The correlations between flow harmonics $v_n$ for $n=2$, 3 and 4 and mean transverse momentum $[p_\mathrm{T}]$ in $^{129}$Xe+$^{129}$Xe and $^{208}$Pb+$^{208}$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.44$ TeV and 5.02 TeV, respectively, are measured using charged particles with the ATLAS detector. The correlations are sensitive to the shape and size of the initial geometry, nuclear deformation, and initial momentum anisotropy. The effects from non-flow and centrality fluctuations are minimized, respectively, via a subevent cumulant method and event activity selection based on particle production in the very forward rapidity. The results show strong dependences on centrality, harmonic number $n$, $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ and pseudorapidity range. Current models describe qualitatively the overall centrality- and system-dependent trends but fail to quantitatively reproduce all the data. In the central collisions, where models generally show good agreement, the $v_2$-$[p_\mathrm{T}]$ correlations are sensitive to the triaxiality of the quadruple deformation. The comparison of model to the Pb+Pb and Xe+Xe data suggests that the $^{129}$Xe nucleus is a highly deformed triaxial ellipsoid that is neither a prolate nor an oblate shape. This provides strong evidence for a triaxial deformation of $^{129}$Xe nucleus using high-energy heavy-ion collision.

Parton energy loss in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) is studied with a measurement of photon-tagged jet production in 1.7 nb$^{-1}$ of Pb+Pb data and 260 pb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ data, both at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} = 5.02$ TeV, with the ATLAS detector. The process $pp \to \gamma$+jet+$X$ and its analogue in Pb+Pb collisions is measured in events containing an isolated photon with transverse momentum ($p_\mathrm{T}$) above $50$ GeV and reported as a function of jet $p_\mathrm{T}$. This selection results in a sample of jets with a steeply falling $p_\mathrm{T}$ distribution that are mostly initiated by the showering of quarks. The $pp$ and Pb+Pb measurements are used to report the nuclear modification factor, $R_\mathrm{AA}$, and the fractional energy loss, $S_\mathrm{loss}$, for photon-tagged jets. In addition, the results are compared with the analogous ones for inclusive jets, which have a significantly smaller quark-initiated fraction. The $R_\mathrm{AA}$ and $S_\mathrm{loss}$ values are found to be significantly different between those for photon-tagged jets and inclusive jets, demonstrating that energy loss in the QGP is sensitive to the colour-charge of the initiating parton. The results are also compared with a variety of theoretical models of colour-charge-dependent energy loss.

This paper presents a search for a new Z' vector gauge boson with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider using pp collision data collected at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. The new gauge boson Z' is predicted by $L_{\mu}-L_{\tau}$ models to address observed phenomena that can not be explained by the Standard Model. The search examines the four-muon (4$\mu$) final state, using a deep learning neural network classifier to separate the Z' signal from the Standard Model background events. The di-muon invariant masses in the $4\mu$ events are used to extract the Z' resonance signature. No significant excess of events is observed over the predicted background. Upper limits at a 95% confidence level on the Z' production cross-section times the decay branching fraction of $pp \rightarrow Z'\mu\mu \rightarrow 4\mu$ are set from 0.31 to 4.3 fb for the Z' mass ranging from 5 to 81 GeV. The corresponding common coupling strengths, $g_{Z'}$, of the Z' boson to the second and third generation leptons above 0.003 - 0.2 have been excluded.

A search for heavy Higgs bosons produced in association with a vector boson and decaying into a pair of vector bosons is performed in final states with two leptons (electrons or muons) of the same electric charge, missing transverse momentum and jets. A data sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider between 2015 and 2018 is used. The data correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. The observed data are in agreement with Standard Model background expectations. The results are interpreted using higher-dimensional operators in an effective field theory. Upper limits on the production cross-section are calculated at 95% confidence level as a function of the heavy Higgs boson's mass and coupling strengths to vector bosons. Limits are set in the Higgs boson mass range from 300 to 1500 GeV, and depend on the assumed couplings. The highest excluded mass for a heavy Higgs boson with the coupling combinations explored is 900 GeV. Limits on coupling strengths are also provided.

This paper presents a search for a new $Z^\prime$ resonance decaying into a pair of dark quarks which hadronise into dark hadrons before promptly decaying back as Standard Model particles. This analysis is based on proton-proton collision data recorded at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider between 2015 and 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. After selecting events containing large-radius jets with high track multiplicity, the invariant mass distribution of the two highest-transverse-momentum jets is scanned to look for an excess above a data-driven estimate of the Standard Model multijet background. No significant excess of events is observed and the results are thus used to set 95 % confidence-level upper limits on the production cross-section times branching ratio of the $Z^\prime$ to dark quarks as a function of the $Z^\prime$ mass for various dark-quark scenarios.

