The results of a search for direct pair production of heavy top-quark partners in 4.7 fb-1 of integrated luminosity from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC are reported. Heavy top-quark partners decaying into a top quark and a neutral non-interacting particle are searched for in events with two leptons in the final state. No excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed. Limits are placed on the mass of a supersymmetric scalar top and of a spin-1/2 top-quark partner. A spin-1/2 top-quark partner with a mass between 300 GeV and 480 GeV, decaying to a top quark and a neutral non-interacting particle lighter than 100 GeV, is excluded at 95% confidence level.
A measurement of angular correlations in Drell-Yan lepton pairs via the phistar observable is presented. This variable probes the same physics as the Z/gamma* boson transverse momentum with a better experimental resolution. The Z/gamma*->e+e- and Z/gamma*->mu+mu- decays produced in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV are used. The data were collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb-1. Normalised differential cross sections as a function of phistar are measured separately for electron and muon decay channels. These channels are then combined for improved accuracy. The cross section is also measured double differentially as a function of phistar for three independent bins of the Z boson rapidity. The results are compared to QCD calculations and to predictions from different Monte Carlo event generators. The data are reasonably well described, in all measured Z boson rapidity regions, by resummed QCD predictions combined with fixed-order perturbative QCD calculations. Some of the Monte Carlo event generators are also able to describe the data. The measurement precision is typically better by one order of magnitude than present theoretical uncertainties.
The production cross-section of B+ mesons is measured as a function of transverse momentum pT and rapidity y in proton--proton collisions at center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using 2.4 fb-1 of data recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The differential production cross-sections, determined in the range 9<pT<120 GeV and y<2.25, are compared to next-to-leading-order theoretical predictions.
Measurements are presented of the properties of high transverse momentum jets, produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35 pb^-1 and were collected with the ATLAS detector in 2010. Jet mass, width, eccentricity, planar flow and angularity are measured for jets reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R = 0.6 and 1.0, with transverse momentum pT > 300 GeV and pseudorapidity |eta| < 2. The measurements are compared to the expectations of Monte Carlo generators that match leading-logarithmic parton showers to leading-order, or next-to-leading-order, matrix elements. The generators describe the general features of the jets, although discrepancies are observed in some distributions.
A generic search for anomalous production of events with at least three charged leptons is presented. The search uses a pp-collision data sample at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV corresponding to 4.6 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected in 2011 by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Events are required to contain at least two electrons or muons, while the third lepton may either be an additional electron or muon, or a hadronically decaying tau lepton. Events are categorized by the presence or absence of a reconstructed tau-lepton or Z-boson candidate decaying to leptons. No significant excess above backgrounds expected from Standard Model processes is observed. Results are presented as upper limits on event yields from non-Standard-Model processes producing at least three prompt, isolated leptons, given as functions of lower bounds on several kinematic variables. Fiducial efficiencies for model testing are also provided. The use of the results is illustrated by setting upper limits on the production of doubly-charged Higgs bosons decaying to same-sign lepton pairs.
Using 1.8 fb-1 of pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider, we present measurements of the production cross sections of Upsilon(1S,2S,3S) mesons. Upsilon mesons are reconstructed using the di-muon decay mode. Total production cross sections for p_T<70 GeV and in the rapidity interval |Upsilon|<2.25 are measured to be 8.01+-0.02+-0.36+-0.31 nb, 2.05+-0.01+-0.12+-0.08 nb, 0.92+-0.01+-0.07+-0.04 nb respectively, with uncertainties separated into statistical, systematic, and luminosity measurement effects. In addition, differential cross section times di-muon branching fractions for Upsilon(1S), Upsilon(2S), and Upsilon(3S) as a function of Upsilon transverse momentum p_T and rapidity are presented. These cross sections are obtained assuming unpolarized production. If the production polarization is fully transverse or longitudinal with no azimuthal dependence in the helicity frame the cross section may vary by approximately +-20%. If a non-trivial azimuthal dependence is considered, integrated cross sections may be significantly enhanced by a factor of two or more. We compare our results to several theoretical models of Upsilon meson production, finding that none provide an accurate description of our data over the full range of Upsilon transverse momenta accessible with this dataset.
A measurement of splitting scales, as defined by the kT clustering algorithm, is presented for final states containing a W boson produced in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. The measurement is based on the full 2010 data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 pb-1 which was collected using the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Cluster splitting scales are measured in events containing W bosons decaying to electrons or muons. The measurement comprises the four hardest splitting scales in a kT cluster sequence of the hadronic activity accompanying the W boson, and ratios of these splitting scales. Backgrounds such as multi-jet and top-quark-pair production are subtracted and the results are corrected for detector effects. Predictions from various Monte Carlo event generators at particle level are compared to the data. Overall, reasonable agreement is found with all generators, but larger deviations between the predictions and the data are evident in the soft regions of the splitting scales.
Distributions sensitive to the underlying event are studied in events containing one or more charged-particle jets produced in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). These measurements reflect 800 inverse microbarns of data taken during 2010. Jets are reconstructed using the antikt algorithm with radius parameter R varying between 0.2 and 1.0. Distributions of the charged-particle multiplicity, the scalar sum of the transverse momentum of charged particles, and the average charged-particle pT are measured as functions of pT^JET in regions transverse to and opposite the leading jet for 4 GeV < pT^JET < 100 GeV. In addition, the R-dependence of the mean values of these observables is studied. In the transverse region, both the multiplicity and the scalar sum of the transverse momentum at fixed pT^JET vary significantly with R, while the average charged-particle transverse momentum has a minimal dependence on R. Predictions from several Monte Carlo tunes have been compared to the data; the predictions from Pythia 6, based on tunes that have been determined using LHC data, show reasonable agreement with the data, including the dependence on R. Comparisons with other generators indicate that additional tuning of soft-QCD parameters is necessary for these generators. The measurements presented here provide a testing ground for further development of the Monte Carlo models.
This Letter reports a measurement of the high-mass Drell-Yan differential cross-section in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV at the LHC. Based on an integrated luminosity of 4.9 /fb, the differential cross-section in the Z/gamma* to e+e- channel is measured with the ATLAS detector as a function of the invariant mass, Mee, in the range 116 < Mee < 1500 GeV, for a fiducial region in which both the electron and the positron have transverse momentum pT > 25 GeV and pseudorapidity eta < 2.5. A comparison is made to various event generators and to the predictions of perturbative QCD calculations at next-to-next-to-leading order.
Measurements of charged particle distributions, sensitive to the underlying event, have been performed with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are based on data collected using a minimum-bias trigger to select proton-proton collisions at center-of-mass energies of 900 GeV and 7 TeV. The 'underlying event' is defined as those aspects of a hadronic interaction attributed not to the hard scattering process, but rather to the accompanying interactions of the rest of the proton. Three regions are defined in azimuthal angle with respect to the highest-pt charged particle in the event, such that the region transverse to the dominant momentum-flow is most sensitive to the underlying event. In each of these regions, distributions of the charged particle multiplicity, pt density, and average pt are measured. The data show a higher underlying event activity than that predicted by Monte Carlo models tuned to pre-LHC data.
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