This paper presents a search for pair production of higgsinos, the supersymmetric partners of the Higgs bosons, in scenarios with gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking. Each higgsino is assumed to decay into a Higgs boson and a nearly massless gravitino. The search targets events where each Higgs boson decays into $b\bar{b}$, leading to a reconstructed final state with at least three energetic $b$-jets and This paper presents a search for pair production of higgsinos, the supersymmetric partners of the Higgs bosons, in scenarios with gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking. Each higgsino is assumed to decay into a Higgs boson and a nearly massless gravitino. The search targets events where each Higgs boson decays into $b\bar{b}$, leading to a reconstructed final state with at least three energetic $b$-jets and missing transverse momentum. Two complementary analysis channels are used, with each channel specifically targeting either low or high values of the higgsino mass. The low-mass (high-mass) channel exploits 126 (139) fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV data collected by the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess above the Standard Model prediction is found. At 95% confidence level, masses between 130 GeV and 940 GeV are excluded for higgsinos decaying exclusively into Higgs bosons and gravitinos. Exclusion limits as a function of the higgsino decay branching ratio to a Higgs boson are also reported.
This paper presents a search for supersymmetric particles in models with highly compressed mass spectra, in events consistent with being produced through vector boson fusion. The search uses 140 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Events containing at least two jets with a large gap in pseudorapidity, large missing transverse momentum, and no reconstructed leptons are selected. A boosted decision tree is used to separate events consistent with the production of supersymmetric particles from those due to Standard Model backgrounds. The data are found to be consistent with Standard Model predictions. The results are interpreted using simplified models of $R$-parity-conserving supersymmetry in which the lightest supersymmetric partner is a bino-like neutralino with a mass similar to that of the lightest chargino and second-to-lightest neutralino, both of which are wino-like. Lower limits at 95% confidence level on the masses of next-to-lightest supersymmetric partners in this simplified model are established between 117 and 120 GeV when the lightest supersymmetric partners are within 1 GeV in mass.
A search is presented for the pair production of higgsinos $\tilde{\chi}$ in gauge-mediated supersymmetry models, where the lightest neutralinos $\tilde{\chi}_1^0$ decay into a light gravitino $\tilde{G}$ in association with either a Higgs $h$ or a $Z$ boson. The search is performed with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider using 139 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV. It targets final states in which a Higgs boson decays into a photon pair, while the other Higgs or $Z$ boson decays into a $b\bar{b}$ pair, with missing transverse momentum associated with the two gravitinos. Search regions dependent on the amount of missing transverse momentum are defined by the requirements that the diphoton mass should be consistent with the mass of the Higgs boson, and the $b\bar{b}$ mass with the mass of the Higgs or $Z$ boson. The main backgrounds are estimated with data-driven methods using the sidebands of the diphoton mass distribution. No excesses beyond Standard Model expectations are observed and higgsinos with masses up to 320 GeV are excluded, assuming a branching fraction of 100% for $\tilde{\chi}_1^0\rightarrow h\tilde{G}$. This analysis excludes higgsinos with masses of 130 GeV for branching fractions to $h\tilde{G}$ as low as 36%, thus providing complementarity to previous ATLAS searches in final states with multiple leptons or multiple $b$-jets, targeting different decays of the electroweak bosons.
The paper presents a search for supersymmetric particles produced in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV and decaying into final states with missing transverse momentum and jets originating from charm quarks. The data were taken with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN from 2015 to 2018 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. No significant excess of events over the expected Standard Model background expectation is observed in optimized signal regions, and limits are set on the production cross-sections of the supersymmetric particles. Pair production of charm squarks or top squarks, each decaying into a charm quark and the lightest supersymmetric particle $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$, is excluded at 95% confidence level for squarks with masses up to 900 GeV for scenarios where the mass of $\tilde{\chi}^0_1$ is below 50 GeV. Additionally, the production of leptoquarks with masses up to 900 GeV is excluded for the scenario where up-type leptoquarks decay into a charm quark and a neutrino. Model-independent limits on cross-sections and event yields for processes beyond the Standard Model are also reported.
