Results are presented from a search for new physics in high-mass diphoton events from proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV. The data set was collected in 2016-2018 with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. Events with a diphoton invariant mass greater than 500 GeV are considered. Two different techniques are used to predict the standard model backgrounds: parametric fits to the smoothly-falling background and a first-principles calculation of the standard model diphoton spectrum at next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculations. The first technique is sensitive to resonant excesses while the second technique can identify broad differences in the invariant mass shape. The data are used to constrain the production of heavy Higgs bosons, Randall-Sundrum gravitons, the large extra dimensions model of Arkani-Hamed, Dimopoulos, and Dvali (ADD), and the continuum clockwork mechanism. No statistically significant excess is observed. The present results are the strongest limits to date on ADD extra dimensions and RS gravitons with a coupling parameter greater than 0.1.

A search is presented for a third-generation leptoquark (LQ) coupled exclusively to a $\tau$ lepton and a b quark. The search is based on proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded with the CMS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. Events with $\tau$ leptons and a varying number of jets originating from b quarks are considered, targeting the single and pair production of LQs, as well as nonresonant $t$-channel LQ exchange. An excess is observed in the data with respect to the background expectation in the combined analysis of all search regions. For a benchmark LQ mass of 2 TeV and an LQ-b-$\tau$ coupling strength of 2.5, the excess reaches a local significance of up to 2.8 standard deviations. Upper limits at the 95% confidence level are placed on the LQ production cross section in the LQ mass range 0.5-2.3 TeV, and up to 3 TeV for $t$-channel LQ exchange. Leptoquarks are excluded below masses of 1.22-1.88 TeV for different LQ models and varying coupling strengths up to 2.5. The study of nonresonant $\tau\tau$ production through $t$-channel LQ exchange allows lower limits on the LQ mass of up to 2.3 TeV to be obtained.

A search is presented for the decay of the 125 GeV Higgs boson (H) to a pair of new light pseudoscalar bosons (a), followed by the prompt decay of each a boson to a bottom quark-antiquark pair, H $\to$ aa $\to$$\mathrm{b\bar{b}b\bar{b}}$. The analysis is performed using a data sample of proton-proton collisions collected with the CMS detector at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. To reduce the background from standard model processes, the search requires the Higgs boson to be produced in association with a leptonically decaying W or Z boson. The analysis probes the production of new light bosons in a 15 $\lt$$m_\mathrm{a}$$\lt$ 60 GeV mass range. Assuming the standard model predictions for the Higgs boson production cross sections for pp $\to$ WH and ZH, model independent upper limits at 95% confidence level are derived for the branching fraction $\mathcal{B}$(H $\to$ aa $\to$ $\mathrm{b\bar{b}b\bar{b}}$). The combined WH and ZH observed upper limit on the branching fraction ranges from 1.10 for $m_\mathrm{a} =$ 20 GeV to 0.36 for $m_\mathrm{a} =$ 60 GeV, complementing other measurements in the $\mu\mu\tau\tau$, $\tau\tau\tau\tau$ and bb$\ell\ell$ ($\ell = $ $\mu$, $\tau$) channels.

The polarization of $\tau$ leptons is measured using leptonic and hadronic $\tau$ lepton decays in Z $\to$$\tau^+\tau^-$ events in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV recorded by CMS at the CERN LHC with an integrated luminosity of 36.3 fb$^{-1}$. The measured $\tau^-$ polarization at the Z boson mass pole is $\mathcal{P}_{\tau}$(Z) = $-$0.144 $\pm$ 0.006 (stat) $\pm$ 0.014 (syst) = $-$0.144 $\pm$ 0.015, in good agreement with the measurement of the $\tau$ lepton asymmetry parameter of $A_{\tau}$ = 0.1439 $\pm$ 0.0043 = $-\mathcal{P}_{\tau}$(Z) at LEP. The $\tau$ polarization depends on the ratio of the vector to axial-vector couplings of the $\tau$ leptons in the neutral current expression, and thus on the effective weak mixing angle $\sin^{2}\theta_\mathrm{W}^{\text{eff}}$, independently of the Z boson production mechanism. The obtained value $\sin^{2}\theta_\mathrm{W}^{\text{eff}}$ = 0.2319 $\pm$ 0.0008 (stat) $\pm$ 0.0018 (syst) = 0.2319 $\pm$ 0.0019 is in good agreement with measurements at e$^+$e$^-$ colliders.

