A measurement of the production of three isolated photons in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV is reported. The results are based on an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb$^{-1}$ collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The differential cross sections are measured as functions of the transverse energy of each photon, the difference in azimuthal angle and in pseudorapidity between pairs of photons, the invariant mass of pairs of photons, and the invariant mass of the triphoton system. A measurement of the inclusive fiducial cross section is also reported. Next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD predictions are compared to the cross-section measurements. The predictions underestimate the measurement of the inclusive fiducial cross section and the differential measurements at low photon transverse energies and invariant masses. They provide adequate descriptions of the measurements at high values of the photon transverse energies, invariant mass of pairs of photons, and invariant mass of the triphoton system.
A measurement of prompt photon-pair production in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV is presented. The data were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. Events with two photons in the well-instrumented region of the detector are selected. The photons are required to be isolated and have a transverse momentum of $p_\mathrm{T,\gamma_{1(2)}} > 40(30)$ GeV for the leading (sub-leading) photon. The differential cross sections as functions of several observables for the diphoton system are measured and compared with theoretical predictions from state-of-the-art Monte Carlo and fixed-order calculations. The QCD predictions from next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations and multi-leg merged calculations are able to describe the measured integrated and differential cross sections within uncertainties, whereas lower-order calculations show significant deviations, demonstrating that higher-order perturbative QCD corrections are crucial for this process. The resummed predictions with parton showers additionally provide an excellent description of the low transverse-momentum regime of the diphoton system.
Cross-section measurements of top-quark pair production where the hadronically decaying top quark has transverse momentum greater than $355$ GeV and the other top quark decays into $\ell \nu b$ are presented using 139 fb$^{-1}$ of data collected by the ATLAS experiment during proton-proton collisions at the LHC. The fiducial cross-section at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV is measured to be $\sigma = 1.267 \pm 0.005 \pm 0.053$ pb, where the uncertainties reflect the limited number of data events and the systematic uncertainties, giving a total uncertainty of $4.2\%$. The cross-section is measured differentially as a function of variables characterising the $t\bar{t}$ system and additional radiation in the events. The results are compared with various Monte Carlo generators, including comparisons where the generators are reweighted to match a parton-level calculation at next-to-next-to-leading order. The reweighting improves the agreement between data and theory. The measured distribution of the top-quark transverse momentum is used to set limits on the Wilson coefficients of the dimension-six operators $O_{tG}$ and $O_{tq}^{(8)}$ in the effective field theory framework.
This paper describes a measurement of fiducial and differential cross sections of gluon-fusion Higgs boson production in the $H{\rightarrow\,}WW^{\ast}{\rightarrow\,}e\nu\mu\nu$ channel, using 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data. The data were produced at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider and recorded by the ATLAS detector in 2012. Cross sections are measured from the observed $H{\rightarrow\,}WW^{\ast}{\rightarrow\,}e\nu\mu\nu$ signal yield in categories distinguished by the number of associated jets. The total cross section is measured in a fiducial region defined by the kinematic properties of the charged leptons and neutrinos. Differential cross sections are reported as a function of the number of jets, the Higgs boson transverse momentum, the dilepton rapidity, and the transverse momentum of the leading jet. The jet-veto efficiency, or fraction of events with no jets above a given transverse momentum threshold, is also reported. All measurements are compared to QCD predictions from Monte Carlo generators and fixed-order calculations, and are in agreement with the Standard Model predictions.
This paper presents measurements of $W^\pm Z$ production in $pp$ collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The gauge bosons are reconstructed using their leptonic decay modes into electrons and muons. The data were collected in 2012 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$. The measured inclusive cross section in the detector fiducial region is $\sigma_{W^\pm Z \rightarrow \ell^{'} \nu\ \ell \ell} = 35.1 \pm$ 0.9 (stat.) $\pm 0.8$ (sys.) $\pm 0.8$ (lumi.) fb, for one leptonic decay channel. In comparison, the next-to-leading-order Standard Model expectation is 30.0 $\pm$ 2.1 fb. Cross sections for $W^+Z$ and $W^-Z$ production and their ratio are presented as well as differential cross sections for several kinematic observables. Limits on anomalous triple gauge boson couplings are derived from the transverse mass spectrum of the $W^\pm Z$ system. From the analysis of events with a $W$ and a $Z$ boson associated with two or more forward jets an upper limit at 95% confidence level on the $W^\pm Z$ scattering cross section of 0.63 fb, for each leptonic decay channel, is established, while the Standard Model prediction at next-to-leading order is 0.13 fb. Limits on anomalous quartic gauge boson couplings are also extracted.
