A search for supersymmetry is presented based on proton-proton collision events containing identified hadronically decaying top quarks, no leptons, and an imbalance $p_\mathrm{T}^\text{miss}$ in transverse momentum. The data were collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. Search regions are defined in terms of the multiplicity of bottom quark jet and top quark candidates, the $p_\mathrm{T}^\text{miss}$, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta, and the $m_{\mathrm{T2}}$ mass variable. No statistically significant excess of events is observed relative to the expectation from the standard model. Lower limits on the masses of supersymmetric particles are determined at 95% confidence level in the context of simplified models with top quark production. For a model with direct top squark pair production followed by the decay of each top squark to a top quark and a neutralino, top squark masses up to 1020 GeV and neutralino masses up to 430 GeV are excluded. For a model with pair production of gluinos followed by the decay of each gluino to a top quark-antiquark pair and a neutralino, gluino masses up to 2040 GeV and neutralino masses up to 1150 GeV are excluded. These limits extend previous results.
Three of the most significant measured deviations from standard model predictions, the enhanced decay rate for B $\to$ D$^{(*)}\tau\nu$, hints of lepton universality violation in B $\to$ K$^{(*)}\ell\ell$ decays, and the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, can be explained by the existence of leptoquarks (LQs) with large couplings to third-generation quarks and masses at the TeV scale. The existence of these states can be probed at the LHC in high energy proton-proton collisions. A novel search is presented for pair production of LQs coupled to a top quark and a muon using data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$, recorded by the CMS experiment. No deviation from the standard model prediction has been observed and scalar LQs decaying exclusively into t$\mu$ are excluded up to masses of 1420 GeV. The results of this search are combined with those from previous searches for LQ decays into t$\tau$ and b$\nu$, which excluded scalar LQs below masses of 900 and 1080 GeV. Vector LQs are excluded up to masses of 1190 GeV for all possible combinations of branching fractions to t$\mu$, t$\tau$ and b$\nu$. With this analysis, all relevant couplings of LQs with an electric charge of -1/3 to third-generation quarks are probed for the first time.
A search for a heavy resonance decaying into a top quark and antiquark ($\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$) pair is performed using proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV. The search uses the data set collected with the CMS detector in 2016, which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. The analysis considers three exclusive final states and uses reconstruction techniques that are optimized for top quarks with high Lorentz boosts, which requires the use of nonisolated leptons and jet substructure techniques. No significant excess of events relative to the expected yield from standard model processes is observed. Upper limits on the production cross section of heavy resonances decaying to a $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$ pair are calculated. Limits are derived for a leptophobic topcolor Z' resonance with widths of 1, 10, and 30%, relative to the mass of the resonance, and exclude masses up to 3.80, 5.25, and 6.65 TeV, respectively. Kaluza-Klein excitations of the gluon in the Randall-Sundrum model are excluded up to 4.55 TeV. To date, these are the most stringent limits on $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$ resonances.
The first search for soft unclustered energy patterns (SUEPs) is performed using an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV collected in 2016-2018 by the CMS detector at the LHC. Such SUEPs are predicted by Hidden Valley models with a new, confining force with a large 't Hooft coupling. In events with boosted topologies, selected by high-threshold hadronic triggers, the multiplicity and sphericity of clustered tracks are used to reject the background from standard model quantum chromodynamics. With no observed excess of events over the standard model expectation, limits are set on the cross section for production via gluon fusion of a scalar mediator with SUEP-like decays.
A search for the pair production of heavy vector-like partners T and B of the top and bottom quarks has been performed by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC using proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV. The data sample was collected in 2016 and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. Final states studied for $\mathrm{T\overline{T}}$ production include those where one of the T quarks decays via T $\to$ tZ and the other via T $\to$ bW, tZ, or tH, where H is a Higgs boson. For the $\mathrm{B\overline{B}}$ case, final states include those where one of the B quarks decays via B $\to$ bZ and the other B $\to$ tW, bZ, or bH. Events with two oppositely charged electrons or muons, consistent with coming from the decay of a Z boson, and jets are investigated. The number of observed events is consistent with standard model background estimations. Lower limits at 95% confidence level are placed on the masses of the T and B quarks for a range of branching fractions. Assuming 100% branching fractions for T $\to$ tZ, and B $\to$ bZ, T and B quark mass values below 1280 and 1130 GeV, respectively, are excluded.
