Decays of the 125 GeV Higgs boson into a Z boson and a $\rho^0$(770) or $\phi$(1020) meson are searched for using proton-proton collision data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at $\sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV. The analysed data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$. Events are selected in which the Z boson decays into a pair of electrons or a pair of muons, and the $\rho$ and $\phi$ mesons decay into pairs of pions and kaons, respectively. No significant excess above the background model is observed. As different polarization states are possible for the decay products of the Z boson and $\rho$ or $\phi$ mesons, affecting the signal acceptance, scenarios in which the decays are longitudinally or transversely polarized are considered. Upper limits at the 95% confidence level on the Higgs boson branching fractions into Z$\rho$ and Z$\phi$ are determined to be 1.04-1.31% and 0.31-0.40%, respectively, where the ranges reflect the considered polarization scenarios; these values are 740-940 and 730-950 times larger than the respective standard model expectations. These results constitute the first experimental limits on the two decay channels.
Observed and expected 95% CL upper limits on B(H $\rightarrow$ Z$\rho$), for different polarizations.
Observed and expected 95% CL upper limits on B(H $\rightarrow$ Z$\phi$), for different polarizations.
A measurement of dielectron production in proton-proton (pp) collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV, recorded with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC, is presented in this Letter. The data set was recorded with a reduced magnetic solenoid field. This enables the investigation of a kinematic domain at low dielectron invariant mass $m_{\rm ee}$ and pair transverse momentum $p_{\rm T,ee}$ that was previously inaccessible at the LHC. The cross section for dielectron production is studied as a function of $m_{\rm ee}$, $p_{\rm T,ee}$, and event multiplicity ${\rm d} N_{\rm ch}/{\rm d} \eta$. The expected dielectron rate from hadron decays, called hadronic cocktail, utilizes a parametrization of the measured $\eta/\pi^0$ ratio in pp and proton-nucleus (p-A) collisions, assuming that this ratio shows no strong dependence on collision energy at low transverse momentum. Comparison of the measured dielectron yield to the hadronic cocktail at $0.15<m_{\rm ee}<0.6$ GeV/$c^2$ and for $p_{\rm T,ee} < 0.4$ GeV/$c$ indicates an enhancement of soft dielectrons, reminiscent of the 'anomalous' soft-photon and -dilepton excess in hadron-hadron collisions reported by several experiments under different experimental conditions. The enhancement factor over the hadronic cocktail amounts to $1.61\pm 0.13\,(\rm{stat.})\pm 0.17\,(\rm{syst., data}) \pm 0.34\,(\rm{syst., cocktail})$ in the ALICE acceptance. Acceptance-corrected excess spectra in $m_{\rm ee}$ and $p_{\rm T,ee}$ are extracted and compared with calculations of dielectron production from hadronic bremsstrahlung and thermal radiation within a hadronic many-body approach.
Differential dielectron cross section in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV as a function of $m_{\rm ee}$. Electrons are measured within $|\eta_{\rm e}| < 0.8$ and $p_{\rm T,e} > 0.075$ GeV/$c$.
Differential dielectron cross section in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV in the invariant mass interval 0.15<$m_{\rm ee}$<0.6 as a function of $p_{\rm T,ee}$. Electrons are measured within $|\eta_{\rm e}| < 0.8$ and $p_{\rm T,e} > 0.075$ GeV/$c$.
Dielectron yield per event in the excess region(0.15<$m_{\rm ee}$<0.6, $p_{\rm T,ee}$<0.4) as a function of the event multiplicity. Electrons are measured within $|\eta_{\rm e}| < 0.8$ and $p_{\rm T,e} > 0.075$ GeV/$c$.
