Searches for heavy long-lived charged particles are performed using a data sample of 19.8 fb$^{-1}$ from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. No excess is observed above the estimated background and limits are placed on the mass of long-lived particles in various supersymmetric models. Long-lived tau sleptons in models with gauge-mediated symmetry breaking are excluded up to masses between 440 and 385 GeV for $\tan\beta$ between 10 and 50, with a 290 GeV limit in the case where only direct tau slepton production is considered. In the context of simplified LeptoSUSY models, where sleptons are stable and have a mass of 300 GeV, squark and gluino masses are excluded up to a mass of 1500 and 1360 GeV, respectively. Directly produced charginos, in simplified models where they are nearly degenerate to the lightest neutralino, are excluded up to a mass of 620 GeV. $R$-hadrons, composites containing a gluino, bottom squark or top squark, are excluded up to a mass of 1270, 845 and 900 GeV, respectively, using the full detector; and up to a mass of 1260, 835 and 870 GeV using an approach disregarding information from the muon spectrometer.

This Letter describes a model-independent search for the production of new resonances in photon + jet events using 20 inverse fb of proton--proton LHC data recorded with the ATLAS detector at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 8 TeV. The photon + jet mass distribution is compared to a background model fit from data; no significant deviation from the background-only hypothesis is found. Limits are set at 95% credibility level on generic Gaussian-shaped signals and two benchmark phenomena beyond the Standard Model: non-thermal quantum black holes and excited quarks. Non-thermal quantum black holes are excluded below masses of 4.6 TeV and excited quarks are excluded below masses of 3.5 TeV.

A search for supersymmetry targeting the direct production of winos and higgsinos is conducted in final states with either two leptons ($e$ or $\mu$) with the same electric charge, or three leptons. The analysis uses 139 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV collected with the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess over the Standard Model expectation is observed. Simplified and complete models with and without $R$-parity conservation are considered. In topologies with intermediate states including either $Wh$ or $WZ$ pairs, wino masses up to 525 GeV and 250 GeV are excluded, respectively, for a bino of vanishing mass. Higgsino masses smaller than 440 GeV are excluded in a natural $R$-parity-violating model with bilinear terms. Upper limits on the production cross section of generic events beyond the Standard Model as low as 40 ab are obtained in signal regions optimised for these models and also for an $R$-parity-violating scenario with baryon-number-violating higgsino decays into top quarks and jets. The analysis significantly improves sensitivity to supersymmetric models and other processes beyond the Standard Model that may contribute to the considered final states.

A search for the supersymmetric partners of quarks and gluons (squarks and gluinos) in final states containing jets and missing transverse momentum, but no electrons or muons, is presented. The data used in this search were recorded by the ATLAS experiment in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. The results are interpreted in the context of various $R$-parity-conserving models where squarks and gluinos are produced in pairs or in association and a neutralino is the lightest supersymmetric particle. An exclusion limit at the 95% confidence level on the mass of the gluino is set at 2.30 TeV for a simplified model containing only a gluino and the lightest neutralino, assuming the latter is massless. For a simplified model involving the strong production of mass-degenerate first- and second-generation squarks, squark masses below 1.85 TeV are excluded if the lightest neutralino is massless. These limits extend substantially beyond the region of supersymmetric parameter space excluded previously by similar searches with the ATLAS detector.

A search for supersymmetry in events with large missing transverse momentum, jets, and at least one hadronically decaying tau lepton has been performed using 3.2 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015. Two exclusive final states are considered, with either exactly one or at least two tau leptons. No excess over the Standard Model prediction is observed in the data. Results are interpreted in the context of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking and a simplified model of gluino pair production with tau-rich cascade decays, substantially improving on previous limits. In the GMSB model considered, supersymmetry-breaking scale ($\Lambda$) values below 92 TeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level, corresponding to gluino masses below 2000 GeV. For large values of $\tan\beta$, values of $\Lambda$ up to 107 TeV and gluino masses up to 2300 GeV are excluded. In the simplified model, gluino masses are excluded up to 1570 GeV for neutralino masses around 100 GeV. Neutralino masses up to 700 GeV are excluded for all gluino masses between 800 GeV and 1500 GeV, while the strongest exclusion of 750 GeV is achieved for gluino masses around 1400 GeV.

