b-quark. Exclusion limits are presented for a variety of gluino-mediated models with gluino masses up to 1 TeV excluded.
The ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is used to search for high-mass resonances decaying to an electron-positron pair or a muon-antimuon pair. The search is sensitive to heavy neutral Z' gauge bosons, Randall-Sundrum gravitons, Z* bosons, techni-mesons, Kaluza-Klein Z/gamma bosons, and bosons predicted by Torsion models. Results are presented based on an analysis of pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.9/fb in the dielectron channel and 5.0/fb in the dimuon channel. A Z' boson with Standard Model-like couplings is excluded at 95 percent confidence level for masses below 2.22 TeV. A Randall-Sundrum graviton with coupling k/Mbar = 0.1 is excluded at 95 percent confidence level for masses below 2.16 TeV. Limits on the other models are also presented, including Technicolor and Minimal Z' Models.
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