A measurement of the cross section for the inclusive production of isolated prompt photons in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV is presented. The measurement covers the pseudo rapidity ranges $|\eta^{\gamma}| < 1.37$ and $1.56 \leq |\eta^{\gamma}| < 2.37$ in the transverse energy range $25 < E_{\rm T}^{\gamma} < 1500$ GeV. The results are based on an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb$^{-1}$, recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Photon candidates are identified by combining information from the calorimeters and the inner tracker. The background is subtracted using a data-driven technique, based on the observed calorimeter shower-shape variables and the deposition of hadronic energy in a narrow cone around the photon candidate. The measured cross sections are compared with leading-order and next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations and are found to be in a good agreement over ten orders of magnitude.
The production of $W$ boson pairs in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 8 TeV is studied using data corresponding to 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity collected by the ATLAS detector during 2012 at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The $W$ bosons are reconstructed using their leptonic decays into electrons or muons and neutrinos. Events with reconstructed jets are not included in the candidate event sample. A total of 6636 $WW$ candidate events are observed. Measurements are performed in fiducial regions closely approximating the detector acceptance. The integrated measurement is corrected for all acceptance effects and for the $W$ branching fractions to leptons in order to obtain the total $WW$ production cross section, which is found to be 71.1$\pm1.1$(stat)$^{+5.7}_{-5.0}$(syst)$\pm1.4$ pb. This agrees with the next-to-next-to-leading-order Standard Model prediction of 63.2$^{+1.6}_{-1.4}$(scale)$\pm1.2$(PDF) pb. Fiducial differential cross sections are measured as a function of each of six kinematic variables. The distribution of the transverse momentum of the leading lepton is used to set limits on anomalous triple-gauge-boson couplings.
The dynamics of isolated-photon production in association with a jet in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV are studied with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$. Photons are required to have transverse energies above 125 GeV. Jets are identified using the anti-$k_t$ algorithm with radius parameter $R=0.4$ and required to have transverse momenta above 100 GeV. Measurements of isolated-photon plus jet cross sections are presented as functions of the leading-photon transverse energy, the leading-jet transverse momentum, the azimuthal angular separation between the photon and the jet, the photon-jet invariant mass and the scattering angle in the photon-jet centre-of-mass system. Tree-level plus parton-shower predictions from SHERPA and PYTHIA as well as next-to-leading-order QCD predictions from JETPHOX and SHERPA are compared to the measurements.
The production of $W^{\pm}Z$ events in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The collected data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$. The $W^{\pm}Z$ candidates are reconstructed using leptonic decays of the gauge bosons into electrons or muons. The measured inclusive cross section in the detector fiducial region for leptonic decay modes is $\sigma_{W^\pm Z \rightarrow \ell^{'} \nu \ell \ell}^{\textrm{fid.}} = 63.2 \pm 3.2$ (stat.) $\pm 2.6$ (sys.) $\pm 1.5$ (lumi.) fb. In comparison, the next-to-leading-order Standard Model prediction is $53.4^{+3.6}_{-2.8}$ fb. The extrapolation of the measurement from the fiducial to the total phase space yields $\sigma_{W^{\pm}Z}^{\textrm{tot.}} = 50.6 \pm 2.6$ (stat.) $\pm 2.0$ (sys.) $\pm 0.9$ (th.) $\pm 1.2$ (lumi.) pb, in agreement with a recent next-to-next-to-leading-order calculation of $48.2^{+1.1}_{-1.0}$ pb. The cross section as a function of jet multiplicity is also measured, together with the charge-dependent $W^+Z$ and $W^-Z$ cross sections and their ratio.
Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections of Higgs boson production in the ${H \rightarrow ZZ ^{*}\rightarrow 4\ell}$ decay channel are presented. The cross sections are determined within a fiducial phase space and corrected for detection efficiency and resolution effects. They are based on 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data, produced at $\sqrt{s}$=8 TeV centre-of-mass energy at the LHC and recorded by the ATLAS detector. The differential measurements are performed in bins of transverse momentum and rapidity of the four-lepton system, the invariant mass of the subleading lepton pair and the decay angle of the leading lepton pair with respect to the beam line in the four-lepton rest frame, as well as the number of jets and the transverse momentum of the leading jet. The measured cross sections are compared to selected theoretical calculations of the Standard Model expectations. No significant deviation from any of the tested predictions is found.
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