The first collider search for dark matter arising from a strongly coupled hidden sector is presented and uses a data sample corresponding to 138 fb$^{-1}$, collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC, at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV. The hidden sector is hypothesized to couple to the standard model (SM) via a heavy leptophobic Z' mediator produced as a resonance in proton-proton collisions. The mediator decay results in two "semivisible" jets, containing both visible matter and invisible dark matter. The final state therefore includes moderate missing energy aligned with one of the jets, a signature ignored by most dark matter searches. No structure in the dijet transverse mass spectra compatible with the signal is observed. Assuming the Z' has a universal coupling of 0.25 to the SM quarks, an inclusive search, relevant to any model that exhibits this kinematic behavior, excludes mediator masses of 1.5-4.0 TeV at 95% confidence level, depending on the other signal model parameters. To enhance the sensitivity of the search for this particular class of hidden sector models, a boosted decision tree (BDT) is trained using jet substructure variables to distinguish between semivisible jets and SM jets from background processes. When the BDT is employed to identify each jet in the dijet system as semivisible, the mediator mass exclusion increases to 5.1 TeV, for wider ranges of the other signal model parameters. These limits exclude a wide range of strongly coupled hidden sector models for the first time.
A search for resonances decaying into a W boson and a radion, where the radion decays into two W bosons, is presented. The data analyzed correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$ recorded in proton-proton collisions with the CMS detector at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV. One isolated charged lepton is required, together with missing transverse momentum and one or two massive large-radius jets, containing the decay products of either two or one W bosons, respectively. No excess over the background estimation is observed. The results are combined with those from a complementary channel with an all-hadronic final state, described in an accompanying paper. Limits are set on parameters of an extended warped extra-dimensional model. These searches are the first of their kind at the LHC.
A search for dark matter in the form of strongly interacting massive particles (SIMPs) using the CMS detector at the LHC is presented. The SIMPs would be produced in pairs that manifest themselves as pairs of jets without tracks. The energy fraction of jets carried by charged particles is used as a key discriminator to suppress efficiently the large multijet background, and the remaining background is estimated directly from data. The search is performed using proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 16.1 fb$^{-1}$, collected with the CMS detector in 2016. No significant excess of events is observed above the expected background. For the simplified dark matter model under consideration, SIMPs with masses up to 100 GeV are excluded and further sensitivity is explored towards higher masses.
A search for production of the supersymmetric partners of the top quark, top squarks, is presented. The search is based on proton-proton collision events containing multiple jets, no leptons, and large transverse momentum imbalance. The data were collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$. The targeted signal production scenarios are direct and gluino-mediated top squark production, including scenarios in which the top squark and neutralino masses are nearly degenerate. The search utilizes novel algorithms based on deep neural networks that identify hadronically decaying top quarks and W bosons, which are expected in many of the targeted signal models. No statistically significant excess of events is observed relative to the expectation from the standard model, and limits on the top squark production cross section are obtained in the context of simplified supersymmetric models for various production and decay modes. Exclusion limits as high as 1310 GeV are established at the 95% confidence level on the mass of the top squark for direct top squark production models, and as high as 2260 GeV on the mass of the gluino for gluino-mediated top squark production models. These results represent a significant improvement over the results of previous searches for supersymmetry by CMS in the same final state.
A search for heavy neutral leptons (HNLs), the right-handed Dirac or Majorana neutrinos, is performed in final states with three charged leptons (electrons or muons) using proton-proton collision data collected by the CMS experiment at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV at the CERN LHC. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The HNLs could be produced through mixing with standard model neutrinos $\nu$. For small values of the HNL mass ($\lt$ 20 GeV) and the square of the HNL-$\nu$ mixing parameter (10$^{-7}$-10$^{-2}$), the decay length of these particles can be large enough so that the secondary vertex of the HNL decay can be resolved with the CMS silicon tracker. The selected final state consists of one lepton emerging from the primary proton-proton collision vertex, and two leptons forming a displaced, secondary vertex. No significant deviations from the standard model expectations are observed, and constraints are obtained on the HNL mass and coupling strength parameters, excluding previously unexplored regions of parameter space in the mass range 1-20 GeV and squared mixing parameter values as low as 10$^{-7}$.