A search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson to a pair of light pseudoscalar particles a$_1$ is performed under the hypothesis that one of the pseudoscalars decays to a pair of opposite sign muons and the other decays to b$\overline{\mathrm{b}}$. Such signatures are predicted in a number of extensions of the standard model (SM), including next-to-minimal supersymmetry and two-Higgs-doublet models with an additional scalar singlet. The results are based on a data set of proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$, accumulated with the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in 2016 at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. No statistically significant excess is observed with respect to the SM backgrounds in the search region for pseudoscalar masses from 20 GeV to half of the Higgs boson mass. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the product of the production cross section and branching fraction, $\sigma_{\mathrm{h}}\mathcal{B}$(h $\to$ a$_1$ a$_1$ $\to$ $\mu^+\mu^-\mathrm{b}\bar{\mathrm{b}}$), ranging from 5 to 33 fb, depending on the pseudoscalar mass. Corresponding limits on the branching fraction, assuming the SM prediction for $\sigma_{\mathrm{h}}$, are (1$-$7)$\times$ 10$^{-4}$.
A data sample of events from proton-proton collisions with at least two jets, and two isolated same-sign or three or more charged leptons, is studied in a search for signatures of new physics phenomena. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$ at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected in 2016-2018 by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The search is performed using a total of 168 signal regions defined using several kinematic variables. The properties of the events are found to be consistent with the expectations from standard model processes. Exclusion limits at 95% confidence level are set on cross sections for the pair production of gluinos or squarks for various decay scenarios in the context of supersymmetric models conserving or violating R parity. The observed lower mass limits are as large as 2.1 TeV for gluinos and 0.9 TeV for top and bottom squarks. To facilitate reinterpretations, model-independent limits are provided in a set of simplified signal regions.
A search is presented for pairs of light pseudoscalar bosons, in the mass range from 4 to 15 GeV, produced from decays of the 125 GeV Higgs boson. The decay modes considered are final states that arise when one of the pseudoscalars decays to a pair of tau leptons, and the other one either into a pair of tau leptons or muons. The search is based on proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS experiment in 2016 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV that correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb${-1}$. The 2$\mu$2$\tau$ and 4$\tau$ channels are used in combination to constrain the product of the Higgs boson production cross section and the branching fraction into 4$\tau$ final state, $\sigma\mathcal{B}$, exploiting the linear dependence of the fermionic coupling strength of pseudoscalar bosons on the fermion mass. No significant excess is observed beyond the expectation from the standard model. The observed and expected upper limits at 95% confidence level on $\sigma\mathcal{B}$, relative to the standard model Higgs boson production cross section, are set respectively between 0.022 and 0.23 and between 0.027 and 0.19 in the mass range probed by the analysis.
Production cross sections of $\Upsilon$(1S), $\Upsilon$(2S), and $\Upsilon$(3S) states decaying into $\mu^+\mu^-$ in proton-lead (pPb) collisions are reported using data collected by the CMS experiment at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} =$ 5.02 TeV. A comparison is made with corresponding cross sections obtained with pp data measured at the same collision energy and scaled by the Pb nucleus mass number. The nuclear modification factor for $\Upsilon$(1S) is found to be $R_\mathrm{pPb}(\Upsilon(1S))$ = 0.806 $\pm$ 0.024 (stat) $\pm$ 0.059 (syst). Similar results for the excited states indicate a sequential suppression pattern, such that $R_\mathrm{pPb}(\Upsilon(1S))$$\gt$$R_\mathrm{pPb}(\Upsilon(2S))$$\gt$$R_\mathrm{pPb}(\Upsilon(3S))$. The suppression is much less pronounced in pPb than in PbPb collisions, and independent of transverse momentum $p_\mathrm{T}^\Upsilon$ and center-of-mass rapidity $y_\mathrm{CM}^\Upsilon$ of the individual $\Upsilon$ state in the studied range $p_\mathrm{T}^\Upsilon$$\lt$ 30 GeV$/c$ and $\vert y_\mathrm{CM}^\Upsilon\vert$$\lt$ 1.93. Models that incorporate sequential suppression of bottomonia in pPb collisions are in better agreement with the data than those which only assume initial-state modifications.
A measurement of the differential cross sections for a W boson produced in association with jets in the muon decay channel is presented. The measurement is based on 13 TeV proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.2 inverse femtobarns, recorded by the CMS detector at the LHC. The cross sections are reported as functions of jet multiplicity, jet transverse momentum pT, jet rapidity, the scalar pT sum of the jets, and angular correlations between the muon and the jet for different jet multiplicities. The measured cross sections are in agreement with predictions that include multileg leading-order (LO) and next-to-LO matrix element calculations interfaced with parton showers, as well as a next-to-next-to-LO calculation for the W boson and one jet production.
