Measurement by the STAR experiment at RHIC of the cold nuclear matter (CNM) effects experienced by inclusive $J/\psi$ at mid-rapidity in 0-100%$p$+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\mathrm{NN}}}}$ = 200 GeV is presented. Such effects are quantified utilizing the nuclear modification factor, $R_{p\mathrm{Au}}$, obtained by taking a ratio of $J/\psi$ yield in $p$+Au collisions to that in $p$+$p$ collisions scaled by the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions. The differential $J/\psi$ yield in both $p$+$p$ and $p$+Au collisions is measured through the dimuon decay channel, taking advantage of the trigger capability provided by the Muon Telescope Detector in the RHIC 2015 run. Consequently, the $J/\psi$$R_{p\mathrm{Au}}$ is derived within the transverse momentum ($p_{\mathrm{T}}$) range of 0 to 10 GeV/$c$. A suppression of approximately 30% is observed for $p_{\mathrm{T}}<2$ GeV/$c$, while $J/\psi$ $R_{p\mathrm{Au}}$ becomes compatible with unity for $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ greater than 3 GeV/$c$, indicating the $J/\psi$ yield is minimally affected by the CNM effects at high $p_{\mathrm{T}}$. Comparison to a similar measurement from 0-20% central Au+Au collisions reveals that the observed strong $J/\psi$ suppression above 3 Gev/$c$ is mostly due to the hot medium effects, providing strong evidence for the formation of the quark-gluon plasma in these collisions. Several model calculations show qualitative agreement with the measured $J/\psi$ $R_{p\mathrm{Au}}$, while their agreement with the $J/\psi$ yields in $p$+$p$ and $p$+Au collisions is worse.

We report measurements of $\varUpsilon(1S)$, $\varUpsilon(2S)$ and $\varUpsilon(3S)$ production in $\textit{p+p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=500\:\mathrm{GeV}$ by the STAR experiment in year 2011, corresponding to an integrated luminosity $\mathcal{L}_{int}=13\:\mathrm{pb^{-1}}$. The results provide precise cross sections, transverse momentum ($p_{T}$) and rapidity ($y$) spectra, as well as cross section ratios for $p_{\mathrm{T}}<10\:\mathrm{GeV/c}$ and $|y|<1$. The dependence of the $\varUpsilon$ yield on charged particle multiplicity has also been measured, offering new insights into the mechanisms of quarkonium production. The data are compared to various theoretical models: the Color Evaporation Model (CEM) accurately describes the $\varUpsilon(1S)$ production, while the Color Glass Condensate + Non-relativistic Quantum Chromodynamics (CGC+NRQCD) model overestimates the data, particularly at low $p_{T}$. Conversely, the Color Singlet Model (CSM) underestimates the rapidity dependence. These discrepancies highlight the need for further development in understanding the production dynamics of heavy quarkonia in high-energy hadronic collisions. The trend in the multiplicity dependence is consistent with CGC/Saturation and String Percolation models or $\varUpsilon$ production happening in multiple parton interactions modeled by PYTHIA8.

In a Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP), the fundamental building blocks of matter, quarks and gluons, are under extreme conditions of temperature and density. A QGP could exist in the early stages of the Universe, and in various objects and events in the cosmos. The thermodynamic and hydrodynamic properties of the QGP are described by Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) and can be studied in heavy-ion collisions. Despite being a key thermodynamic parameter, the QGP temperature is still poorly known. Thermal lepton pairs ($e^+e^-$ and $\mu^+\mu^-$) are ideal penetrating probes of the true temperature of the emitting source, since their invariant-mass spectra suffer neither from strong final-state interactions nor from blue-shift effects due to rapid expansion. Here we measure the QGP temperature using thermal $e^+e^-$ production at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The average temperature from the low-mass region (in-medium $\rho^0$ vector-meson dominant) is $(1.99 \pm 0.24) \times 10^{12}$ K, consistent with the chemical freeze-out temperature from statistical models and the phase transition temperature from LQCD. The average temperature from the intermediate mass region (above the $\rho^0$ mass, QGP dominant) is significantly higher at $(3.40 \pm 0.55)\times 10^{12}$ K. This work provides essential experimental thermodynamic measurements to map out the QCD phase diagram and understand the properties of matter under extreme conditions.

A search for the resonant production of a heavy scalar $X$ decaying into a Higgs boson and a new lighter scalar $S$, through the process $X \to S(\to bb) H(\to \gamma\gamma)$, where the two photons are consistent with the Higgs boson decay, is performed. The search is conducted using an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The search is performed over the mass range 170 $\leq$$m_{X}$$\leq$ 1000 GeV and 15 $\leq$$m_{S}$$\leq$ 500 GeV. Parameterised neural networks are used to enhance the signal purity and to achieve continuous sensitivity in a domain of the ($m_{X}$, $m_{S}$) plane. No significant excess above the expected background is found and 95% CL upper limits are set on the cross section times branching ratio, ranging from 39 fb to 0.09 fb. The largest deviation from the background-only expectation occurs for ($m_{X}$, $m_{S}$) = (575, 200) GeV with a local (global) significance of 3.5 (2.0) standard deviations.

This paper presents a search for a new $Z^\prime$ resonance decaying into a pair of dark quarks which hadronise into dark hadrons before promptly decaying back as Standard Model particles. This analysis is based on proton-proton collision data recorded at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider between 2015 and 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. After selecting events containing large-radius jets with high track multiplicity, the invariant mass distribution of the two highest-transverse-momentum jets is scanned to look for an excess above a data-driven estimate of the Standard Model multijet background. No significant excess of events is observed and the results are thus used to set 95 % confidence-level upper limits on the production cross-section times branching ratio of the $Z^\prime$ to dark quarks as a function of the $Z^\prime$ mass for various dark-quark scenarios.

