This paper presents a search for a Higgs boson produced in association with a charm quark (cH) which allows to probe the Higgs-charm Yukawa coupling strength modifier $κ_\mathrm{c}$. Higgs boson decays to a pair of W bosons are considered, where one W boson decays to an electron and a neutrino, and the other \PW boson decays to a muon and a neutrino. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$, were collected between 2016 and 2018 with the CMS detector at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV. Upper limits at the 95% confidence level (CL) are set on the ratio of the measured yield to the standard model expectation for cH production. The observed (expected) upper limit is 1065 (506). When combined with the previous search for cH in the diphoton decay channel of the Higgs boson, the limits are interpreted as observed (expected) constraints at 95% CL on the value of $κ_\mathrm{c}$, $\lvertκ_\mathrm{c}\rvert$ $\lt$ 47 (51).

The first observation of single top quark production in association with a W and a Z boson in proton-proton collisions is reported. The analysis uses data at center-of-mass energies of 13 and 13.6 TeV recorded with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 200 fb$^{-1}$. Events with three or four charged leptons, which can be electrons or muons, are selected. Advanced machine-learning algorithms and improved reconstruction methods, compared to an earlier analysis, result in an unprecedented sensitivity to tWZ production. The measured cross sections for tWZ production are 248 $\pm$ 52 fb and 244 $\pm$ 74 fb for $\sqrt{s}$ =13 and 13.6 TeV, respectively. The signal is established with a statistical significance of 5.8 standard deviations, with 3.5 expected, compared to the background-only hypothesis.

Measurements of $W^+W^-\rightarrow e^\pm νμ^\mp ν$ production cross-sections are presented, providing a test of the predictions of perturbative quantum chromodynamics and the electroweak theory. The measurements are based on data from $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015-2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$. The number of events due to top-quark pair production, the largest background, is reduced by rejecting events containing jets with $b$-hadron decays. An improved methodology for estimating the remaining top-quark background enables a precise measurement of $W^+W^-$ cross-sections with no additional requirements on jets. The fiducial $W^+W^-$ cross-section is determined in a maximum-likelihood fit with an uncertainty of 3.1%. The measurement is extrapolated to the full phase space, resulting in a total $W^+W^-$ cross-section of $127\pm4$ pb. Differential cross-sections are measured as a function of twelve observables that comprehensively describe the kinematics of $W^+W^-$ events. The measurements are compared with state-of-the-art theory calculations and excellent agreement with predictions is observed. A charge asymmetry in the lepton rapidity is observed as a function of the dilepton invariant mass, in agreement with the Standard Model expectation. A CP-odd observable is measured to be consistent with no CP violation. Limits on Standard Model effective field theory Wilson coefficients in the Warsaw basis are obtained from the differential cross-sections.

The Lund jet plane (LJP) is measured for the first time in $t\overline{t}$ events, using 140 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV pp collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The LJP is a two-dimensional observable of the sub-structure of hadronic jets that acts as a proxy for the kinematics of parton showers and hadron formation. The observable is constructed from charged particles and is measured for R = 1.0 anti-$k_t$ jets with transverse momentum above 350 GeV containing the full decay products of either a top quark or a daughter $W$ boson. The other top quark in the event is identified from its decay into a b-quark, an electron or a muon and a neutrino. The measurement is corrected for detector effects and compared with a range of Monte Carlo predictions sensitive to different aspects of the hadronic decays of the heavy particles. In the $W$-boson-initiated jets, all the predictions are incompatible with the measurement. In the top quark initiated jets, disagreement with all predictions is observed in smaller subregions of the plane, and with a subset of the predictions across the fiducial plane. The measurement could be used to improve the tuning of Monte Carlo generators, for better modelling of hadronic decays of heavy quarks and bosons, or to improve the performance of jet taggers.

A search for the violation of the charge-parity ($CP$) symmetry in the production of top quarks in association with Z bosons is presented, using events with at least three charged leptons and additional jets. The search is performed in a sample of proton-proton collision data collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in 2016-2018 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and in 2022 at 13.6 TeV, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 173 fb$^{-1}$. For the first time in this final state, observables that are odd under the $CP$ transformation are employed. Also for the first time, physics-informed machine-learning techniques are used to construct these observables. While for standard model (SM) processes the distributions of these observables are predicted to be symmetric around zero, $CP$-violating modifications of the SM would introduce asymmetries. Two $CP$-odd operators $\mathcal{O}_\text{tW}^\text{I}$ and $\mathcal{O}_\text{tZ}^\text{I}$ in the SM effective field theory are considered that may modify the interactions between top quarks and electroweak bosons. The obtained results are consistent with the SM prediction within two standard deviations, and exclusion limits on the associated Wilson coefficients of $-$2.7 $\lt$$c_\text{tW}^\text{I}$$\lt$ 2.5 and $-$0.2 $\lt$$c_\text{tZ}^\text{I}$$\lt$ 2.0 are set at 95% confidence level. The largest discrepancy is observed in $c_\text{tZ}^\text{I}$ where data is consistent with positive values, with an observed local significance with respect to the SM hypothesis of 2.5 standard deviations, when only linear terms are considered.