One of the key challenges for nuclear physics today is to understand from first principles the effective interaction between hadrons with different quark content. First successes have been achieved using techniques that solve the dynamics of quarks and gluons on discrete space-time lattices. Experimentally, the dynamics of the strong interaction have been studied by scattering hadrons off each other. Such scattering experiments are difficult or impossible for unstable hadrons and so high-quality measurements exist only for hadrons containing up and down quarks. Here we demonstrate that measuring correlations in the momentum space between hadron pairs produced in ultrarelativistic proton-proton collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) provides a precise method with which to obtain the missing information on the interaction dynamics between any pair of unstable hadrons. Specifically, we discuss the case of the interaction of baryons containing strange quarks (hyperons). We demonstrate how, using precision measurements of p-omega baryon correlations, the effect of the strong interaction for this hadron-hadron pair can be studied with precision similar to, and compared with, predictions from lattice calculations. The large number of hyperons identified in proton-proton collisions at the LHC, together with an accurate modelling of the small (approximately one femtometre) inter-particle distance and exact predictions for the correlation functions, enables a detailed determination of the short-range part of the nucleon-hyperon interaction.
The p--$\Xi^{-}$ $\oplus$ $\overline{\mathrm{p}}$--$\overline{\Xi}^{+}$ correlation function.
The p--$\Xi^{-}$ $\oplus$ $\overline{\mathrm{p}}$--$\overline{\Xi}^{+}$ correlation function.
The p--$\Omega^{-}$ $\oplus$ $\overline{\mathrm{p}}$--$\overline{\Omega}^{+}$ correlation function.
Measurements of the inclusive J/$\psi$ yield as a function of charged-particle pseudorapidity density ${\rm d}N_{\rm ch}/\rm{d}\eta$ in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with ALICE at the LHC are reported. The J/$\psi$ meson yield is measured at midrapidity ($|y|<0.9$) in the dielectron channel, for events selected based on the charged-particle multiplicity at midrapidity ($|\eta|<1$) and at forward rapidity ($-3.7<\eta<-1.7$ and $2.8<\eta<5.1$); both observables are normalized to their corresponding averages in minimum bias events. The increase of the normalized J/$\psi$ yield with normalized ${\rm d}N_{\rm ch}/\rm{d}\eta$ is significantly stronger than linear and dependent on the transverse momentum. The data are compared to theoretical predictions, which describe the observed trends well, albeit not always quantitatively.
$N_{J/psi}/<N_{J/\psi}> / N_{ch}/<N_{ch}>$, $|y^{J/\psi}|<0.9$, $p_{T}^{J/\psi}$ integrated, event selection SPD
$N_{J/psi}/<N_{J/\psi}> / N_{ch}/<N_{ch}>$, $|y^{J/\psi}|<0.9$, $p_{T}^{J/\psi}$ integrated, event selection V0
$N_{J/psi}/<N_{J/\psi}> / N_{ch}/<N_{ch}>$, $|y^{J/\psi}|<0.9$, $p_{T}^{J/\psi}$ 0-4 and 4-8 GeV/c, event selection SPD
Measurements of production cross sections of WZ and same-sign WW boson pairs in association with two jets in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV at the LHC are reported. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$, collected with the CMS detector during 2016-2018. The measurements are performed in the leptonic decay modes W$^\pm$Z $\to$ $\ell^\pm\nu\ell'^\pm\ell'^\mp$ and WW $\to$ $\ell^\pm\nu\ell'^\pm\nu$, where $\ell, \ell' = $ e, $\mu$. Differential fiducial cross sections as functions of the invariant masses of the jet and charged lepton pairs, as well as of the leading-lepton transverse momentum, are measured for WW production and are consistent with the standard model predictions. The dependence of differential cross sections on the invariant mass of the jet pair is also measured for WZ production. An observation of electroweak production of WZ boson pairs is reported with an observed (expected) significance of 6.8 (5.3) standard deviations. Constraints are obtained on the structure of quartic vector boson interactions in the framework of effective field theory.
Relative systematic uncertainties in the EW $W^\pm W^\pm$ and WZ cross section measurements in units of percent.
Expected and observed yields from the standard model processeses in the WW signal region. The combination of the statistical and systematic uncertainties are shown. The predicted yields are shown with their best-fit normalizations from the simultaneous fit.
Expected and observed yields from the standard model processeses in the WZ signal region. The combination of the statistical and systematic uncertainties are shown. The predicted yields are shown with their best-fit normalizations from the simultaneous fit.
Forum