This paper describes precision measurements of the transverse momentum $p_\mathrm{T}^{\ell\ell}$ ($\ell=e,\mu$) and of the angular variable $\phi^{*}_{\eta}$ distributions of Drell-Yan lepton pairs in a mass range of 66-116 GeV. The analysis uses data from 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in 2015 and 2016. Measurements in electron-pair and muon-pair final states are performed in the same fiducial volumes, corrected for detector effects, and combined. Compared to previous measurements in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$7 and 8 TeV, these new measurements probe perturbative QCD at a higher centre-of-mass energy with a different composition of initial states. They reach a precision of 0.2% for the normalized spectra at low values of $p_\mathrm{T}^{\ell\ell}$. The data are compared with different QCD predictions, where it is found that predictions based on resummation approaches can describe the full spectrum within uncertainties.

This paper presents a measurement of the production cross-section of a $Z$ boson in association with $b$-jets, in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.6 fb$^{-1}$. Inclusive and differential cross-sections are measured for events containing a $Z$ boson decaying into electrons or muons and produced in association with at least one or at least two $b$-jets with transverse momentum $p_\textrm{T}>$ 20 GeV and rapidity $|y| < 2.5$. Predictions from several Monte Carlo generators based on leading-order (LO) or next-to-leading-order (NLO) matrix elements interfaced with a parton-shower simulation and testing different flavour schemes for the choice of initial-state partons are compared with measured cross-sections. The 5-flavour number scheme predictions at NLO accuracy agree better with data than 4-flavour number scheme ones. The 4-flavour number scheme predictions underestimate data in events with at least one b-jet.

Fiducial and differential measurements of $W^+W^-$ production in events with at least one hadronic jet are presented. These cross-section measurements are sensitive to the properties of electroweak-boson self-interactions and provide a test of perturbative quantum chromodynamics and the electroweak theory. The analysis is performed using proton$-$proton collision data collected at $\sqrt{s}=13~$TeV with the ATLAS experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139$~$fb$^{-1}$. Events are selected with exactly one oppositely charged electron$-$muon pair and at least one hadronic jet with a transverse momentum of $p_{\mathrm{T}}>30~$GeV and a pseudorapidity of $|\eta|<4.5$. After subtracting the background contributions and correcting for detector effects, the jet-inclusive $W^+W^-+\ge 1~$jet fiducial cross-section and $W^+W^-+$ jets differential cross-sections with respect to several kinematic variables are measured, thus probing a previously unexplored event topology at the LHC. These measurements include leptonic quantities, such as the lepton transverse momenta and the transverse mass of the $W^+W^-$ system, as well as jet-related observables such as the leading jet transverse momentum and the jet multiplicity. Limits on anomalous triple-gauge-boson couplings are obtained in a phase space where interference between the Standard Model amplitude and the anomalous amplitude is enhanced.

A measurement of fiducial and differential cross-sections for $W^+W^-$ production in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$13 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $36.1$ fb$^{-1}$ is presented. Events with one electron and one muon are selected, corresponding to the decay of the diboson system as $WW\rightarrow e^{\pm}\nu\mu^{\mp}\nu$. To suppress top-quark background, events containing jets with a transverse momentum exceeding 35 GeV are not included in the measurement phase space. The fiducial cross-section, six differential distributions and the cross-section as a function of the jet-veto transverse momentum threshold are measured and compared with several theoretical predictions. Constraints on anomalous electroweak gauge boson self-interactions are also presented in the framework of a dimension-six effective field theory.

The production of a prompt photon in association with a $Z$ boson is studied in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV. The analysis uses a data sample with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC from 2015 to 2018. The production cross-section for the process $pp \rightarrow \ell^+\ell^-\gamma+X$ ($\ell = e, \mu$) is measured within a fiducial phase-space region defined by kinematic requirements on the photon and the leptons, and by isolation requirements on the photon. An experimental precision of 2.9% is achieved for the fiducial cross-section. Differential cross-sections are measured as a function of each of six kinematic variables characterising the $\ell^+\ell^-\gamma$ system. The data are compared with theoretical predictions based on next-to-leading-order and next-to-next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations. The impact of next-to-leading-order electroweak corrections is also considered.