Four-lepton production in proton-proton collisions, $\mathrm{pp}\to (\mathrm{Z}/ \gamma^*)(\mathrm{Z}/\gamma^*) \to 4\ell$, where $\ell = \mathrm{e}$ or $\mu$, is studied at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. The ZZ production cross section, $\sigma(\mathrm{pp} \to \mathrm{Z}\mathrm{Z}) = 17.2 \pm 0.5\text{ (stat) }\pm 0.7\text{ (syst) }\pm 0.4(\mathrm{theo}) \pm 0.4\text{ (lumi)}$ pb, measured using events with two opposite-sign, same-flavor lepton pairs produced in the mass region $60 < m_{\ell^+\ell^-} < $120 GeV, is consistent with standard model predictions. Differential cross sections are measured and are well described by the theoretical predictions. The Z boson branching fraction to four leptons is measured to be $\mathcal{B}(\mathrm{Z}\to 4\ell) = 4.8 \pm 0.2\text{ (stat) }\pm 0.2\text{ (syst) } \pm 0.1\text{ (theo) }\pm 0.1\text{ (lumi) }\times 10^{-6}$ for events with a four-lepton invariant mass in the range 80 $ < m_{4\ell} < $ 100 GeV and a dilepton mass $m_{\ell\ell} > $4 GeV for all opposite-sign, same-flavor lepton pairs. The results agree with standard model predictions. The invariant mass distribution of the four-lepton system is used to set limits on anomalous ZZZ and ZZ$\gamma$ couplings at 95% confidence level: $-0.0012 < f_4^\mathrm{Z} < 0.0010$, $-0.0010 < f_5^\mathrm{Z} < 0.0013$, $-0.0012 < f_4^{\gamma} < 0.0013$, $-0.0012 < f_5^{\gamma} < 0.0013$.
A measurement of vector boson scattering and constraints on anomalous quartic gauge couplings from events with two Z bosons and two jets are presented. The analysis is based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV collected with the CMS detector and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 inverse femtobarns. The search is performed in the fully leptonic final state ZZ to lll'l', where l, l' = e, mu. The electroweak production of two Z bosons in association with two jets is measured with an observed (expected) significance of 2.7 (1.6) standard deviations. A fiducial cross section for the electroweak production is measured to be sigma[EW](pp -> ZZjj -> lll'l'jj) = 0.40 -0.16 +0.21 (stat) -0.09 +0.13 (syst) fb, which is consistent with the standard model prediction. Limits on anomalous quartic gauge couplings are determined in terms of the effective field theory operators T0, T1, T2, T8, and T9. This is the first measurement of vector boson scattering in the ZZ channel at the LHC.
Measurements are presented of W gamma gamma and Z gamma gamma production in proton-proton collisions. Fiducial cross sections are reported based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.4 inverse femtobarns collected with the CMS detector at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. Signal is identified through the W to l nu and Z to ll decay modes, where l is a muon or an electron. The production of W gamma gamma and Z gamma gamma, measured with significances of 2.6 and 5.9 standard deviations, respectively, is consistent with standard model predictions. In addition, limits on anomalous quartic gauge couplings in W gamma gamma production are determined in the context of a dimension-8 effective field theory.
The production yields of Upsilon(1S), Upsilon(2S), and Upsilon(3S) quarkonium states are measured through their decays into muon pairs in the CMS detector, in PbPb and pp collisions at the centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 2.76 TeV. The data correspond to integrated luminosities of 166 inverse microbarns and 5.4 inverse picobarns for PbPb and pp collisions, respectively. Differential production cross sections are reported as functions of Upsilon rapidity y up to 2.4, and transverse momentum pT up to 20 GeV/c. A strong centrality-dependent suppression is observed in PbPb relative to pp collisions, by factors of up to approximately 2 and 8, for the Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) states, respectively. No significant dependence of this suppression is observed as a function of y or pT. The Upsilon(3S) state is not observed in PbPb collisions, which corresponds to a suppression for the centrality-integrated data by at least a factor of approximately 7 at a 95% confidence level. The observed suppression is in agreement with theoretical scenarios modeling the sequential melting of quarkonium states in a quark gluon plasma.
The production cross section of a W boson in association with two b jets is measured using a sample of proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 19.8 inverse femtobarns. The W bosons are reconstructed via their leptonic decays, W to l nu, where l = mu or e. The fiducial region studied contains exactly one lepton with transverse momentum pt[l] > 30 GeV and pseudorapidity abs(eta[l]) < 2.1, with exactly two b jets with pt > 25 GeV and abs(eta) < 2.4 and no other jets with pt > 25 GeV and abs(eta) < 4.7. The cross section is measured to be sigma(pp to W (l nu)+ bb-bar) = 0.64 +/- 0.03 (stat) +/- 0.10 (syst) +/- 0.06 (theo) +/- 0.02 (lumi) pb, in agreement with standard model predictions.