This paper describes a measurement of light-by-light scattering based on Pb+Pb collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment during Run 2 of the LHC. The study uses $2.2$ nb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity collected in 2015 and 2018 at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}=5.02$ TeV. Light-by-light scattering candidates are selected in events with two photons produced exclusively, each with transverse energy $E_{\mathrm{T}}^{\gamma} > 2.5$ GeV, pseudorapidity $|\eta_{\gamma}| < 2.37$, diphoton invariant mass $m_{\gamma\gamma} > 5$ GeV, and with small diphoton transverse momentum and diphoton acoplanarity. The integrated and differential fiducial cross sections are measured and compared with theoretical predictions. The diphoton invariant mass distribution is used to set limits on the production of axion-like particles. This result provides the most stringent limits to date on axion-like particle production for masses in the range 6-100 GeV. Cross sections above 2 to 70 nb are excluded at the 95% CL in that mass interval.
Measured differential fiducial cross sections of $\gamma\gamma \rightarrow \gamma\gamma$ production in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV for diphoton invariant mass are shown as points with error bars giving the statistical uncertainty and grey bands indicating the size of the total uncertainty. The results are compared with the prediction from the SuperChic v3.0 MC generator (solid line) with bands denoting the theoretical uncertainty.
Measured normalised differential fiducial cross sections of $\gamma\gamma \rightarrow \gamma\gamma$ production in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV for diphoton invariant mass are shown as points with error bars giving the statistical uncertainty and grey bands indicating the size of the total uncertainty. The results are compared with the prediction from the SuperChic v3.0 MC generator (solid line).
Measured differential fiducial cross sections of $\gamma\gamma \rightarrow \gamma\gamma$ production in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV for diphoton $|cos(\theta*)|$ are shown as points with error bars giving the statistical uncertainty and grey bands indicating the size of the total uncertainty. The results are compared with the prediction from the SuperChic v3.0 MC generator (solid line) with bands denoting the theoretical uncertainty.
A search for new physics in events with two highly Lorentz-boosted Z bosons and large missing transverse momentum is presented. The analyzed proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$, were recorded at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC. The search utilizes the substructure of jets with large radius to identify quark pairs from Z boson decays. Backgrounds from standard model processes are suppressed by requirements on the jet mass and the missing transverse momentum. No significant excess in the event yield is observed beyond the number of background events expected from the standard model. For a simplified supersymmetric model in which the Z bosons arise from the decay of gluinos, an exclusion limit of 1920 GeV on the gluino mass is set at 95% confidence level. This is the first search for beyond-standard-model production of pairs of boosted Z bosons plus large missing transverse momentum.
Cross section upper limit vs m(GLUINO) for SMS model T5ZZ.
Cross section upper limit vs m(GLUINO) for SMS model T5ZZ.
Cross section upper limit vs m(GLUINO) for SMS model T5ZZ.
The differential cross section and charge asymmetry for inclusive W boson production at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV is measured for the two transverse polarization states as a function of the W boson absolute rapidity. The measurement uses events in which a W boson decays to a neutrino and either a muon or an electron. The data sample of proton-proton collisions recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2016 corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. The differential cross section and its value normalized to the total inclusive W boson production cross section are measured over the rapidity range $|y_\mathrm{W}|$ $\lt$ 2.5. In addition to the total fiducial cross section, the W boson double-differential cross section, d$^2\sigma$/d$p^\ell_\mathrm{T}$d$|\eta|$ and the charge asymmetry are measured as functions of the charged lepton transverse momentum and pseudorapidity. The precision of these measurements is used to constrain the parton distribution functions of the proton using the next-to-leading order NNPDF3.0 set.
Measured cross section from the helicity fit, divided by bin width, for combination of muon and electron channel
Measured cross section from the helicity fit, divided by bin width, for combination of muon and electron channel
Measured cross section from the helicity fit, divided by bin width, for combination of muon and electron channel
The associated production of a Higgs boson with a $W$ or $Z$ boson decaying into leptons and where the Higgs boson decays to a $b\bar{b}$ pair is measured in the high vector-boson transverse momentum regime, above 250 GeV, with the ATLAS detector. The analysed data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$, were collected in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider between 2015 and 2018 at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV. The measured signal strength, defined as the ratio of the measured signal yield to that predicted by the Standard Model, is $0.72 ^{+0.39}_{-0.36}$ corresponding to an observed (expected) significance of 2.1 (2.7) standard deviations. Cross-sections of associated production of a Higgs boson decaying into $b$ quark pairs with a $W$ or $Z$ gauge boson, decaying into leptons, are measured in two exclusive vector boson transverse momentum regions, 250-400 GeV and above 400 GeV, and interpreted as constraints on anomalous couplings in the framework of a Standard Model effective field theory.
Observed correlations between the measured reduced stage-1.2 simplified template VH, V->leptons and H->bb cross sections, including both the statistical and systematic uncertainties.
Measured and predicted VH, V->leptons reduced stage-1.2 simplified template cross sections times the H->bb and V->leptons branching fractions with corresponding uncertainties. All possible Z decays into neutral and charged leptons are considered.
