Quasireal photons exchanged in relativistic heavy ion interactions are powerful probes of the gluonic structure of nuclei. The coherent J/$\psi$ photoproduction cross section in ultraperipheral lead-lead collisions is measured as a function of photon-nucleus center-of-mass energies per nucleon (W$^\text{Pb}_{\gamma\text{N}}$), over a wide range of 40 $\lt$ W$^\text{Pb}_{\gamma\text{N}}$$\lt$ 400 GeV. Results are obtained using data at the nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.52 nb$^{-1}$. The cross section is observed to rise rapidly at low W$^\text{Pb}_{\gamma\text{N}}$, and plateau above W$^\text{Pb}_{\gamma\text{N}}$$\approx$ 40 GeV, up to 400 GeV, a new regime of small Bjorken-$x$ ($\approx$ 6 $\times$ 10$^{-5}$) gluons being probed in a heavy nucleus. The observed energy dependence is not predicted by current quantum chromodynamic models.
Measurements of differential and double-differential cross sections of top quark pair ($\text{t}\overline{\text{t}}$) production are presented in the lepton+jets channels with a single electron or muon and jets in the final state. The analysis combines for the first time signatures of top quarks with low transverse momentum $p_\text{T}$, where the top quark decay products can be identified as separated jets and isolated leptons, and with high $p_\text{T}$, where the decay products are collimated and overlap. The measurements are based on proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$. The cross sections are presented at the parton and particle levels, where the latter minimizes extrapolations based on theoretical assumptions. Most of the measured differential cross sections are well described by standard model predictions with the exception of some double-differential distributions. The inclusive $\text{t}\overline{\text{t}}$ production cross section is measured to be $\sigma_{\text{t}\overline{\text{t}}} = $ 791 $\pm$ 25 pb, which constitutes the most precise measurement in the lepton+jets channel to date.
The first observation of the electroweak (EW) production of a Z boson, a photon, and two forward jets (Z$\gamma$jj) in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is presented. A data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016-2018 is used. The measured fiducial cross section for EW Z$\gamma$jj is $\sigma_{\mathrm{EW}}$ = 5.21 $\pm$ 0.52 (stat) $\pm$ 0.56 (syst) fb = 5.21 $\pm$ 0.76 fb. Single-differential cross sections in photon, leading lepton, and leading jet transverse momenta, and double-differential cross sections in $m_{\mathrm{jj}}$ and $\lvert\Delta\eta_{\mathrm{jj}}\rvert$ are also measured. Exclusion limits on anomalous quartic gauge couplings are derived at 95% confidence level in terms of the effective field theory operators $\mathrm{M}_{0}$ to $\mathrm{M}_{5}$, $\mathrm{M}_{7}$, $\mathrm{T}_{0}$ to $\mathrm{T}_{2}$, and $\mathrm{T}_{5}$ to $\mathrm{T}_{9}$.
Measurements of the inclusive and differential fiducial cross sections of the Higgs boson are presented, using the $\tau$ lepton decay channel. The differential cross sections are measured as functions of the Higgs boson transverse momentum, jet multiplicity, and transverse momentum of the leading jet in the event if any. The analysis is performed using proton-proton data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. These are the first differential measurements of the Higgs boson cross section in the final state of two $\tau$ leptons, and they constitute a significant improvement over measurements in other final states in events with a large jet multiplicity or with a Lorentz-boosted Higgs boson.
A search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson to a pair of light pseudoscalar particles a$_1$ is performed under the hypothesis that one of the pseudoscalars decays to a pair of opposite sign muons and the other decays to b$\overline{\mathrm{b}}$. Such signatures are predicted in a number of extensions of the standard model (SM), including next-to-minimal supersymmetry and two-Higgs-doublet models with an additional scalar singlet. The results are based on a data set of proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$, accumulated with the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in 2016 at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. No statistically significant excess is observed with respect to the SM backgrounds in the search region for pseudoscalar masses from 20 GeV to half of the Higgs boson mass. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the product of the production cross section and branching fraction, $\sigma_{\mathrm{h}}\mathcal{B}$(h $\to$ a$_1$ a$_1$ $\to$ $\mu^+\mu^-\mathrm{b}\bar{\mathrm{b}}$), ranging from 5 to 33 fb, depending on the pseudoscalar mass. Corresponding limits on the branching fraction, assuming the SM prediction for $\sigma_{\mathrm{h}}$, are (1$-$7)$\times$ 10$^{-4}$.
