Search for new physics in the $\tau$ lepton plus missing transverse momentum final state in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV

The CMS collaboration Tumasyan, A. ; Adam, W. ; Andrejkovic, J.W. ; et al.
JHEP 09 (2023) 051, 2023.
Inspire Record 2626189 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.135472

A search for physics beyond the standard model (SM) in the final state with a hadronically decaying tau lepton and a neutrino is presented. This analysis is based on data recorded by the CMS experiment from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the LHC, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{=1}$. The transverse mass spectrum is analyzed for the presence of new physics. No significant deviation from the SM prediction is observed. Limits are set on the production cross section of a W' boson decaying into a tau lepton and a neutrino. Lower limits are set on the mass of the sequential SM-like heavy charged vector boson and the mass of a quantum black hole. Upper limits are placed on the couplings of a new boson to the SM fermions. Constraints are put on a nonuniversal gauge interaction model and an effective field theory model. For the first time, upper limits on the cross section of $t$-channel leptoquark (LQ) exchange are presented. These limits are translated into exclusion limits on the LQ mass and on its coupling in the $t$-channel. The sensitivity of this analysis extends into the parameter space of LQ models that attempt to explain the anomalies observed in B meson decays. The limits presented for the various interpretations are the most stringent to date. Additionally, a model-independent limit is provided.

15 data tables

The transverse mass distribution of $ au$ leptons and missing transverse momentum observed in the Run-2 data (black dots with statistical uncertainty) as well as the expectation from SM processes (stacked histograms). Different signal hypotheses normalized to 10 fb$^{-1}$ are illustrated as dashed lines for exemplary SSM W$\prime$ boson, QBH and EFT signal hypotheses. The ratios of the background-subtracted data yields to the expected background yields are presented in the lower panel. The combined statistical and systematic uncertainties in the background are represented by the grey shaded band in the ratio panel.

Bayesian upper exclusion limits at 95% CL on the product of the cross section and branching fraction of a W$\prime$ boson decaying to a $\tau$ lepton and a neutrino in the SSM model. For this model, W$\prime$ boson masses of up to 4.8 TeV can be excluded. The limit is given by the intersection of the observed (solid) limit and the theoretical cross section (blue dotted curve). The 68 and 95% quantiles of the limits are represented by the green and yellow bands, respectively. The $\sigma \mathcal{B}$ for an SSM W' boson, along with its associated uncertainty, calculated at NNLO precision in QCD is shown.

Bayesian 95% CL model-independent upper limit on the product of signal cross sections and branching fraction for the $\tau+\nu$ decay for a back-to-back $\tau$ lepton plus $p_{T}^{miss}$ topology. To calculate this limit, all events for signal, background, and data are summed starting from a minimum $m_{T}$ threshold and then divided by the total number of events. No assumption on signal shape is included in this limit. The expected (dashed line) and observed (solid line) limits are shown as well as the 68% and 95% CL uncertainty bands (green and yellow, respectively).

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Search for a heavy resonance decaying into a top quark and a W boson in the lepton+jets final state at $\sqrt{s}$= 13 TeV

The CMS collaboration Tumasyan, A. ; Adam, W. ; Andrejkovic, J.W. ; et al.
JHEP 04 (2022) 048, 2022.
Inspire Record 1972089 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.114361

A search for a heavy resonance decaying into a top quark and a W boson in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV is presented. The data analyzed were recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The top quark is reconstructed as a single jet and the W boson, from its decay into an electron or muon and the corresponding neutrino. A top quark tagging technique based on jet clustering with a variable distance parameter and simultaneous jet grooming is used to identify jets from the collimated top quark decay. The results are interpreted in the context of two benchmark models, where the heavy resonance is either an excited bottom quark b$^*$ or a vector-like quark B. A statistical combination with an earlier search by the CMS Collaboration in the all-hadronic final state is performed to place upper cross section limits on these two models. The new analysis extends the lower range of resonance mass probed from 1.4 down to 0.7 TeV. For left-handed, right-handed, and vector-like couplings, b$^*$ masses up to 3.0, 3.0, and 3.2 TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level, respectively. The observed upper limits represent the most stringent constraints on the b$^*$ model to date.

7 data tables

Distributions of MtW in the 1b category. The data are shown by filled markers, where the horizontal bars indicate the bin widths. The individual background contributions are given by filled histograms. The expected signal for a LH b* with mb∗ = 2.4 TeV is shown by a dashed line. The shaded region is the uncertainty in the total background estimate. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to the background estimate, with the total uncertainty on the predicted background displayed as the gray band.

Distributions of MtW in the 2b category. The data are shown by filled markers, where the horizontal bars indicate the bin widths. The individual background contributions are given by filled histograms. The expected signal for a LH b* with mb∗ = 2.4 TeV is shown by a dashed line. The shaded region is the uncertainty in the total background estimate. The lower panel shows the ratio of data to the background estimate, with the total uncertainty on the predicted background displayed as the gray band.

Upper limits on the production cross section times branching fraction of the b* LH hypothesis at a 95% CL. Dashed colored lines show the expected limits from the l+jets and all-hadronic channels, where the latter start at resonance masses of 1.4 TeV. The observed and expected limits from the combination are shown as solid and dashed black lines, respectively. The green and yellow bands show the 68 and 95% confidence intervals on the combined expected limits.

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