A measurement of the total $pp$ cross section at the LHC at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV is presented. An integrated luminosity of $500$ $\mu$b$^{-1}$ was accumulated in a special run with high-$\beta^{\star}$ beam optics to measure the differential elastic cross section as a function of the Mandelstam momentum transfer variable $t$. The measurement is performed with the ALFA sub-detector of ATLAS. Using a fit to the differential elastic cross section in the $-t$ range from $0.014$ GeV$^2$ to $0.1$ GeV$^2$ to extrapolate $t\rightarrow 0$, the total cross section, $\sigma_{\mathrm{tot}}(pp\rightarrow X)$, is measured via the optical theorem to be: $\sigma_{\mathrm{tot}}(pp\rightarrow X) = {96.07} \; \pm 0.18 \; ({{stat.}}) \pm 0.85 \; ({{exp.}}) \pm 0.31 \; ({extr.}) \; {mb} \;,$ where the first error is statistical, the second accounts for all experimental systematic uncertainties and the last is related to uncertainties in the extrapolation $t\rightarrow 0$. In addition, the slope of the exponential function describing the elastic cross section at small $t$ is determined to be $B = 19.74 \pm 0.05 \; ({{stat.}}) \pm 0.23 \; ({{syst.}}) \; {GeV}^{-2}$.

The production of a $W$ boson in association with a single charm quark is studied using 140 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s} = 13\,\mathrm{TeV}$ proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The charm quark is tagged by a charmed hadron, reconstructed with a secondary-vertex fit. The $W$ boson is reconstructed from an electron/muon decay and the missing transverse momentum. The mesons reconstructed are $D^{\pm} \to K^\mp \pi^\pm \pi^\pm$ and $D^{*\pm} \to D^{0} \pi^\pm \to (K^\mp \pi^\pm) \pi^\pm$, where $p_{\text{T}}(e, \mu) > 30\,\mathrm{GeV}$, $|\eta(e, \mu)| < 2.5$, $p_{\text{T}}(D) > 8\,\mathrm{GeV}$, and $|\eta(D)| < 2.2$. The integrated and normalized differential cross-sections as a function of the pseudorapidity of the lepton from the $W$ boson decay, and of the transverse momentum of the meson, are extracted from the data using a profile likelihood fit. The measured fiducial cross-sections are $\sigma^{\mathrm{OS-SS}}_{\mathrm{fid}}(W^{-}{+}D^{+}) = 50.2\pm0.2\,\mathrm{(stat.)}\,^{+2.4}_{-2.3}\,\mathrm{(syst.)}\,\mathrm{pb}$, $\sigma^{\mathrm{OS-SS}}_{\mathrm{fid}}(W^{+}{+}D^{-}) = 48.5\pm0.2\,\mathrm{(stat.)}\,^{+2.3}_{-2.2}\,\mathrm{(syst.)}\,\mathrm{pb}$, $\sigma^{\mathrm{OS-SS}}_{\mathrm{fid}}(W^{-}{+}D^{*+}) = 51.1\pm0.4\,\mathrm{(stat.)}\,^{+1.9}_{-1.8}\,\mathrm{(syst.)}\,\mathrm{pb}$, and $\sigma^{\mathrm{OS-SS}}_{\mathrm{fid}}(W^{+}{+}D^{*-}) = 50.0\pm0.4\,\mathrm{(stat.)}\,^{+1.9}_{-1.8}\,\mathrm{(syst.)}\,\mathrm{pb}$. Results are compared with the predictions of next-to-leading-order quantum chromodynamics calculations performed using state-of-the-art parton distribution functions. The ratio of charm to anti-charm production cross-sections is studied to probe the $s$-$\bar{s}$ quark asymmetry and is found to be $R_c^\pm = 0.971\pm0.006\,\mathrm{(stat.)}\pm0.011\,\mathrm{(syst.)}$.

A search for excited electrons produced in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV via a contact interaction $q\bar{q} \to ee^*$ is presented. The search uses 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of data collected in 2015 and 2016 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Decays of the excited electron via a contact interaction into an electron and a pair of quarks ($eq\bar{q}$) are targeted in final states with two electrons and two hadronic jets, and decays via a gauge interaction into a neutrino and a $W$ boson ($\nu W$) are probed in final states with an electron, missing transverse momentum, and a large-radius jet consistent with a hadronically decaying $W$ boson. No significant excess is observed over the expected backgrounds. Upper limits are calculated for the $pp \to ee^* \to eeq\bar{q}$ and $pp \to ee^* \to e\nu W$ production cross sections as a function of the excited electron mass $m_{e^*}$ at 95% confidence level. The limits are translated into lower bounds on the compositeness scale parameter $\Lambda$ of the model as a function of $m_{e^*}$. For $m_{e^*} < 0.5$ TeV, the lower bound for $\Lambda$ is 11 TeV. In the special case of $m_{e^*} = \Lambda$, the values of $m_{e^*} < 4.8$ TeV are excluded. The presented limits on $\Lambda$ are more stringent than those obtained in previous searches.

A search for the production of three massive vector bosons in proton--proton collisions is performed using data at $\sqrt{s}=13\,TeV$ recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in the years 2015--2017, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $79.8\,\text{fb}^{-1}$. Events with two same-sign leptons $\ell$ (electrons or muons) and at least two reconstructed jets are selected to search for $WWW\to\ell\nu\ell\nu qq$. Events with three leptons without any same-flavour opposite-sign lepton pairs are used to search for $WWW\to\ell\nu\ell\nu\ell\nu$, while events with three leptons and at least one same-flavour opposite-sign lepton pair and one or more reconstructed jets are used to search for $WWZ\to\ell\nu qq \ell\ell$. Finally, events with four leptons are analysed to search for $WWZ\to\ell\nu\ell\nu\ell\ell$ and $WZZ\to qq \ell\ell\ell\ell$. Evidence for the joint production of three massive vector bosons is observed with a significance of 4.0 standard deviations, where the expectation is 3.1 standard deviations.

