We have measured the total inelastic cross section (σinel) and charged-particle multiplicities obtained in pp collisions at 405 GeV/c. The data are from a preliminary 12 000-picture bubble-chamber exposure. We find σinel=32.8±1.0 mb; the low moments of the multiplicity distribution for negative particles are 〈n−〉=3.50±0.07, D−=2.37±0.05, f2−=2.1±0.2, and f3−=0.1±0.9. We also present updated results at 102 GeV/c.
This paper presents a search for massive charged long-lived particles produced in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV at the LHC using the ATLAS experiment. The dataset used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$. Many extensions of the Standard Model predict the existence of massive charged long-lived particles, such as $R$-hadrons. These massive particles are expected to be produced with a velocity significantly below the speed of light, and therefore to have a specific ionization higher than any Standard Model particle of unit charge at high momenta. The Pixel subsystem of the ATLAS detector is used to measure the ionization energy loss of reconstructed charged particles and to search for such highly ionizing particles. The search presented here has much greater sensitivity than a similar search performed using the ATLAS detector in the $\sqrt{s}=$ 8 TeV dataset, thanks to the increase in expected signal cross-section due to the higher center-of-mass energy of collisions, to an upgraded detector with a new silicon layer close to the interaction point, and to analysis improvements. No significant deviation from Standard Model background expectations is observed, and lifetime-dependent upper limits on $R$-hadron production cross-sections and masses are set. Gluino $R$-hadrons with lifetimes above 0.4 ns and decaying to $q\bar{q}$ plus a 100 GeV neutralino are excluded at the 95% confidence level, with lower mass limit ranging between 740 GeV and 1590 GeV. In the case of stable $R$-hadrons the lower mass limit at the 95% confidence level is 1570 GeV.
The measurement of the charge asymmetry in top quark pair events with highly Lorentz-boosted top quarks decaying to a single lepton and jets is presented. The analysis is performed using proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The selection is optimized for top quarks produced with large Lorentz boosts, resulting in nonisolated leptons and overlapping jets. The top quark charge asymmetry is measured for events with a $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$ invariant mass larger than 750 GeV and corrected for detector and acceptance effects using a binned maximum likelihood fit. The measured top quark charge asymmetry of (0.42 $_{-0.69}^{+0.64}$)% is in good agreement with the standard model prediction at next-to-next-to-leading order in quantum chromodynamic perturbation theory with next-to-leading-order electroweak corrections. The result is also presented for two invariant mass ranges, 750-900 and $\gt$ 900 GeV.
Making use of 36 pb^-1 of proton-proton collision data at sqrt{s} = 7 TeV, the ATLAS Collaboration has performed a search for diphoton events with large missing transverse energy. Observing no excess of events above the Standard Model prediction, a 95% Confidence Level (CL) upper limit is set on the cross section for new physics of sigma < 0.38 - 0.65 pb in the context of a generalised model of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking (GGM) with a bino-like lightest neutralino, and of sigma < 0.18 - 0.23 pb in the context of a specific model with one universal extra dimension (UED). A 95 % CL lower limit of 560 GeV, for bino masses above 50 GeV, is set on the GGM gluino mass, while a lower limit of 1/R > 961 GeV is set on the UED compactification radius R. These limits provide the most stringent tests of these models to date.
The first measurement of the CP structure of the Yukawa coupling between the Higgs boson and $\tau$ leptons is presented. The measurement is based on data collected in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV by the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$. The analysis uses the angular correlation between the decay planes of $\tau$ leptons produced in Higgs boson decays. The effective mixing angle between CP-even and CP-odd $\tau$ Yukawa couplings is found to be $-$1 $\pm$ 19$^\circ$, compared to an expected value of 0 $\pm$ 21$^\circ$ at the 68.3% confidence level. The data disfavour the pure CP-odd scenario at 3.0 standard deviations. The results are compatible with predictions for the standard model Higgs boson.
