We present measurements of the elliptic ($\mathrm{v}_2$), triangular ($\mathrm{v}_3$) and quadrangular ($\mathrm{v}_4$) anisotropic azimuthal flow over a wide range of pseudorapidities ($-3.5< \eta < 5$). The measurements are performed with Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\text{NN}}} = 2.76$ TeV using the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The flow harmonics are obtained using two- and four-particle correlations from nine different centrality intervals covering central to peripheral collisions. We find that the shape of $\mathrm{v}_n(\eta)$ is largely independent of centrality for the flow harmonics $n=2-4$, however the higher harmonics fall off more steeply with increasing $|\eta|$. We assess the validity of extended longitudinal scaling of $\mathrm{v}_2$ by comparing to lower energy measurements, and find that the higher harmonic flow coefficients are proportional to the charged particle densities at larger pseudorapidities. Finally, we compare our measurements to both hydrodynamical and transport models, and find they both have challenges when it comes to describing our data.
The differential branching fraction with respect to the dimuon invariant mass squared, and the $C\!P$ asymmetry of the $B^\pm\to\pi^\pm\mu^+\mu^-$ decay are measured for the first time. The CKM matrix elements $|V_{td}|$ and $|V_{ts}|$, and the ratio $|V_{td}/V_{ts}|$ are determined. The analysis is performed using proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb$^{-1}$, collected by the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV. The total branching fraction and $C\!P$ asymmetry of $B^\pm\to\pi^\pm\mu^+\mu^-$ decays are measured to be \begin{eqnarray} \mathcal{B}(B^\pm\to\pi^\pm\mu^+\mu^-) &=& (1.83 \pm 0.24 \pm 0.05) \times 10^{-8}\,\,\,\mathrm{and} \nonumber\\ \mathcal{A}_{C\!P}(B^\pm\to\pi^\pm\mu^+\mu^-) &=& -0.11 \pm 0.12 \pm 0.01\,, \nonumber \end{eqnarray} where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. These are the most precise measurements of these observables to date, and they are compatible with the predictions of the Standard Model.
Invariant differential yields of deuterons and anti-deuterons in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 0.9, 2.76 and 7 TeV and the yields of tritons, $^{3}$He nuclei and their anti-nuclei at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV have been measured with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The measurements cover a wide transverse momentum ($p_{\text{T}}$) range in the rapidity interval $|y|<0.5$, extending both the energy and the $p_{\text{T}}$ reach of previous measurements up to 3 GeV/$c$ for $A=2$ and 6 GeV/$c$ for $A=3$. The coalescence parameters of (anti-)deuterons and $^{3}\overline{\text{He}}$ nuclei exhibit an increasing trend with $p_{\text{T}}$ and are found to be compatible with measurements in pA collisions at low $p_{\text{T}}$ and lower energies. The integrated yields decrease by a factor of about 1000 for each increase of the mass number with one (anti-)nucleon. Furthermore, the deuteron-to-proton ratio is reported as a function of the average charged particle multiplicity at different center-of-mass energies.
Differences in the behaviour of matter and antimatter have been observed in $K$ and $B$ meson decays, but not yet in any baryon decay. Such differences are associated with the non-invariance of fundamental interactions under the combined charge-conjugation and parity transformations, known as $C\!P$ violation. Using data from the LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, a search is made for $C\!P$-violating asymmetries in the decay angle distributions of $\Lambda^0_b$ baryons decaying to $p\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$ and $p\pi^-K^+K^-$ final states. These four-body hadronic decays are a promising place to search for sources of $C\!P$ violation both within and beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. We find evidence for $C\!P$ violation in $\Lambda^0_b$ to $p\pi^-\pi^+\pi^-$ decays with a statistical significance corresponding to 3.3 standard deviations including systematic uncertainties. This represents the first evidence for $C\!P$ violation in the baryon sector.