A search is described for the production of a pair of bottom-type vector-like quarks (B VLQs) with mass greater than 1000 GeV. Each B VLQ decays into a b quark and a Higgs boson, a b quark and a Z boson, or a t quark and a W boson. This analysis considers both fully hadronic final states and those containing a charged lepton pair from a Z boson decay. The products of the H $\to$ bb boson decay and of the hadronic Z or W boson decays can be resolved as two distinct jets or merged into a single jet, so the final states are classified by the number of reconstructed jets. The analysis uses data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$ collected in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC from 2016 to 2018. No excess over the expected background is observed. Lower limits are set on the B VLQ mass at 95% confidence level. These depend on the B VLQ branching fractions and are 1570 and 1540 GeV for 100% B $\to$ bH and 100% B $\to$ bZ, respectively. In most cases, the mass limits obtained exceed previous limits by at least 100 GeV.

A combination of the results of several searches for the electroweak production of the supersymmetric partners of standard model bosons, and of charged leptons, is presented. All searches use proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2016-2018. The analyzed data correspond to an integrated luminosity of up to 137 fb$^{-1}$. The results are interpreted in terms of simplified models of supersymmetry. Two new interpretations are added with this combination: a model spectrum with the bino as the lightest supersymmetric particle together with mass-degenerate higgsinos decaying to the bino and a standard model boson, and the compressed-spectrum region of a previously studied model of slepton pair production. Improved analysis techniques are employed to optimize sensitivity for the compressed spectra in the wino and slepton pair production models. The results are consistent with expectations from the standard model. The combination provides a more comprehensive coverage of the model parameter space than the individual searches, extending the exclusion by up to 125 GeV, and also targets some of the intermediate gaps in the mass coverage.

A first search is presented for vector-like leptons (VLLs) decaying into a light long-lived pseudoscalar boson and a standard model $τ$ lepton. The pseudoscalar boson is assumed to have a mass below the $τ^+τ^-$ threshold, so that it decays exclusively into two photons. It is identified using the CMS muon system. The analysis is carried out using a data set of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment in 2016-2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. Selected events contain at least one pseudoscalar boson decaying electromagnetically in the muon system and at least one hadronically decaying $τ$ lepton. No significant excess of data events is observed compared to the background expectation. Upper limits are set at 95% confidence level on the vector-like lepton production cross section as a function of the VLL mass and the pseudoscalar boson mean proper decay length. The observed and expected exclusion ranges of the VLL mass extend up to 700 and 670 GeV, respectively, depending on the pseudoscalar boson lifetime.

A search for new physics in final states consisting of at least one photon, multiple jets, and large missing transverse momentum is presented, using proton-proton collision events at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$, recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC from 2016 to 2018. The events are divided into mutually exclusive bins characterized by the missing transverse momentum, the number of jets, the number of b-tagged jets, and jets consistent with the presence of hadronically decaying W, Z, or Higgs bosons. The observed data are found to be consistent with the prediction from standard model processes. The results are interpreted in the context of simplified models of pair production of supersymmetric particles via strong and electroweak interactions. Depending on the details of the signal models, gluinos and squarks of masses up to 2.35 and 1.43 TeV, respectively, and electroweakinos of masses up to 1.23 TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level.

The first measurement of the dijet transverse momentum balance $x_j$ in proton-lead (pPb) collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 8.16 TeV is presented. The $x_j$ observable, defined as the ratio of the subleading over leading jet transverse momentum in a dijet pair, is used to search for jet quenching effects. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 174.6 nb$^{-1}$, were collected with the CMS detector in 2016. The $x_j$ distributions and their average values are studied as functions of the charged-particle multiplicity of the events and for various dijet rapidity selections. The latter enables probing hard scattering of partons carrying distinct nucleon momentum fractions $x$ in the proton- and lead-going directions. The former, aided by the high-multiplicity triggers, allows probing for potential jet quenching effects in high-multiplicity events (with up to 400 charged particles), for which collective phenomena consistent with quark-gluon plasma (QGP) droplet formation were previously observed. The ratios of $x_j$ distributions for high- to low-multiplicity events are used to quantify the possible medium effects. These ratios are consistent with simulations of the hard-scattering process that do not include QGP production. These measurements set an upper limit on medium-induced energy loss of the subleading jet of 1.26% of its transverse momentum at the 90% confidence level in high multiplicity pPb events.

The path-length dependent parton energy loss within the dense partonic medium created in lead-lead collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV is studied by determining the azimuthal anisotropies for dijets with high transverse momentum. The data were collected by the CMS experiment in 2018 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 1.69 nb$^{-1}$. For events containing back-to-back jets, correlations in relative azimuthal angle and pseudorapidity ($\eta$) between jets and hadrons, and between two hadrons, are constructed. The anisotropies are expressed as the Fourier expansion coefficients $v_n$, $n = $ 2-4 of these azimuthal distributions. The dijet $v_n$ values are extracted from long-range (1.5 $\lt$$\vert\Delta\eta\vert$$\lt$ 2.5) components of these correlations, which suppresses the background contributions from jet fragmentation processes. Positive dijet $v_2$ values are observed which increase from central to more peripheral events, while the $v_3$ and $v_4$ values are consistent with zero within experimental uncertainties.