We present results on the production of hadrons in collisions of 400-GeV/c protons with beryllium, copper, and tungsten nuclei. The data cover the region from 5.6 to 8.0 GeV/c in the transverse momentum of the final-state hadron and from 73° to 102° in the proton-nucleon center-of-momentum frame production angle theta*. The restriction of the data to values of xT (xT=2pT/ √s ) greater than 0.4 enriches the sample with hard collisions of valence quarks. Asymmetries about theta*=90° reflect the presence of neutrons in the target nuclei. The variation of the atomic-weight dependence parameter α with production angle is discussed in the context of the phenomenology of nucleonic structure within nuclei. We also extrapolate our measurements to a ‘‘deuteron’’ target to minimize nuclear effects and compare the result to QCD calculations.
The ArgoNeuT collaboration presents measurements of inclusive muon neutrino and antineutrino charged current differential cross sections on argon in the Fermilab NuMI beam operating in the low energy antineutrino mode. The results are reported in terms of outgoing muon angle and momentum at a mean neutrino energy of 9.6 GeV (neutrinos) and 3.6 GeV (antineutrinos), in the range $0^\circ < \theta_\mu < 36^\circ$ and $0 < p_\mu < 25$ GeV/$c$, for both neutrinos and antineutrinos.
The NuTeV experiment at Fermilab has used a sign-selected neutrino beam to perform a search for the lepton number violating process $\bar{\nu}_mu e^- \to \mu^- \bar{\nu}_e$, and to measure the cross-section of the Standard Model inverse muon decay process $\nu_{\mu} e^- \to \mu^- \nu_e$. NuTeV measures the inverse muon decay asymptotic cross-section $\sigma/E$ to be 13.8 $\pm$ 1.2 $\pm$ 1.4 x $10^{-42} cm^2$/GeV. The experiment also observes no evidence for lepton number violation and places one of the most restrictive limits on the LNV/IMD cross-section ratio at $\sigma (\bar{\nu}_{\mu} e^- \to \mu^- \bar{\nu}_e) /\sigma (\nu_{\mu}e^- \to \mu^- \nu_e$) $\le$ 1.7% at 90% C.L. for V-A couplings and $\le$ 0.6% for scalar couplings.
A measurement of continuum dimuon production in proton-copper collisions at 800-GeV incident energy is presented. The dimuons observed in this experiment cover the mass range from 6.5 to 18 GeV near y=0 in the proton-nucleon center-of-momentum frame. Scaling forms of the cross section for the continuum are compared with the results of other experiments in the context of the parton model and quantum chromodynamics. The present limitations of such scaling comparisons are discussed.
Experimental results on the production of dimuons by 800-GeV protons incident on a copper target are presented. The results include measurements of both the continuum of dimuons and the dimuon decays of the three lowest-mass ϒ S states. A description of the apparatus, data acquisition, and analysis techniques is included. A comparison of the results with data taken at lower incident energies indicates a scaling behavior of the continuum dimuon yields.
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.
An analysis of the decay $\Lambda_b \to J/\psi(\to\mu^+\mu^-)\Lambda(\to p \pi^-)$ decay is performed to measure the $\Lambda_b$ polarization and three angular parameters in data from pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 7 and 8 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The $\Lambda_b$ polarization is measured to be 0.00 $\pm$ 0.06 (stat) $\pm$ 0.06 (syst) and the parity-violating asymmetry parameter is determined to be 0.14 $\pm$ 0.14 (stat) $\pm$ 0.10 (syst). The measurements are compared to various theoretical predictions, including those from perturbative quantum chromodynamics.
The observation of the standard model (SM) Higgs boson decay to a pair of bottom quarks is presented. The main contribution to this result is from processes in which Higgs bosons are produced in association with a W or Z boson (VH), and are searched for in final states including 0, 1, or 2 charged leptons and two identified bottom quark jets. The results from the measurement of these processes in a data sample recorded by the CMS experiment in 2017, comprising 41.3 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV, are described. When combined with previous VH measurements using data collected at $\sqrt{s}=$ 7, 8, and 13 TeV, an excess of events is observed at $m_\mathrm{H} =$ 125.09 GeV with a significance of 4.8 standard deviations, where the expectation for the SM Higgs boson is 4.9. The corresponding measured signal strength is 1.01 $\pm$ 0.22. The combination of this result with searches by the CMS experiment for H $\to\mathrm{b\overline{b}}$ in other production processes yields an observed (expected) significance of 5.6 (5.5) standard deviations and a signal strength of 1.04 $\pm$ 0.20.
A search for new physics in events with a Z boson produced in association with large missing transverse momentum at the LHC is presented. The search is based on the 2016 data sample of proton-proton collisions recorded with the CMS experiment at $\sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. The results of this search are interpreted in terms of a simplified model of dark matter production via spin-0 or spin-1 mediators, a scenario with a standard-model-like Higgs boson produced in association with the Z boson and decaying invisibly, a model of unparticle production, and a model with large extra spatial dimensions. No significant deviations from the background expectations are found, and limits are set on relevant model parameters, significantly extending the results previously achieved in this channel.
A search for resonance-like structures in the $\mathrm{B}^{0}_{\mathrm{s}}\pi^{\pm}$ invariant mass spectrum is performed using proton-proton collision data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at $\sqrt{s} = $ 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb$^{-1}$. The $\mathrm{B}^{0}_{\mathrm{s}}$ mesons are reconstructed in the decay chain $\mathrm{B}^{0}_{\mathrm{s}} \rightarrow \mathrm{J}/\psi\,\phi$, with $\mathrm{J}/\psi \rightarrow \mu^+\mu^-$ and $\phi\rightarrow\mathrm{K^{+}}\mathrm{K^{-}}$. The $\mathrm{B}^{0}_{\mathrm{s}}\pi^{\pm}$ invariant mass distribution shows no statistically significant peaks for different selection requirements on the reconstructed $\mathrm{B}^{0}_{\mathrm{s}}$ and $\pi^{\pm}$ candidates. Upper limits are set on the relative production rates of the X(5568) and $\mathrm{B}^{0}_{\mathrm{s}}$ states times the branching fraction of the decay $\mathrm{X}(5568)^{\pm} \rightarrow \mathrm{B}^{0}_{\mathrm{s}} \pi^{\pm} $. In addition, upper limits are obtained as a function of the mass and the natural width of possible exotic states decaying into $\mathrm{B}^{0}_{\mathrm{s}}\pi^{\pm}$.
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