A search for a light charged Higgs boson produced in decays of the top quark, $t \to H^\pm b$ with $H^\pm \to cs$, is presented. This search targets the production of top-quark pairs $t\bar{t} \to Wb H^\pm b$, with $W \to \ell\nu$ ($\ell = e, \mu$), resulting in a lepton-plus-jets final state characterised by an isolated electron or muon and at least four jets. The search exploits $b$-quark and $c$-quark identification techniques as well as multivariate methods to suppress the dominant $t\bar{t}$ background. The data analysed correspond to 140 $\text{fb}^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC between 2015 and 2018. Observed (expected) 95% confidence-level upper limits on the branching fraction $\mathscr{B}(t\to H^\pm b)$, assuming $\mathscr{B}(t\to Wb) + \mathscr{B}(t \to H^\pm (\to cs)b)=1.0$, are set between 0.066% (0.077%) and 3.6% (2.3%) for a charged Higgs boson with a mass between 60 GeV and 168 GeV.
Distributions of the dijet mass. The processes $t\bar{t}$(allHad), $tW$, Single top, $t\bar{t}H$, Other top, $W$ + jets, $Z$ + jets, and $VV$ listed are combined with the multijet background in the ‘Other’ category. The uncertainty band represents the combined statistical and systematic uncertainty of the prediction. Overlaid are the shapes for the $H^{\pm}_{80}$ and $H^{\pm}_{150}$ signal samples normalised to the total background prediction.
Data and background yields after the background-only fit of the BDT-score distribution for the $130\,$GeV signal mass BDT training. For comparison, the expected signal yield for $\mathscr{B}_{H^{\pm}}=1.0\%$ is added.
Observed (solid line) and expected (dotted line) upper limits on $\mathscr{B}_{H^{\pm}}$ for charged Higgs boson with masses between $60\,$GeV and $168\,$GeV, assuming $\mathscr{B}(t \to H^{\pm}(\to cs) b) = 1.0$. The $\pm 1 \sigma$ and $\pm 2 \sigma$ variations around the expected upper limit are indicated by the green and yellow bands, respectively.
Several models of physics beyond the Standard Model predict the existence of dark photons, light neutral particles decaying into collimated leptons or light hadrons. This paper presents a search for long-lived dark photons produced from the decay of a Higgs boson or a heavy scalar boson and decaying into displaced collimated Standard Model fermions. The search uses data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ collected in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV recorded in 2015-2016 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The observed number of events is consistent with the expected background, and limits on the production cross section times branching fraction as a function of the proper decay length of the dark photon are reported. A cross section times branching fraction above 4 pb is excluded for a Higgs boson decaying into two dark photons for dark-photon decay lengths between 1.5 mm and 307 mm.
Upper limits at 95% CL on the cross section times branching fraction for the process $H \to 2\gamma_d + X$ with $m_H$ = 125 GeV in the muon-muon final state.
Upper limits at 95% CL on the cross section times branching fraction for the process $H \to 4\gamma_d + X$ with $m_H$ = 125 GeV in the muon-muon final state.
Upper limits at 95% CL on the cross section times branching fraction for the process $H \to 2\gamma_d + X$ with $m_H$ = 800 GeV in the muon-muon final state.
This Letter presents direct searches for lepton flavour violation in Higgs boson decays, $H\rightarrow e\tau$ and $H\rightarrow\mu\tau$, performed with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The searches are based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $36.1\,\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$. No significant excess is observed above the expected background from Standard Model processes. The observed (median expected) 95 % confidence-level upper limits on the lepton-flavour-violating branching ratios are $0.47\%$ ($0.34^{+0.13}_{-0.10}\,\%$) and $0.28\%$ ($0.37^{+0.14}_{-0.10}\,\%$) for $H\to e\tau$ and $H\to\mu\tau$, respectively.
95% CL upper limits on the branching ratio H --> e tau.
95% CL upper limits on the branching ratio H --> mu tau.
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