Linear combinations of Wilson coefficients corresponding to the principal component decomposition eigenvectors. The corresponding eigenvalues, representing in the gaussian approximation the inverse uncertainty square of the measured eigenvector, is also indicated.
In this paper, a new technique for reconstructing and identifying hadronically decaying $\tau^+\tau^-$ pairs with a large Lorentz boost, referred to as the di-$\tau$ tagger, is developed and used for the first time in the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. A benchmark di-$\tau$ tagging selection is employed in the search for resonant Higgs boson pair production, where one Higgs boson decays into a boosted $b\bar{b}$ pair and the other into a boosted $\tau^+\tau^-$ pair, with two hadronically decaying $\tau$-leptons in the final state. Using 139 fb$^{-1}$ of proton$-$proton collision data recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, the efficiency of the di-$\tau$ tagger is determined and the background with quark- or gluon-initiated jets misidentified as di-$\tau$ objects is estimated. The search for a heavy, narrow, scalar resonance produced via gluon$-$gluon fusion and decaying into two Higgs bosons is carried out in the mass range 1$-$3 TeV using the same dataset. No deviations from the Standard Model predictions are observed, and 95% confidence-level exclusion limits are set on this model.
Signal acceptance times selection efficiency as a function of the resonance mass, at various stages of the event selection. From top to bottom: an event pre-selection (trigger, object definitions and $E_{T}^{miss}>10$ GeV) is performed first; the requirements on the di-$\tau$ object and large-$R$ jet detailed in the text are then applied; finally, the $HH$ SR definition must be satisfied.
Distribution of $m^{vis}_{HH}$ after applying all the event selection that define the $HH$ SR, except the requirement on $m^{vis}_{HH}$. The background labelled as "Others" contains $W$+jets, diboson, $t\bar{t}$ and single-top-quark processes. The $X\rightarrow HH \rightarrow b\bar{b}\tau^{+}\tau^{-}$ signal is overlaid for two resonance mass hypotheses with a cross-section set to the expected limit, while all backgrounds are pre-fit. The first and the last bins contains the under-flow and over-flow bin entries, respectively. The hatched bands represent combined statistical and systematic uncertainties.
Event yields of the various estimated backgrounds and data, computed in the signal region of the search for $X\rightarrow HH \rightarrow b\bar{b}\tau^{+}\tau^{-}$. The background labelled as "Others" contains $W$+jets, diboson, $t\bar{t}$ and single-top-quark processes. Statistical and systematic uncertainties are quoted. The background yields and uncertainties are pre-fit and are found to be similar to those post-fit.
A search is presented for four-top-quark production using an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are selected if they contain a same-sign lepton pair or at least three leptons (electrons or muons). Jet multiplicity, jet flavour and event kinematics are used to separate signal from the background through a multivariate discriminant, and dedicated control regions are used to constrain the dominant backgrounds. The four-top-quark production cross section is measured to be 24$^{+7}_{-6}$ fb. This corresponds to an observed (expected) significance with respect to the background-only hypothesis of 4.3 (2.4) standard deviations and provides evidence for this process.
The results of fitted inclusive ${t\bar{t}t\bar{t}}$ cross-section
The results of the fitted signal strength $\mu$
List of the uncertainties in the signal strength $\mu$, grouped in categories. The quoted values are obtained by repeating the fit, fixing a set of nuisance parameters of the sources corresponding to the considered category, and subtracting in quadrature the resulting uncertainty from the total uncertainty of the nominal fit presented in the last line. The total uncertainty is different from the sum in quadrature of the components due to correlations between nuisance parameters.
The Beam Energy Scan (BES) program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) was extended to energies below $\sqrt{\textit{s}_{NN}}$ = 7.7 GeV in 2015 by successful implementation of the fixed-target mode of operation in the STAR (Solenoidal Track At RHIC) experiment. In the fixed-target mode, ions circulate in one ring of the collider and interact with a stationary target at the entrance of the STAR Time Projection Chamber. The first results for Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{\textit{s}_{NN}}$ = 4.5 GeV are presented, including directed and elliptic flow of identified hadrons, and radii from pion femtoscopy. The proton flow and pion femtoscopy results agree quantitatively with earlier measurements by Alternating Gradient Synchrotron experiments at similar energies. This validates running the STAR experiment in the fixed-target configuration. Pion directed and elliptic flow are presented for the first time at this beam energy. Pion and proton elliptic flow show behavior which hints at constituent quark scaling, but large error bars preclude reliable conclusions. The ongoing second phase of BES (BES-II) will provide fixed-target data sets with 100 times more events at each of several energies down to $\sqrt{\textit{s}_{NN}}$ = 3.0 GeV.
Centrality selection for STAR FXT sqrt(sNN) = 4.5 GeV Au+Au collisions
Rapidity dependence of directed flow, v1(y), for protons with transverse momentum 0.4 < pT < 2.0 GeV/c from events with 10-25% centrality.
