A general search is presented for supersymmetric particles (sparticles) in scenarios featuring compressed mass spectra using proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC. The analyzed data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 138\fbinv. A wide range of potential sparticle signatures are targeted, including pair production of electroweakinos, sleptons, and top squarks. The search focuses on events with a high transverse momentum system from initial-state-radiation jets recoiling against a potential sparticle system with significant missing transverse momentum. Events are categorized based on their lepton multiplicity, jet multiplicity, number of b-tagged jets, and kinematic variables sensitive to the sparticle masses and mass splittings. The sensitivity extends to higher parent sparticle masses than previously probed at the LHC for production of pairs of electroweakinos, sleptons, and top squarks with mass spectra featuring small mass splittings (compressed mass spectra). The observed results demonstrate agreement with the predictions of the background-only model. Lower mass limits are set at 95% confidence level on production of pairs of electroweakinos, sleptons, and top squarks that extend to 325, 275, and 780 GeV, respectively, for the most favorable compressed mass regime cases.
A search for long-lived particles using final states including a displaced vertex with low-momentum tracks, large missing transverse momentum, and a jet from initial-state radiation is presented. This search uses proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in 2017 and 2018, with a total integrated luminosity of 100 fb$^{-1}$. This analysis adopts specific supersymmetric (SUSY) coannihilation scenarios as benchmark signal models, characterized by a next-to-lightest SUSY particle (NLSP) with a mass difference of less than 25GeV relative to the lightest SUSY particle, assumed to be a bino-like neutralino. In the top squark ($\tilde{\mathrm{t}}$) NLSP model, the NLSP is a long-lived $\tilde{\mathrm{t}}$, while in the bino-wino NLSP scenario, the mass-degenerate NLSPs are a wino-like long-lived neutralino and a short-lived chargino. The search excludes top squarks with masses less than 400$-$1100 GeV and wino-like neutralinos with masses less than 220$-$550 GeV, depending on the signal parameters, including the mass difference, mass, and lifetime of the long-lived particle. It sets the most stringent limits to date for the $\tilde{\mathrm{t}}$ and bino-wino NLSP models.
A first study is presented of the cross section for the scattering of same-sign W boson pairs via the detection of a $τ$ lepton. The data from proton-proton collisions at the center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV were collected by the CMS detector at the LHC, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. Events were selected that contain two jets with large pseudorapidity and large invariant mass, one $τ$ lepton, one light lepton (e or $μ$), and significant missing transverse momentum. The measured cross section for electroweak same-sign WW scattering is 1.44 $^{+0.63}_{-0.56}$ times the standard model prediction. In addition, a search is presented for the indirect effects of processes beyond the standard model via the effective field theory framework, in terms of dimension-6 and dimension-8 operators.
This paper presents a search for dark matter, $\chi$, using events with a single top quark and an energetic $W$ boson. The analysis is based on proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS experiment at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV during LHC Run 2 (2015-2018), corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. The search considers final states with zero or one charged lepton (electron or muon), at least one $b$-jet and large missing transverse momentum. In addition, a result from a previous search considering two-charged-lepton final states is included in the interpretation of the results. The data are found to be in good agreement with the Standard Model predictions and the results are interpreted in terms of 95% confidence-level exclusion limits in the context of a class of dark matter models involving an extended two-Higgs-doublet sector together with a pseudoscalar mediator particle. The search is particularly sensitive to on-shell production of the charged Higgs boson state, $H^{\pm}$, arising from the two-Higgs-doublet mixing, and its semi-invisible decays via the mediator particle, $a$: $H^{\pm} \rightarrow W^\pm a (\rightarrow \chi\chi)$. Signal models with $H^{\pm}$ masses up to 1.5 TeV and $a$ masses up to 350 GeV are excluded assuming a tan$\beta$ value of 1. For masses of $a$ of 150 (250) GeV, tan$\beta$ values up to 2 are excluded for $H^{\pm}$ masses between 200 (400) GeV and 1.5 TeV. Signals with tan$\beta$ values between 20 and 30 are excluded for $H^{\pm}$ masses between 500 and 800 GeV.
A search for neutral long-lived particles (LLPs) decaying in the ATLAS hadronic calorimeter using 140 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV delivered by the LHC is presented. The analysis is composed of three channels. The first targets pair-produced LLPs, where at least one LLP is produced with sufficiently low boost that its decay products can be resolved as separate jets. The second and third channels target LLPs respectively produced in association with a $W$ or $Z$ boson that decays leptonically. In each channel, different search regions target different kinematic regimes, to cover a broad range of LLP mass hypotheses and models. No excesses of events relative to the background predictions are observed. Higgs boson branching fractions to pairs of hadronically decaying neutral LLPs larger than 1% are excluded at 95% confidence level for proper decay lengths in the range of 30 cm to 4.5 m depending on the LLP mass, a factor of three improvement on previous searches in the hadronic calorimeter. The production of long-lived dark photons in association with a $Z$ boson with cross-sections above 0.1 pb is excluded for dark photon mean proper decay lengths in the range of 20 cm to 50 m, improving previous ATLAS results by an order of magnitude. Finally, long-lived photo-phobic axion-like particle models are probed for the first time by ATLAS, with production cross-sections above 0.1 pb excluded in the 0.1 mm to 10 m range.