This paper presents a first measurement of the cross-section for the charged-current Drell-Yan process $pp\rightarrow W^{\pm} \rightarrow \ell^{\pm} ν$ above the resonance region, where $\ell$ is an electron or muon. The measurement is performed for transverse masses, $m_{\text{T}}^{\text{W}}$, between 200 GeV and 5000 GeV, using a sample of 140 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2015-2018. The data are presented single differentially in transverse mass and double differentially in transverse mass and absolute lepton pseudorapidity. A test of lepton flavour universality shows no significant deviations from the Standard Model. The electron and muon channel measurements are combined to achieve a total experimental precision of 3% at low $m_{\text{T}}^{\text{W}}$. The single- and double differential $W$-boson charge asymmetries are evaluated from the measurements. A comparison to next-to-next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD predictions using several recent parton distribution functions and including next-to-leading-order electroweak effects indicates the potential of the data to constrain parton distribution functions. The data are also used to constrain four fermion operators in the Standard Model Effective Field Theory formalism, in particular the lepton-quark operator Wilson coefficient $c_{\ell q}^{(3)}.$

Measurements of $W^+W^-\rightarrow e^\pm νμ^\mp ν$ production cross-sections are presented, providing a test of the predictions of perturbative quantum chromodynamics and the electroweak theory. The measurements are based on data from $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015-2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$. The number of events due to top-quark pair production, the largest background, is reduced by rejecting events containing jets with $b$-hadron decays. An improved methodology for estimating the remaining top-quark background enables a precise measurement of $W^+W^-$ cross-sections with no additional requirements on jets. The fiducial $W^+W^-$ cross-section is determined in a maximum-likelihood fit with an uncertainty of 3.1%. The measurement is extrapolated to the full phase space, resulting in a total $W^+W^-$ cross-section of $127\pm4$ pb. Differential cross-sections are measured as a function of twelve observables that comprehensively describe the kinematics of $W^+W^-$ events. The measurements are compared with state-of-the-art theory calculations and excellent agreement with predictions is observed. A charge asymmetry in the lepton rapidity is observed as a function of the dilepton invariant mass, in agreement with the Standard Model expectation. A CP-odd observable is measured to be consistent with no CP violation. Limits on Standard Model effective field theory Wilson coefficients in the Warsaw basis are obtained from the differential cross-sections.

The Lund jet plane (LJP) is measured for the first time in $t\overline{t}$ events, using 140 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV pp collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The LJP is a two-dimensional observable of the sub-structure of hadronic jets that acts as a proxy for the kinematics of parton showers and hadron formation. The observable is constructed from charged particles and is measured for R = 1.0 anti-$k_t$ jets with transverse momentum above 350 GeV containing the full decay products of either a top quark or a daughter $W$ boson. The other top quark in the event is identified from its decay into a b-quark, an electron or a muon and a neutrino. The measurement is corrected for detector effects and compared with a range of Monte Carlo predictions sensitive to different aspects of the hadronic decays of the heavy particles. In the $W$-boson-initiated jets, all the predictions are incompatible with the measurement. In the top quark initiated jets, disagreement with all predictions is observed in smaller subregions of the plane, and with a subset of the predictions across the fiducial plane. The measurement could be used to improve the tuning of Monte Carlo generators, for better modelling of hadronic decays of heavy quarks and bosons, or to improve the performance of jet taggers.

The correlations between flow harmonics $v_n$ for $n=2$, 3 and 4 and mean transverse momentum $[p_\mathrm{T}]$ in $^{129}$Xe+$^{129}$Xe and $^{208}$Pb+$^{208}$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.44$ TeV and 5.02 TeV, respectively, are measured using charged particles with the ATLAS detector. The correlations are sensitive to the shape and size of the initial geometry, nuclear deformation, and initial momentum anisotropy. The effects from non-flow and centrality fluctuations are minimized, respectively, via a subevent cumulant method and event activity selection based on particle production in the very forward rapidity. The results show strong dependences on centrality, harmonic number $n$, $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ and pseudorapidity range. Current models describe qualitatively the overall centrality- and system-dependent trends but fail to quantitatively reproduce all the data. In the central collisions, where models generally show good agreement, the $v_2$-$[p_\mathrm{T}]$ correlations are sensitive to the triaxiality of the quadruple deformation. The comparison of model to the Pb+Pb and Xe+Xe data suggests that the $^{129}$Xe nucleus is a highly deformed triaxial ellipsoid that is neither a prolate nor an oblate shape. This provides strong evidence for a triaxial deformation of $^{129}$Xe nucleus using high-energy heavy-ion collision.

A search for heavy Higgs bosons produced in association with a vector boson and decaying into a pair of vector bosons is performed in final states with two leptons (electrons or muons) of the same electric charge, missing transverse momentum and jets. A data sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider between 2015 and 2018 is used. The data correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. The observed data are in agreement with Standard Model background expectations. The results are interpreted using higher-dimensional operators in an effective field theory. Upper limits on the production cross-section are calculated at 95% confidence level as a function of the heavy Higgs boson's mass and coupling strengths to vector bosons. Limits are set in the Higgs boson mass range from 300 to 1500 GeV, and depend on the assumed couplings. The highest excluded mass for a heavy Higgs boson with the coupling combinations explored is 900 GeV. Limits on coupling strengths are also provided.