A test of lepton universality, performed by measuring the ratio of the branching fractions of the $B^{0} \rightarrow K^{*0}\mu^{+}\mu^{-}$ and $B^{0} \rightarrow K^{*0}e^{+}e^{-}$ decays, $R_{K^{*0}}$, is presented. The $K^{*0}$ meson is reconstructed in the final state $K^{+}\pi^{-}$, which is required to have an invariant mass within 100$\mathrm{\,MeV}c^2$ of the known $K^{*}(892)^{0}$ mass. The analysis is performed using proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 3$\mathrm{\,fb}^{-1}$, collected by the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8$\mathrm{\,TeV}$. The ratio is measured in two regions of the dilepton invariant mass squared, $q^{2}$, to be \begin{eqnarray*} R_{K^{*0}} = \begin{cases} 0.66~^{+~0.11}_{-~0.07}\mathrm{\,(stat)} \pm 0.03\mathrm{\,(syst)} & \textrm{for } 0.045 < q^{2} < 1.1~\mathrm{\,GeV^2}c^4 \, , \\ 0.69~^{+~0.11}_{-~0.07}\mathrm{\,(stat)} \pm 0.05\mathrm{\,(syst)} & \textrm{for } 1.1\phantom{00} < q^{2} < 6.0~\mathrm{\,GeV^2}c^4 \, . \end{cases} \end{eqnarray*} The corresponding 95.4\% confidence level intervals are $[0.52, 0.89]$ and $[0.53, 0.94]$. The results, which represent the most precise measurements of $R_{K^{*0}}$ to date, are compatible with the Standard Model expectations at the level of 2.1--2.3 and 2.4--2.5 standard deviations in the two $q^{2}$ regions, respectively.
The differential cross-section for the inclusive production of $\psi(2S)$ mesons in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ =7 TeV has been measured with the LHCb detector. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 36 pb$^{-1}$ collected during 2010. The $\psi(2S)$ mesons are reconstructed in the decay channels $\psi(2S) \rightarrow \mu^{+} \mu^{-}$ and $\psi(2S)$ $\rightarrow$ $J$/$\psi \pi^{+}\pi^{-}$, with the $J$/$\psi$ meson decaying into two muons. Results are presented both for promptly produced $\psi(2S)$ mesons and for those originating from $b$-hadron decays. In the kinematic range $p_{\rm T}(\psi(2S))$ $\leq$ 16 GeV/$c$ and 2 < $y$($\psi(2S))$ $\leq$ 4.5 we measure \begin{eqnarray*} \sigma_{\rm prompt}(\psi(2S)) &=& 1.44 \pm 0.01~(\text{stat})\pm 0.12~(\text{syst})^{+0.20}_{-0.40}~(\text{pol})~{\rm \mu b}, \\ \sigma_{b}(\psi(2S)) &=& 0.25 \pm 0.01~(\text{stat}) \pm 0.02~(\text{syst})~{\rm \mu b}, \end{eqnarray*} where the last uncertainty on the prompt cross-section is due to the unknown $\psi(2S)$ polarization. Recent QCD calculations are found to be in good agreement with our measurements. Combining the present result with the LHCb $J$/$\psi$ measurements we determine the inclusive branching fraction \begin{equation*} \mathcal{B}(b \rightarrow \psi(2S) X) = (2.73 \pm 0.06~(\text{stat}) \pm 0.16~(\text{syst}) \pm 0.24~(\text{BF})) \times 10^{-3}, \end{equation*} where the last uncertainty is due to the $\mathcal{B}(b \rightarrow J/\psi X)$, $\mathcal{B}(J/\psi \rightarrow \mu^+ \mu^-)$ and $\mathcal{B}(\psi(2S) \rightarrow e^+ e^-)$ branching fraction uncertainties. All above results are corrected by an erratum included as an appendix.