A search for new phenomena has been performed in final states with at least one isolated high-momentum photon, jets and missing transverse momentum in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV. The data, collected by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN LHC, correspond to an integrated luminosity of 139 $fb^{-1}$. The experimental results are interpreted in a supersymmetric model in which pair-produced gluinos decay into neutralinos, which in turn decay into a gravitino, at least one photon, and jets. No significant deviations from the predictions of the Standard Model are observed. Upper limits are set on the visible cross section due to physics beyond the Standard Model, and lower limits are set on the masses of the gluinos and neutralinos, all at 95% confidence level. Visible cross sections greater than 0.022 fb are excluded and pair-produced gluinos with masses up to 2200 GeV are excluded for most of the NLSP masses investigated.
This paper presents a search for physics beyond the Standard Model targeting a heavy resonance visible in the invariant mass of the lepton-jet system. The analysis focuses on final states with a high-energy lepton and jet, and is optimised for the resonant production of leptoquarks-a novel production mode mediated by the lepton content of the proton originating from quantum fluctuations. Four distinct and orthogonal final states are considered: $e$+light jet, $μ$+light jet, $e$+$b$-jet, and $μ$+$b$-jet, constituting the first search at the Large Hadron Collider for resonantly produced leptoquarks with couplings to electrons and muons. Events with an additional same-flavour lepton, as expected from higher-order diagrams in the signal process, are also included in each channel. The search uses proton-proton collision data from the full Run 2, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$ at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV, and from a part of Run 3 (2022-2023), corresponding to 55 fb$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s} = 13.6$ TeV. No significant excess over Standard Model predictions is observed. The results are interpreted as exclusion limits on scalar leptoquark ($\tilde{S}_1$) production, substantially improving upon previous ATLAS constraints from leptoquark pair production for large coupling values. The excluded $\tilde{S}_1$ mass ranges depend on the coupling strength, reaching up to 3.4 TeV for quark-lepton couplings $y_{de} = 1.0$, and up to 4.3 TeV, 3.1 TeV, and 2.8 TeV for $y_{sμ}$, $y_{be}$, and $y_{bμ}$ couplings set to 3.5, respectively.
Measurements of the total and differential Higgs boson production cross-sections, via $WH$ and $ZH$ associated production using $H\rightarrow WW^\ast\rightarrow\ellν\ellν$ and $H\rightarrow WW^\ast\rightarrow\ellνjj$ decays, are presented. The analysis uses proton-proton events delivered by the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector between 2015 and 2018. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$. The sum of the $WH$ and $ZH$ cross-sections times the $H\rightarrow WW^\ast$ branching fraction is measured to be $0.44^{+0.10}_{-0.09}$ (stat.) $^{+0.06}_{-0.05}$ (syst.) pb, in agreement with the Standard Model prediction. Higgs boson production is further characterised through measurements of the differential cross-section as a function of the transverse momentum of the vector boson and in the framework of Simplified Template Cross-Sections.
A search for the production of three Higgs bosons ($HHH$) in the $b\bar{b}b\bar{b}b\bar{b}$ final state is presented. The search uses $126~\text{fb}^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis targets both non-resonant and resonant production of $HHH$. The resonant interpretations primarily consider a cascade decay topology of $X\rightarrow SH\rightarrow HHH$ with masses of the new scalars $X$ and $S$ up to 1.5 TeV and 1 TeV, respectively. In addition to scenarios where $S$ is off-shell, the non-resonant interpretation includes a search for standard model (SM) $HHH$ production, with limits on the tri-linear and quartic Higgs self-coupling set. No evidence for $HHH$ production is observed. An upper limit of 59 fb is set, at 95% confidence level, on the cross-section for Standard-Model $HHH$ production.
This paper presents a search for supersymmetric particles in models with highly compressed mass spectra, in events consistent with being produced through vector boson fusion. The search uses 140 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Events containing at least two jets with a large gap in pseudorapidity, large missing transverse momentum, and no reconstructed leptons are selected. A boosted decision tree is used to separate events consistent with the production of supersymmetric particles from those due to Standard Model backgrounds. The data are found to be consistent with Standard Model predictions. The results are interpreted using simplified models of $R$-parity-conserving supersymmetry in which the lightest supersymmetric partner is a bino-like neutralino with a mass similar to that of the lightest chargino and second-to-lightest neutralino, both of which are wino-like. Lower limits at 95% confidence level on the masses of next-to-lightest supersymmetric partners in this simplified model are established between 117 and 120 GeV when the lightest supersymmetric partners are within 1 GeV in mass.