A data sample of events from proton-proton collisions with at least two jets, and two isolated same-sign or three or more charged leptons, is studied in a search for signatures of new physics phenomena. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$ at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected in 2016-2018 by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The search is performed using a total of 168 signal regions defined using several kinematic variables. The properties of the events are found to be consistent with the expectations from standard model processes. Exclusion limits at 95% confidence level are set on cross sections for the pair production of gluinos or squarks for various decay scenarios in the context of supersymmetric models conserving or violating R parity. The observed lower mass limits are as large as 2.1 TeV for gluinos and 0.9 TeV for top and bottom squarks. To facilitate reinterpretations, model-independent limits are provided in a set of simplified signal regions.
A measurement of the b-hadron production cross section in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV is presented. The dataset, corresponding to 85 inverse nanobarns, was recorded with the CMS experiment at the LHC using a low-threshold single-muon trigger. Events are selected by the presence of a muon with transverse momentum greater than 6 GeV with respect to the beam direction and pseudorapidity less than 2.1. The transverse momentum of the muon with respect to the closest jet discriminates events containing b hadrons from background. The inclusive b-hadron production cross section is presented as a function of muon transverse momentum and pseudorapidity. The measured total cross section in the kinematic acceptance is sigma(pp to b+X to mu + X') =1.32 +/- 0.01 (stat) +/- 0.30 (syst) +/- 0.15 (lumi) microbarns.
The Upsilon production cross section in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV is measured using a data sample collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.1 +/- 0.3 inverse picobarns. Integrated over the rapidity range |y|<2, we find the product of the Upsilon(1S) production cross section and branching fraction to dimuons to be sigma(pp to Upsilon(1S) X) B(Upsilon(1S) to mu+ mu-) = 7.37 +/- 0.13^{+0.61}_{-0.42}\pm 0.81 nb, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, and the third is associated with the estimation of the integrated luminosity of the data sample. This cross section is obtained assuming unpolarized Upsilon(1S) production. If the Upsilon(1S) production polarization is fully transverse or fully longitudinal the cross section changes by about 20%. We also report the measurement of the Upsilon(1S), Upsilon(2S), and Upsilon(3S) differential cross sections as a function of transverse momentum and rapidity.
Measurements of inclusive W and Z boson production cross sections in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV are presented, based on 2.9 inverse picobarns of data recorded by the CMS detector at the LHC. The measurements, performed in the electron and muon decay channels, are combined to give sigma(pp to WX) times B(W to muon or electron + neutrino) = 9.95 \pm 0.07(stat.) \pm 0.28(syst.) \pm 1.09(lumi.) nb and sigma(pp to ZX) times B(Z to oppositely charged muon or electron pairs) = 0.931 \pm 0.026(stat.) \pm 0.023(syst.) \pm 0.102(lumi.) nb. Theoretical predictions, calculated at the next-to-next-to-leading order in QCD using recent parton distribution functions, are in agreement with the measured cross sections. Ratios of cross sections, which incur an experimental systematic uncertainty of less than 4%, are also reported.
The production cross section of a top quark pair in association with a photon is measured in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data set, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$, was recorded by the CMS experiment during the 2016-2018 data taking of the LHC. The measurements are performed in a fiducial volume defined at the particle level. Events with an isolated, highly energetic lepton, at least three jets from the hadronization of quarks, among which at least one is b tagged, and one isolated photon are selected. The inclusive fiducial $\mathrm{t\overline{t}}\gamma$ cross section, for a photon with transverse momentum greater than 20 GeV and pseudorapidity $\lvert \eta\rvert$$\lt$ 1.4442, is measured to be 798 $\pm$ 7 (stat) $\pm$ 48 (syst) fb, in good agreement with the prediction from the standard model at next-to-leading order in quantum chromodynamics. The differential cross sections are also measured as a function of several kinematic observables and interpreted in the framework of the standard model effective field theory (EFT), leading to the most stringent direct limits to date on anomalous electromagnetic dipole moment interactions of the top quark and the photon.