This paper describes the measurement of elliptic flow of charged particles in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 2.76 TeV using the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The results are based on an integrated luminosity of approximately 7 ub^-1. Elliptic flow is measured over a wide region in pseudorapidity, |eta| < 2.5, and over a broad range in transverse momentum, 0.5 < p_T < 20 GeV. The elliptic flow parameter v_2 is obtained by correlating individual tracks with the event plane measured using energy deposited in the forward calorimeters. As a function of transverse momentum, v_2(p_T) reaches a maximum at p_T of about 3 GeV, then decreases and becomes weakly dependent on p_T above 7 - 8 GeV. Over the measured pseudorapidity region, v_2 is found to be approximately independent of |eta| for all collision centralities and particle transverse momenta, something not observed in lower energy collisions. The results are discussed in the context of previous measurements at lower collision energies, as well as recent results from the LHC.
The production cross sections of the prompt charmed mesons ${\rm D^0}$, ${\rm D^+}$, ${\rm D^{*+}}$ and ${\rm D_s^+}$ were measured at mid-rapidity in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). D mesons were reconstructed from their decays ${\rm D}^0 \to {\rm K}^-\pi^+$, ${\rm D}^+\to {\rm K}^-\pi^+\pi^+$, ${\rm D}^{*+} \to {\rm D}^0 \pi^+$, ${\rm D_s^{+}\to \phi\pi^+\to K^-K^+\pi^+}$, and their charge conjugates. With respect to previous measurements in the same rapidity region, the coverage in transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) is extended and the uncertainties are reduced by a factor of about two. The accuracy on the estimated total $\rm c\overline c$ production cross section is likewise improved. The measured $p_{\rm T}$-differential cross sections are compared with the results of three perturbative QCD calculations.
Two-particle angular correlations between trigger particles in the forward pseudorapidity range ($2.5 < |\eta| < 4.0$) and associated particles in the central range ($|\eta| < 1.0$) are measured with the ALICE detector in p-Pb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. The trigger particles are reconstructed using the muon spectrometer, and the associated particles by the central barrel tracking detectors. In high-multiplicity events, the double-ridge structure, previously discovered in two-particle angular correlations at midrapidity, is found to persist to the pseudorapidity ranges studied in this Letter. The second-order Fourier coefficients for muons in high-multiplicity events are extracted after jet-like correlations from low-multiplicity events have been subtracted. The coefficients are found to have a similar transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) dependence in p-going (p-Pb) and Pb-going (Pb-p) configurations, with the Pb-going coefficients larger by about $16\pm6$%, rather independent of $p_{\rm T}$ within the uncertainties of the measurement. The data are compared with calculations using the AMPT model, which predicts a different $p_{\rm T}$ and $\eta$ dependence than observed in the data. The results are sensitive to the parent particle $v_2$ and composition of reconstructed muon tracks, where the contribution from heavy flavour decays are expected to dominate at $p_{\rm T}>2$ GeV/$c$.
The production of J/$\psi$ and $\psi(2S)$ was measured with the ALICE detector in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC. The measurement was performed at forward rapidity ($2.5 < y < 4 $) down to zero transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) in the dimuon decay channel. Inclusive J/$\psi$ yields were extracted in different centrality classes and the centrality dependence of the average $p_{\rm T}$ is presented. The J/$\psi$ suppression, quantified with the nuclear modification factor ($R_{\rm AA}$), was studied as a function of centrality, transverse momentum and rapidity. Comparisons with similar measurements at lower collision energy and theoretical models indicate that the J/$\psi$ production is the result of an interplay between color screening and recombination mechanisms in a deconfined partonic medium, or at its hadronization. Results on the $\psi(2S)$ suppression are provided via the ratio of $\psi(2S)$ over J/$\psi$ measured in pp and Pb-Pb collisions.