Inclusive and differential cross section measurements of top quark pair ($\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$) production in association with a photon ($γ$) are performed as a function of lepton, photon, top quark, and $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$ kinematic observables, using data from proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. Events containing two leptons (electrons or muons) and a photon in the final state are considered. The fiducial cross section of $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}γ$ is measured to be 137 $\pm$ 8 fb, in a phase space including events with a high momentum, isolated photon. The fiducial cross section of $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}γ$ is also measured to be 56 $\pm$ 5 fb when considering only events where the photon is emitted in the production part of the process. Both measurements are in agreement with the theoretical predictions, of 126 $\pm$ 19 fb and 57 $\pm$ 5 fb, respectively. Differential measurements are performed at the particle and parton levels. Additionally, inclusive and differential ratios between the cross sections of $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}γ$ and $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$ production are measured. The inclusive ratio is found to be 0.0133 $\pm$ 0.0005, in agreement with the standard model prediction of 0.0127 $\pm$ 0.0008. The top quark charge asymmetry in $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}γ$ production is also measured to be $-$0.012 $\pm$ 0.042, compatible with both the standard model prediction and with no asymmetry.

The first observation of coherent $\phi$(1020) meson photoproduction off heavy nuclei is presented using ultraperipheral lead-lead collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.36 TeV. The data were collected by the CMS experiment and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 1.68 $\mu$b$^{-1}$. The $\phi$(1020) meson signals are reconstructed via the K$^+$K$^-$ decay channel. The production cross section is presented as a function of the $\phi$(1020) meson rapidity in the range 0.3 $\lt$$\lvert y\rvert$$\lt$ 1.0, probing gluons that carry a fraction of the nucleon momentum ($x$) around $10^{-4}$. The observed cross section exhibits little dependence on rapidity and is significantly suppressed, by a factor of ${\sim}$5, compared to a baseline model that treats a nucleus as a collection of free nucleons. Theoretical models that incorporate either nuclear shadowing or gluon saturation predict suppression of the $\phi$(1020) meson cross section with only a small dependence on rapidity, but the magnitude of the predicted suppression varies greatly. Models considering only nuclear shadowing effects result in the best agreement with the experimental data. This study establishes a powerful new tool for exploring nuclear effects and nuclear gluonic structure in the small-$x$ regime at a unique energy scale bridging the perturbative and nonperturbative quantum chromodynamics domains.

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.

Incoherent J/$ψ$ photoproduction in heavy ion ultraperipheral collisions (UPCs) provides a sensitive probe of localized, fluctuating gluonic structures within heavy nuclei. This study reports the first measurement of the photon-nucleon center-of-mass energy ($W_{γ\mathrm{N}}$) dependence of this process in PbPb UPCs at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV, using 1.52 nb$^{-1}$ of data recorded by the CMS experiment. The measurement covers a wide $W_{γ\mathrm{N}}$ range of $\approx$ 40-400 GeV, probing gluons carrying a fraction $x$ of nucleon momentum down to an unexplored region of 6.5 $\times$ 10$^{-5}$. Compared to baseline predictions neglecting nuclear effects, the measured cross sections exhibit significantly greater suppression at lower $x$. Additionally, the ratio of incoherent to coherent photoproduction is found to be constant across the probed $W_{γ\mathrm{N}}$ and $x$ range, disfavoring the establishment of the black disk limit. This study provides critical insights into the $x$-dependent evolution of fluctuating gluonic structures within nuclei and calls for further advancements in theoretical models incorporating nuclear shadowing and gluon saturation.

Measurements of light-by-light scattering (LbL, $γγ$$\to$$γγ$) and the Breit-Wheeler process (BW, $γγ$$\to$$\mathrm{e^+e^-}$) are reported in ultraperipheral PbPb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.02 TeV. The data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.7 nb$^{-1}$, was collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in 2018. Events with an exclusively produced $γγ$ or $\mathrm{e^+e^-}$ pair with invariant masses $m^{γγ,\mathrm{ee}}$$>$ 5 GeV, along with other fiducial criteria, are selected. The measured BW fiducial production cross section, $σ_\text{fid}$($γγ$$\to$$\mathrm{e^+e^-}$) = 263.5 $\pm$ 1.8 (stat) $\pm$ 17.8 (syst) $μ$b, as well as the differential distributions for various kinematic observables, are in agreement with leading-order quantum electrodynamics predictions complemented with final-state photon radiation. The measured differential BW cross sections allow discriminating between different theoretical descriptions of the photon flux of the lead ion. In the LbL final state, 26 exclusive diphoton candidate events are observed compared with 12.0 $\pm$ 2.9 expected for the background. Combined with previous results, the observed significance of the LbL signal with respect to the background-only hypothesis is above five standard deviations. The measured fiducial LbL scattering cross section, $σ_\text{fid} (γγ$$\to$$γγ)$ = 107 $\pm$ 24 (stat) $\pm$ 13 (syst) nb, is in agreement with next-to-leading-order predictions. Limits on the production of axion-like particles coupled to photons are set over the mass range 5-100 GeV, including the most stringent limits to date in the range of 5-10 GeV.