The measurement of hard scatterings in proton-nucleus collisions has resulted in a greater understanding of both the proton and nuclear structure. ATLAS measured the centrality dependence of the dijet yield using 165 nb$^{-1}$ of $p$+Pb data collected at $\sqrt{s_{_\text{NN}}}$ = 8.16 TeV in 2016. The event centrality, which reflects the $p$+Pb impact parameter, is characterized by the total transverse energy registered in the Pb-going side of the forward calorimeter. The central-to-peripheral ratio of the scaled dijet yields, $R_\mathrm{CP}$, is evaluated, and the results are presented as a function of variables that reflect the kinematics of the initial hard parton scattering process. The $R_\mathrm{CP}$ shows a scaling with the Bjorken-$x$ of the parton originating from the proton, $x_p$, while no such trend is observed as a function of $x_\mathrm{Pb}$. This analysis provides unique input to understanding the role of small proton spatial configurations in $p$+Pb collisions by covering parton momentum fractions from the valence region down to $x_p \sim 10^{-3}$ and $x_\mathrm{Pb}\sim 4\cdot10^{-4}$.

A search for Higgs boson pair production via vector-boson fusion is performed in the Lorentz-boosted regime, where a Higgs boson candidate is reconstructed as a single large-radius jet, using 140 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Only Higgs boson decays into bottom quark pairs are considered. The search is particularly sensitive to the quartic coupling between two vector bosons and two Higgs bosons relative to its Standard Model prediction, $\kappa_{2V}$. This study constrains $\kappa_{2V}$ to $0.55 < \kappa_{2V} < 1.49$ at 95% confidence level. The value $\kappa_{2V} = 0$ is excluded with a significance of 3.8 standard deviations with other Higgs boson couplings fixed to their Standard Model values. A search for new heavy spin-0 resonances that would mediate Higgs boson pair production via vector-boson fusion is carried out in the mass range of 1-5 TeV for the first time under several model and decay-width assumptions. No significant deviation from the Standard Model hypothesis is observed and exclusion limits at 95% confidence level are derived.

A search for the resonant production of a heavy scalar $X$ decaying into a Higgs boson and a new lighter scalar $S$, through the process $X \to S(\to bb) H(\to \gamma\gamma)$, where the two photons are consistent with the Higgs boson decay, is performed. The search is conducted using an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The search is performed over the mass range 170 $\leq$$m_{X}$$\leq$ 1000 GeV and 15 $\leq$$m_{S}$$\leq$ 500 GeV. Parameterised neural networks are used to enhance the signal purity and to achieve continuous sensitivity in a domain of the ($m_{X}$, $m_{S}$) plane. No significant excess above the expected background is found and 95% CL upper limits are set on the cross section times branching ratio, ranging from 39 fb to 0.09 fb. The largest deviation from the background-only expectation occurs for ($m_{X}$, $m_{S}$) = (575, 200) GeV with a local (global) significance of 3.5 (2.0) standard deviations.

A search for decays of the Higgs boson into a $Z$ boson and a light resonance, with a mass of 0.5-3.5 GeV, is performed using the full 140 fb$^{-1}$ dataset of 13 TeV proton-proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector during Run~2 of the LHC. Leptonic decays of the $Z$ boson and hadronic decays of the light resonance are considered. The resonance can be interpreted as a $J/\psi$ or $\eta_c$ meson, an axion-like particle, or a light pseudoscalar in two-Higgs-doublet models. Due to its low mass, it would be produced with high boost and reconstructed as a single small-radius jet of hadrons. A neural network is used to correct the Monte Carlo simulation of the background in a data-driven way. Two additional neural networks are used to distinguish signal from background. A binned profile-likelihood fit is performed on the final-state invariant mass distribution. No significant excess of events relative to the expected background is observed, and upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the Higgs boson's branching fraction to a $Z$ boson and a light resonance. The exclusion limit is 10% for the lower masses, and increases for higher masses. Upper limits on the effective coupling $C^\text{eff}_{ZH}/\Lambda$ of an axion-like particle to a Higgs boson and $Z$ boson are also set at 95% confidence level, and range from 0.9 to 2 TeV$^{-1}$.

High-energy nuclear collisions create a quark-gluon plasma, whose initial condition and subsequent expansion vary from event to event, impacting the distribution of the event-wise average transverse momentum ($P([p_{\mathrm{T}}])$). Distinguishing between contributions from fluctuations in the size of the nuclear overlap area (geometrical component) and other sources at fixed size (intrinsic component) presents a challenge. Here, these two components are distinguished by measuring the mean, variance, and skewness of $P([p_{\mathrm{T}}])$ in $^{208}$Pb+$^{208}$Pb and $^{129}$Xe+$^{129}$Xe collisions at $\sqrt{s_{{\mathrm{NN}}}} = 5.02$ and 5.44 TeV, respectively, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. All observables show distinct changes in behavior in ultra-central collisions, where the geometrical variations are suppressed as the overlap area reaches its maximum. These results demonstrate a new technique to disentangle geometrical and intrinsic fluctuations, enabling constraints on initial condition and properties of the quark-gluon plasma, such as the speed of sound.