A measurement of angular correlations in Drell-Yan lepton pairs via the phistar observable is presented. This variable probes the same physics as the Z/gamma* boson transverse momentum with a better experimental resolution. The Z/gamma*->e+e- and Z/gamma*->mu+mu- decays produced in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV are used. The data were collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb-1. Normalised differential cross sections as a function of phistar are measured separately for electron and muon decay channels. These channels are then combined for improved accuracy. The cross section is also measured double differentially as a function of phistar for three independent bins of the Z boson rapidity. The results are compared to QCD calculations and to predictions from different Monte Carlo event generators. The data are reasonably well described, in all measured Z boson rapidity regions, by resummed QCD predictions combined with fixed-order perturbative QCD calculations. Some of the Monte Carlo event generators are also able to describe the data. The measurement precision is typically better by one order of magnitude than present theoretical uncertainties.
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 scalar particles decaying via narrow resonances into two photons in the mass range $65-600$ GeV is performed using 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV $pp$ collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The recently discovered Higgs boson is treated as a background. No significant evidence for an additional signal is observed. The results are presented as limits at the 95 % confidence level on the production cross-section of a scalar boson times branching ratio into two photons, in a fiducial volume where the reconstruction efficiency is approximately independent of the event topology. The upper limits set extend over a considerably wider mass range than previous searches.
ATLAS measurements of the azimuthal anisotropy in lead-lead collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=2.76$ TeV are shown using a dataset of approximately 7 $\mu$b$^{-1}$ collected at the LHC in 2010. The measurements are performed for charged particles with transverse momenta $0.5<p_T<20$ GeV and in the pseudorapidity range $|\eta|<2.5$. The anisotropy is characterized by the Fourier coefficients, $v_n$, of the charged-particle azimuthal angle distribution for n = 2-4. The Fourier coefficients are evaluated using multi-particle cumulants calculated with the generating function method. Results on the transverse momentum, pseudorapidity and centrality dependence of the $v_n$ coefficients are presented. The elliptic flow, $v_2$, is obtained from the two-, four-, six- and eight-particle cumulants while higher-order coefficients, $v_3$ and $v_4$, are determined with two- and four-particle cumulants. Flow harmonics $v_n$ measured with four-particle cumulants are significantly reduced compared to the measurement involving two-particle cumulants. A comparison to $v_n$ measurements obtained using different analysis methods and previously reported by the LHC experiments is also shown. Results of measurements of flow fluctuations evaluated with multi-particle cumulants are shown as a function of transverse momentum and the collision centrality. Models of the initial spatial geometry and its fluctuations fail to describe the flow fluctuations measurements.
This paper reports inclusive and differential measurements of the $t\bar{t}$ charge asymmetry $A_{\textrm{C}}$ in 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV $pp$ collisions recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Three differential measurements are performed as a function of the invariant mass, transverse momentum and longitudinal boost of the $t\bar{t}$ system. The $t\bar{t}$ pairs are selected in the single-lepton channels ($e$ or $\mu$) with at least four jets, and a likelihood fit is used to reconstruct the $t\bar{t}$ event kinematics. A Bayesian unfolding procedure is performed to infer the asymmetry at parton level from the observed data distribution. The inclusive $t\bar{t}$ charge asymmetry is measured to be $A_{\textrm{C}} = 0.009 \pm 0.005$ (stat.$+$syst.). The inclusive and differential measurements are compatible with the values predicted by the Standard Model.
Measurements of differential cross-sections of top-quark pair production in fiducial phase-spaces are presented as a function of top-quark and $t\bar{t}$ system kinematic observables in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$=13 TeV. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of $3.2$ fb${}^{-1}$, recorded in 2015 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Events with exactly one electron or muon and at least two jets in the final state are used for the measurement. Two separate selections are applied that each focus on different top-quark momentum regions, referred to as resolved and boosted topologies of the $t\bar{t}$ final state. The measured spectra are corrected for detector effects and are compared to several Monte Carlo simulations by means of calculated $\chi^2$ and $p$-values.
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