A search for flavour-changing neutral current (FCNC) events via the coupling of a top quark, a photon, and an up or charm quark is presented using 81 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data taken at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events with a photon, an electron or muon, a $b$-tagged jet, and missing transverse momentum are selected. A neural network based on kinematic variables differentiates between events from signal and background processes. The data are consistent with the background-only hypothesis, and limits are set on the strength of the $tq\gamma$ coupling in an effective field theory. These are also interpreted as 95% CL upper limits on the cross section for FCNC $t\gamma$ production via a left-handed (right-handed) $tu\gamma$ coupling of 36 fb (78 fb) and on the branching ratio for $t\rightarrow \gamma u$ of $2.8\times 10^{-5}$ ($6.1\times 10^{-5}$). In addition, they are interpreted as 95% CL upper limits on the cross section for FCNC $t\gamma$ production via a left-handed (right-handed) $tc\gamma$ coupling of 40 fb (33 fb) and on the branching ratio for $t\rightarrow \gamma c$ of $22\times 10^{-5}$ ($18\times 10^{-5}$).

The production of $W^{\pm}Z$ events in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The collected data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$. The $W^{\pm}Z$ candidates are reconstructed using leptonic decays of the gauge bosons into electrons or muons. The measured inclusive cross section in the detector fiducial region for leptonic decay modes is $\sigma_{W^\pm Z \rightarrow \ell^{'} \nu \ell \ell}^{\textrm{fid.}} = 63.2 \pm 3.2$ (stat.) $\pm 2.6$ (sys.) $\pm 1.5$ (lumi.) fb. In comparison, the next-to-leading-order Standard Model prediction is $53.4^{+3.6}_{-2.8}$ fb. The extrapolation of the measurement from the fiducial to the total phase space yields $\sigma_{W^{\pm}Z}^{\textrm{tot.}} = 50.6 \pm 2.6$ (stat.) $\pm 2.0$ (sys.) $\pm 0.9$ (th.) $\pm 1.2$ (lumi.) pb, in agreement with a recent next-to-next-to-leading-order calculation of $48.2^{+1.1}_{-1.0}$ pb. The cross section as a function of jet multiplicity is also measured, together with the charge-dependent $W^+Z$ and $W^-Z$ cross sections and their ratio.

A measurement of the production of three isolated photons in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV is reported. The results are based on an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb$^{-1}$ collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The differential cross sections are measured as functions of the transverse energy of each photon, the difference in azimuthal angle and in pseudorapidity between pairs of photons, the invariant mass of pairs of photons, and the invariant mass of the triphoton system. A measurement of the inclusive fiducial cross section is also reported. Next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD predictions are compared to the cross-section measurements. The predictions underestimate the measurement of the inclusive fiducial cross section and the differential measurements at low photon transverse energies and invariant masses. They provide adequate descriptions of the measurements at high values of the photon transverse energies, invariant mass of pairs of photons, and invariant mass of the triphoton system.

A search for a heavy charged-boson resonance decaying into a charged lepton (electron or muon) and a neutrino is reported. A data sample of 139 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2015-2018 is used in the search. The observed transverse mass distribution computed from the lepton and missing transverse momenta is consistent with the distribution expected from the Standard Model, and upper limits on the cross section for $pp \to W^\prime \to \ell\nu$ are extracted ($\ell = e$ or $\mu$). These vary between 1.3 pb and 0.05 fb depending on the resonance mass in the range between 0.15 and 7.0 TeV at 95% confidence level for the electron and muon channels combined. Gauge bosons with a mass below 6.0 TeV and 5.1 TeV are excluded in the electron and muon channels, respectively, in a model with a resonance that has couplings to fermions identical to those of the Standard Model $W$ boson. Cross-section limits are also provided for resonances with several fixed $\Gamma / m$ values in the range between 1% and 15%. Model-independent limits are derived in single-bin signal regions defined by a varying minimum transverse mass threshold. The resulting visible cross-section upper limits range between 4.6 (15) pb and 22 (22) ab as the threshold increases from 130 (110) GeV to 5.1 (5.1) TeV in the electron (muon) channel.

The dynamics of isolated-photon plus one-, two- and three-jet production in $pp$ collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV are studied with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using a data set with an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb$^{-1}$. Measurements of isolated-photon plus jets cross sections are presented as functions of the photon and jet transverse momenta. The cross sections as functions of the azimuthal angle between the photon and the jets, the azimuthal angle between the jets, the photon-jet invariant mass and the scattering angle in the photon-jet centre-of-mass system are presented. The pattern of QCD radiation around the photon and the leading jet is investigated by measuring jet production in an annular region centred on each object; enhancements are observed around the leading jet with respect to the photon in the directions towards the beams. The experimental measurements are compared to several different theoretical calculations, and overall a good description of the data is found.

We present STAR measurements of the azimuthal anisotropy parameter $v_2$ and the binary-collision scaled centrality ratio $R_{CP}$ for kaons and lambdas ($\Lambda+\bar{\Lambda}$) at mid-rapidity in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV. In combination, the $v_2$ and $R_{CP}$ particle-type dependencies contradict expectations from partonic energy loss followed by standard fragmentation in vacuum. We establish $p_T \approx 5$ GeV/c as the value where the centrality dependent baryon enhancement ends. The $K_S^0$ and $\Lambda+\bar{\Lambda}$ $v_2$ values are consistent with expectations of constituent-quark-number scaling from models of hadron fromation by parton coalescence or recombination.