Multiplicity ($N_{\rm ch}$) distributions and transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) spectra of inclusive primary charged particles in the kinematic range of $|\eta| < 0.8$ and 0.15 GeV/$c$$< p_{T} <$ 10 GeV/$c$ are reported for pp, p-Pb, Xe-Xe and Pb-Pb collisions at centre-of-mass energies per nucleon pair ranging from $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV up to $13$ TeV. A sequential two-dimensional unfolding procedure is used to extract the correlation between the transverse momentum of primary charged particles and the charged-particle multiplicity of the corresponding collision. This correlation sharply characterises important features of the final state of a collision and, therefore, can be used as a stringent test of theoretical models. The multiplicity distributions as well as the mean and standard deviation derived from the $p_{\rm T}$ spectra are compared to state-of-the-art model predictions. Providing these fundamental observables of bulk particle production consistently across a wide range of collision energies and system sizes can serve as an important input for tuning Monte Carlo event generators.
In quantum scattering processes between two particles, aspects characterizing the strong and Coulomb forces can be observed in kinematic distributions of the particle pairs. The sensitivity to the interaction potential reaches a maximum at low relative momentum and vanishing distance between the two particles. Ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions at the LHC provide an abundant source of many hadron species and can be employed as a measurement method of scattering parameters that is complementary to scattering experiments. This study confirms that momentum correlations of particles produced in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC provide an accurate measurement of kaon-proton scattering parameters at low relative momentum, allowing precise access to the $ {K}^{-} p\rightarrow {K}^{-} p$ process. This work also validates the femtoscopic measurement in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions as an alternative to scattering experiments and a complementary tool to the study of exotic atoms with comparable precision. In this work, the first femtoscopic measurement of momentum correlations of ${K}^{-} p\ ({K}^{+}\overline{p})$ and ${K}^{+}p ({K}^{-}\overline{p})$ pairs in Pb-Pb collisions at centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV registered by the ALICE experiment is reported. The components of the ${K}^{-} p$ complex scattering length are extracted and found to be $\Re f_0=-0.91\pm~{0.03}$(stat)$^{+0.17}_{-0.03}$(syst) and $\Im f_0 = 0.92\pm~{0.05}$(stat)$^{+0.12}_{-0.33}$(syst). The results are compared with chiral effective field theory predictions as well as with existing data from dedicated scattering and exotic kaonic atom experiments.
A search is described for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons, one of which has an internal conversion to a muon or an electron pair (ll gamma). The analysis is performed using proton-proton collision data recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns. The events selected have an opposite-sign muon or electron pair and a high transverse momentum photon. No excess above background has been found in the three-body invariant mass range 120 < m[ll gamma] < 150 GeV, and limits have been derived for the Higgs boson production cross section times branching fraction for the decay H to gamma* gamma to ll gamma, where the dilepton invariant mass is less than 20 GeV. For a Higgs boson with m[H] = 125 GeV, a 95% confidence level (CL) exclusion observed (expected) limit is 6.7 (5.9 +2.8/-1.8) times the standard model prediction. Additionally, an upper limit at 95% CL on the branching fraction of H to J/Psi gamma for the 125 GeV Higgs boson is set at 1.5E-3.
Cross-section measurements for a $Z$ boson produced in association with high-transverse-momentum jets ($p_{\mathrm{T}} \geq 100$ GeV) and decaying into a charged-lepton pair ($e^+e^-,\mu^+\mu^-$) are presented. The measurements are performed using proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $139$ fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Measurements of angular correlations between the $Z$ boson and the closest jet are performed in events with at least one jet with $p_{\mathrm{T}} \geq 500$ GeV. Event topologies of particular interest are the collinear emission of a $Z$ boson in dijet events and a boosted $Z$ boson recoiling against a jet. Fiducial cross sections are compared with state-of-the-art theoretical predictions. The data are found to agree with next-to-next-to-leading-order predictions by NNLOjet and with the next-to-leading-order multi-leg generators MadGraph5_aMC@NLO and Sherpa.
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