The azimuthal anisotropy of $\Upsilon$(1S) mesons in high-multiplicity proton-lead collisions is studied using data collected by the CMS experiment at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 8.16 TeV. The $\Upsilon$(1S) mesons are reconstructed using their dimuon decay channel. The anisotropy is characterized by the second Fourier harmonic coefficients, found using a two-particle correlation technique, in which the $\Upsilon$(1S) mesons are correlated with charged hadrons. A large pseudorapidity gap is used to suppress short-range correlations. Nonflow contamination from the dijet background is removed using a low-multiplicity subtraction method, and the results are presented as a function of $\Upsilon$(1S) transverse momentum. The azimuthal anisotropies are smaller than those found for charmonia in proton-lead collisions at the same collision energy, but are consistent with values found for $\Upsilon$(1S) mesons in lead-lead interactions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV.
Measurements are presented of the B$^0_\mathrm{S}$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-$ branching fraction and effective lifetime, as well as results of a search for the B$^0$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-$ decay in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV at the LHC. The analysis is based on data collected with the CMS detector in 2016-2018 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$. The branching fraction of the B$^0_\mathrm{S}$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-$ decay and the effective B$^0_\mathrm{S}$ meson lifetime are the most precise single measurements to date. No evidence for the B$^0$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-$ decay has been found. All results are found to be consistent with the standard model predictions and previous measurements.
A search for W$\gamma$ resonances in the mass range between 0.7 and 6.0 TeV is presented. The W boson is reconstructed via its hadronic decays, with the final-state products forming a single large-radius jet, owing to a high Lorentz boost of the W boson. The search is based on proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2016-2018. The W$\gamma$ mass spectrum is parameterized with a smoothly falling background function and examined for the presence of resonance-like signals. No significant excess above the predicted background is observed. Model-specific upper limits at 95% confidence level on the product of the cross section and branching fraction to the W$\gamma$ channel are set. Limits for narrow resonances and for resonances with an intrinsic width equal to 5% of their mass, for spin-0 and spin-1 hypotheses, range between 0.17 fb at 6.0 TeV and 55 fb at 0.7 TeV. These are the most restrictive limits to date on the existence of such resonances over a large range of probed masses. In specific heavy scalar (vector) triplet benchmark models, narrow resonances with masses between 0.75 (1.15) and 1.40 (1.36) TeV are excluded for a range of model parameters. Model-independent limits on the product of the cross section, signal acceptance, and branching fraction to the W$\gamma$ channel are set for minimum W$\gamma$ mass thresholds between 1.5 and 8.0 TeV.
A search has been performed for photons originating in the decay of a neutral long-lived particle, exploiting the capabilities of the ATLAS electromagnetic calorimeter to make precise measurements of the flight direction of photons, as well as the calorimeter's excellent time resolution. The search has been made in the diphoton plus missing transverse energy final state, using the full data sample of 4.8/fb of 7 TeV proton-proton collisions collected in 2011 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. No excess is observed above the background expected from Standard Model processes. The results are used to set exclusion limits in the context of Gauge Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking models, with the lightest neutralino being the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle and decaying with a lifetime in excess of 0.25 ns into a photon and a gravitino.
The centrality dependence of the mean charged-particle multiplicity as a function of pseudorapidity is measured in approximately 1 $\mu$b$^{-1}$ of proton--lead collisions at a nucleon--nucleon centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm{NN}}}} = 5.02$ TeV using the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Charged particles with absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.7 are reconstructed using the ATLAS pixel detector. The $p$+Pb collision centrality is characterised by the total transverse energy measured in the Pb-going direction of the forward calorimeter. The charged-particle pseudorapidity distributions are found to vary strongly with centrality, with an increasing asymmetry between the proton-going and Pb-going directions as the collisions become more central. Three different estimations of the number of nucleons participating in the $p$+Pb collision have been carried out using the Glauber model as well as two Glauber--Gribov inspired extensions to the Glauber model. Charged-particle multiplicities per participant pair are found to vary differently for these three models, highlighting the importance of including colour fluctuations in nucleon--nucleon collisions in the modelling of the initial state of $p$+Pb collisions.