Rapidity dependence of directed flow, v1(y), for negative pions with transverse momentum pT > 0.2 GeV/c and total momentum magnitude |p| < 1.6 GeV/c from events within 10-30% centrality. Here, the BBC-based Event Plane method is used. Plotted error bars are statistical only, and systematic errors are of comparable size.
The Standard Model of particle physics encapsulates our current best understanding of physics at the smallest scales. A fundamental axiom of this theory is the universality of the couplings of the different generations of leptons to the electroweak gauge bosons. The measurement of the ratio of the rate of decay of $W$ bosons to $\tau$-leptons and muons, $R(\tau/\mu) = B(W \to \tau \nu_\tau)/B(W \to \mu \nu_\mu)$, constitutes an important test of this axiom. A measurement of this quantity with a novel technique using di-leptonic $t\bar{t}$ events is presented based on 139 fb${}^{-1}$ of data recorded with the ATLAS detector in proton--proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV. Muons originating from $W$ bosons and those originating from an intermediate $\tau$-lepton are distinguished using the lifetime of the $\tau$-lepton, through the muon transverse impact parameter, and differences in the muon transverse momentum spectra. The value of $R(\tau/\mu)$ is found to be $0.992 \pm 0.013 [\pm 0.007 (stat) \pm 0.011 (syst)]$ and is in agreement with the hypothesis of universal lepton couplings as postulated in the Standard Model. This is the most precise measurement of this ratio, and the only such measurement from the Large Hadron Collider, to date.
The number of data and fitted simulated events in each bin of the $|d_{0}^{\mu}|$ distribution in the $5<p_{\textrm{T}}^{\mu}<10$ GeV selection in the $e-\mu$ channel.
The number of data and fitted simulated events in each bin of the $|d_{0}^{\mu}|$ distribution in the $5<p_{\textrm{T}}^{\mu}<10$ GeV selection in the $\mu-\mu$ channel.
The number of data and fitted simulated events in each bin of the $|d_{0}^{\mu}|$ distribution in the $10<p_{\textrm{T}}^{\mu}<20$ GeV selection in the $e-\mu$ channel.
The observed cross sections for $e^+e^-\rightarrow \mu^+\mu^-$ at energies from 3.8 to 4.6 GeV are measured using data samples taken with the BESIII detector operated at the BEPCII collider. We measure the muonic widths and determine the branching fractions of the charmonium states $\psi(4040)$, $\psi(4160)$, and $\psi(4415)$ decaying to $\mu^+\mu^-$, as well as making a first determination of the phase of the amplitudes. In addition, we observe evidence for a structure in the dimuon cross section near 4.220 GeV/$c^2$, which we denote as $S(4220)$. Analyzing a coherent sum of amplitudes yields eight solutions, one of which gives a mass of ${M}_{S(4220)}=4216.7 \pm 8.9 \pm 4.1$~MeV/$c^2$, a total width of ${\rm \Gamma^{\rm tot}_{S(4220)}}=47.2 \pm 22.8 \pm 10.5$~MeV, and a muonic width of ${\rm \Gamma}^{\mu\mu}_{S(4220)}=1.53\pm1.26\pm0.54$~keV, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The eight solutions give the central values of the mass, total width, muonic width to be, respectively, in the range from 4212.8 to 4219.4 MeV/$c^2$, from 36.4 to 49.6 MeV, and from 1.09 to 1.53 keV. The statistical significance of the $S(4220)$ signal is $3.9\sigma$. Correcting the total dimuon cross section for radiative effects yields a statistical significance for this structure of more than $7\sigma$.
Observed cross sections of $e^+ e^- \to \mu^+ \mu^-$ at center-of-mass energies from 3.85 to 4.59 GeV, which are measured using the data taken in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Shown in the table are the center-of-mass energy, the observed cross section and its uncertainty, where the uncertainty is due to statistical fluctuation.
A measurement of event-shape variables in proton$-$proton collisions at large momentum transfer is presented using data collected at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Six event-shape variables calculated using hadronic jets are studied in inclusive multijet events using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. Measurements are performed in bins of jet multiplicity and in different ranges of the scalar sum of the transverse momenta of the two leading jets, reaching scales beyond 2 TeV. These measurements are compared with predictions from Monte Carlo event generators containing leading-order or next-to-leading order matrix elements matched to parton showers simulated to leading-logarithm accuracy. At low jet multiplicities, shape discrepancies between the measurements and the Monte Carlo predictions are observed. At high jet multiplicities, the shapes are better described but discrepancies in the normalisation are observed.
Measured relative cross sections for multijet production as a function of $\tau_{\perp}$ for $n^{\textrm{jet}}$ = 3 and 1 TeV < $H_{\textrm{T2}}$ < 1.5 TeV.
Measured relative cross sections for multijet production as a function of $\tau_{\perp}$ for $n^{\textrm{jet}}$ = 4 and 1 TeV < $H_{\textrm{T2}}$ < 1.5 TeV.
Measured relative cross sections for multijet production as a function of $\tau_{\perp}$ for $n^{\textrm{jet}}$ = 5 and 1 TeV < $H_{\textrm{T2}}$ < 1.5 TeV.
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