Three searches for the direct production of $\tau$-sleptons or charginos and neutralinos in final states with at least two hadronically decaying $\tau$-leptons are presented. For chargino and neutralino production, decays via intermediate $\tau$-sleptons or $W$ and $h$ bosons are considered. The analysis uses a dataset of $pp$ collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $139\,$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 expected Standard Model background is observed and supersymmetric particle mass limits at 95% confidence level are obtained in simplified models. For direct production of $\tilde~{\chi}^+_1\tilde~{\chi}^-_1$, chargino masses are excluded up to 970 GeV, while $\tilde~{\chi}^{\pm}_1$ and $\tilde~{\chi}^0_2$ masses up to 1160 GeV (330 GeV) are excluded for $\tilde~{\chi}^{\pm}_1\tilde~{\chi}^0_2$/$\tilde~{\chi}^+_1\tilde~{\chi}^-_1$ production with subsequent decays via $\tau$-sleptons ($W$ and $h$ bosons). Masses of $\tau$-sleptons up to 500 GeV are excluded for mass degenerate $\tilde~{\tau}_{L,R}$ scenarios and up to 425 GeV for $\tilde~{\tau}_L$-only scenarios. Sensitivity to $\tilde~{\tau}_R$-only scenarios from the ATLAS experiment is presented here for the first time, with $\tilde~{\tau}_R$ masses excluded up to 350 GeV.
A search for cascade decays of charged sleptons and sneutrinos using final states characterized by three leptons (electrons or muons) and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on a dataset with 140 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$=13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. This paper focuses on a supersymmetric scenario that is motivated by the muon anomalous magnetic moment observation, dark mattter relic density abundance, and electroweak naturalness. A mass spectrum involving light higgsinos and heavier sleptons with a bino at intermediate mass is targeted. No significant deviation from the Standard Model expectation is observed. This search enables to place stringent constraints on this model, excluding at the 95% confidence level charged slepton and sneutrino masses up to 450 GeV when assuming a lightest neutralino mass of 100 GeV and mass-degenerate selectrons, smuons and sneutrinos.
Higgsinos with masses near the electroweak scale can solve the hierarchy problem and provide a dark matter candidate, while detecting them at the LHC remains challenging if their mass splitting is $\mathcal{O}(1 \text{GeV})$. This Letter presents a novel search for nearly mass-degenerate Higgsinos in events with an energetic jet, missing transverse momentum, and a low-momentum track with a significant transverse impact parameter using 140 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment. For the first time since LEP, a range of mass splittings between the lightest charged and neutral Higgsinos from $0.3$ GeV to $0.9$ GeV is excluded at 95$\%$ confidence level, with a maximum reach of approximately $170$ GeV in the Higgsino mass.
A search for dark matter produced in association with a Higgs boson in final states with two hadronically decaying $\tau$-leptons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis uses $139$ fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider between 2015 and 2018. No evidence for physics beyond the Standard Model is found. The results are interpreted in terms of a 2HDM+$a$ model. Exclusion limits at 95% confidence level are derived. Model-independent limits are also set on the visible cross section for processes beyond the Standard Model producing missing transverse momentum in association with a Higgs boson decaying to $\tau$-leptons.
A search for the production of three Higgs bosons ($HHH$) in the $b\bar{b}b\bar{b}b\bar{b}$ final state is presented. The search uses $126~\text{fb}^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis targets both non-resonant and resonant production of $HHH$. The resonant interpretations primarily consider a cascade decay topology of $X\rightarrow SH\rightarrow HHH$ with masses of the new scalars $X$ and $S$ up to 1.5 TeV and 1 TeV, respectively. In addition to scenarios where $S$ is off-shell, the non-resonant interpretation includes a search for standard model (SM) $HHH$ production, with limits on the tri-linear and quartic Higgs self-coupling set. No evidence for $HHH$ production is observed. An upper limit of 59 fb is set, at 95% confidence level, on the cross-section for Standard-Model $HHH$ production.
Searches for new phenomena inspired by supersymmetry in final states containing an $e^+e^-$ or $\mu^+\mu^-$ pair, jets, and missing transverse momentum are presented. These searches make use of proton-proton collision data with an integrated luminosity of 139 $\text{fb}^{-1}$, collected during 2015-2018 at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=13 $TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Two searches target the pair production of charginos and neutralinos. One uses the recursive-jigsaw reconstruction technique to follow up on excesses observed in 36.1 $\text{fb}^{-1}$ of data, and the other uses conventional event variables. The third search targets pair production of coloured supersymmetric particles (squarks or gluinos) decaying through the next-to-lightest neutralino $(\tilde\chi_2^0)$ via a slepton $(\tilde\ell)$ or $Z$ boson into $\ell^+\ell^-\tilde\chi_1^0$, resulting in a kinematic endpoint or peak in the dilepton invariant mass spectrum. The data are found to be consistent with the Standard Model expectations. Results are interpreted using simplified models and exclude masses up to 900 GeV for electroweakinos, 1550 GeV for squarks, and 2250 GeV for gluinos.
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