A search for supersymmetric partners of top quarks decaying as $\tilde{t}_1\to c\tilde\chi^0_1$ and supersymmetric partners of charm quarks decaying as $\tilde{c}_1\to c\tilde\chi^0_1$, where $\tilde\chi^0_1$ is the lightest neutralino, is presented. The search uses 36.1 ${\rm fb}^{-1}$ $pp$ collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider and is performed in final states with jets identified as containing charm hadrons. Assuming a 100% branching ratio to $c\tilde\chi^0_1$, top and charm squarks with masses up to 850 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level for a massless lightest neutralino. For $m_{\tilde{t}_1,\tilde{c}_1}-m_{\tilde\chi^0_1}

A search for the supersymmetric partners of the Standard Model bottom and top quarks is presented. The search uses 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Direct production of pairs of bottom and top squarks ($\tilde{b}_{1}$ and $\tilde{t}_{1}$) is searched for in final states with $b$-tagged jets and missing transverse momentum. Distinctive selections are defined with either no charged leptons (electrons or muons) in the final state, or one charged lepton. The zero-lepton selection targets models in which the $\tilde{b}_{1}$ is the lightest squark and decays via $\tilde{b}_{1} \rightarrow b \tilde{\chi}^{0}_{1}$, where $\tilde{\chi}^{0}_{1}$ is the lightest neutralino. The one-lepton final state targets models where bottom or top squarks are produced and can decay into multiple channels, $\tilde{b}_{1} \rightarrow b \tilde{\chi}^{0}_{1}$ and $\tilde{b}_{1} \rightarrow t \tilde{\chi}^{\pm}_{1}$, or $\tilde{t}_{1} \rightarrow t \tilde{\chi}^{0}_{1}$ and $\tilde{t}_{1} \rightarrow b \tilde{\chi}^{\pm}_{1}$, where $\tilde{\chi}^{\pm}_{1}$ is the lightest chargino and the mass difference $m_{\tilde{\chi}^{\pm}_{1}}- m_{\tilde{\chi}^{0}_{1}}$ is set to 1 GeV. No excess above the expected Standard Model background is observed. Exclusion limits at 95\% confidence level on the mass of third-generation squarks are derived in various supersymmetry-inspired simplified models.

Results of a search for decays of massive particles to fully hadronic final states are presented. This search uses 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of data collected by the ATLAS detector in $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV proton--proton collisions at the LHC. Signatures based on high jet multiplicities without requirements on the missing transverse momentum are used to search for $R$-parity-violating supersymmetric gluino pair production with subsequent decays to quarks. The analysis is performed using a requirement on the number of jets, in combination with separate requirements on the number of $b$-tagged jets, as well as a topological observable formed from the scalar sum of the mass values of large-radius jets in the event. Results are interpreted in the context of all possible branching ratios of direct gluino decays to various quark flavors. No significant deviation is observed from the expected Standard Model backgrounds estimated using jet-counting as well as data-driven templates of the total-jet-mass spectra. Gluino pair decays to ten or more quarks via intermediate neutralinos are excluded for a gluino with mass $m_{\tilde{g}} < 1$ TeV for a neutralino mass $m_{\tilde{\chi}^0_1} = 500$ GeV. Direct gluino decays to six quarks are excluded for $m_{\tilde{g}} < 917$ GeV for light-flavor final states, and results for various flavor hypotheses are presented.

This Letter presents a search for a heavy neutral particle decaying into an opposite-sign different-flavor dilepton pair, $e^\pm \mu^\mp$, $e^\pm \tau^\mp$, or $\mu^\pm \tau^\mp$ using 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data at $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The numbers of observed candidate events are compatible with the Standard Model expectations. Limits are set on the cross section of new phenomena in two scenarios: the production of $\tilde{\nu}_{\tau}$ in $R$-parity-violating supersymmetric models and the production of a lepton-flavor-violating $Z'$ vector boson.

Many extensions of the Standard Model predict the existence of charged heavy long-lived particles, such as $R$-hadrons or charginos. These particles, if produced at the Large Hadron Collider, should be moving non-relativistically and are therefore identifiable through the measurement of an anomalously large specific energy loss in the ATLAS pixel detector. Measuring heavy long-lived particles through their track parameters in the vicinity of the interaction vertex provides sensitivity to metastable particles with lifetimes from 0.6 ns to 30 ns. A search for such particles with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is presented, based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 18.4 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV. No significant deviation from the Standard Model background expectation is observed, and lifetime-dependent upper limits on $R$-hadrons and chargino production are set. Gluino $R$-hadrons with 10 ns lifetime and masses up to 1185 GeV are excluded at 95$\%$ confidence level, and so are charginos with 15 ns lifetime and masses up to 482 GeV.