The inclusive top quark pair ($t\bar{t}$) production cross-section $\sigma_{t\bar{t}}$ has been measured in proton$-$proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV, using $36.1$ fb$^{-1}$ of data collected in 2015$-$16 by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Using events with an opposite-charge $e\mu$ pair and $b$-tagged jets, the cross-section is measured to be: \begin{equation}\nonumber \sigma_{t\bar{t}} = 826.4 \pm 3.6\,\mathrm{(stat)}\ \pm 11.5\,\mathrm{(syst)}\ \pm 15.7\,\mathrm{(lumi)}\ \pm 1.9\,\mathrm{(beam)}\,\mathrm{pb}, \end{equation} where the uncertainties reflect the limited size of the data sample, experimental and theoretical systematic effects, the integrated luminosity, and the LHC beam energy, giving a total uncertainty of 2.4%. The result is consistent with theoretical QCD calculations at next-to-next-to-leading order. It is used to determine the top quark pole mass via the dependence of the predicted cross-section on $m_t^{\mathrm{pole}}$, giving $m_t^{\mathrm{pole}}=173.1^{+2.0}_{-2.1}$ GeV. It is also combined with measurements at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV and $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV to derive ratios and double ratios of $t\bar{t}$ and $Z$ cross-sections at different energies. The same event sample is used to measure absolute and normalised differential cross-sections as functions of single-lepton and dilepton kinematic variables, and the results compared with predictions from various Monte Carlo event generators.

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 $R_c^\pm = 0.971\pm0.006\,\mathrm{(stat.)}\pm0.011\,\mathrm{(syst.)}$.

Cross-section measurements of top-quark pair production where the hadronically decaying top quark has transverse momentum greater than $355$ GeV and the other top quark decays into $\ell \nu b$ are presented using 139 fb$^{-1}$ of data collected by the ATLAS experiment during proton-proton collisions at the LHC. The fiducial cross-section at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV is measured to be $\sigma = 1.267 \pm 0.005 \pm 0.053$ pb, where the uncertainties reflect the limited number of data events and the systematic uncertainties, giving a total uncertainty of $4.2\%$. The cross-section is measured differentially as a function of variables characterising the $t\bar{t}$ system and additional radiation in the events. The results are compared with various Monte Carlo generators, including comparisons where the generators are reweighted to match a parton-level calculation at next-to-next-to-leading order. The reweighting improves the agreement between data and theory. The measured distribution of the top-quark transverse momentum is used to set limits on the Wilson coefficients of the dimension-six operators $O_{tG}$ and $O_{tq}^{(8)}$ in the effective field theory framework.

Cross-sections for the production of a $Z$ boson in association with two photons are measured in proton$-$proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data used correspond to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ recorded by the ATLAS experiment during Run 2 of the LHC. The measurements use the electron and muon decay channels of the $Z$ boson, and a fiducial phase-space region where the photons are not radiated from the leptons. The integrated $Z(\rightarrow\ell\ell)\gamma\gamma$ cross-section is measured with a precision of 12% and differential cross-sections are measured as a function of six kinematic variables of the $Z\gamma\gamma$ system. The data are compared with predictions from MC event generators which are accurate to up to next-to-leading order in QCD. The cross-section measurements are used to set limits on the coupling strengths of dimension-8 operators in the framework of an effective field theory.

Differential and double-differential distributions of kinematic variables of leptons from decays of top-quark pairs ($t\bar{t}$) are measured using the full LHC Run 2 data sample collected with the ATLAS detector. The data were collected at a $pp$ collision energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$. The measurements use events containing an oppositely charged $e\mu$ pair and $b$-tagged jets. The results are compared with predictions from several Monte Carlo generators. While no prediction is found to be consistent with all distributions, a better agreement with measurements of the lepton $p_{\text{T}}$ distributions is obtained by reweighting the $t\bar{t}$ sample so as to reproduce the top-quark $p_{\text{T}}$ distribution from an NNLO calculation. The inclusive top-quark pair production cross-section is measured as well, both in a fiducial region and in the full phase-space. The total inclusive cross-section is found to be \[ \sigma_{t\bar{t}} = 829 \pm 1\;(\textrm{stat}) \pm 13\;(\textrm{syst}) \pm 8\;(\textrm{lumi}) \pm 2\; (\textrm{beam})\ \textrm{pb}, \] where the uncertainties are due to statistics, systematic effects, the integrated luminosity and the beam energy. This is in excellent agreement with the theoretical expectation.