The first search for soft unclustered energy patterns (SUEPs) is performed using an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV collected in 2016-2018 by the CMS detector at the LHC. Such SUEPs are predicted by Hidden Valley models with a new, confining force with a large 't Hooft coupling. In events with boosted topologies, selected by high-threshold hadronic triggers, the multiplicity and sphericity of clustered tracks are used to reject the background from standard model quantum chromodynamics. With no observed excess of events over the standard model expectation, limits are set on the cross section for production via gluon fusion of a scalar mediator with SUEP-like decays.
The collective behavior of K$^0_\mathrm{S}$ and $\Lambda/\bar{\Lambda}$ strange hadrons is studied by measuring the elliptic azimuthal anisotropy ($v_2$) using the scalar-product and multiparticle correlation methods. Proton-lead (pPb) collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 8.16 TeV and lead-lead (PbPb) collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC are investigated. Nonflow effects in the pPb collisions are studied by using a subevent cumulant analysis and by excluding events where a jet with transverse momentum greater than 20\GeV is present. The strange hadron $v_2$ values extracted in \pPb collisions via the four- and six-particle correlation method are found to be nearly identical, suggesting the collective behavior. Comparisons of the pPb and PbPb results for both strange hadrons and charged particles illustrate how event-by-event flow fluctuations depend on the system size.
Charged hadron elliptic anisotropies ($v_2$) are presented over a wide transverse momentum ($p_\text{T}$) range for proton-lead (pPb) and lead-lead (PbPb) collisions at nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energies of 8.16 and 5.02 TeV, respectively. The data were recorded by the CMS experiment and correspond to integrated luminosities of 186 nb$^{-1}$ and 0.607 nb$^{-1}$ for the pPb and PbPb systems, respectively. A four-particle cumulant analysis is performed using subevents separated in pseudorapidity to effectively suppress non-collective effects. At high $p_\text{T}$ ($p_\text{T}$$\gt$ 8 GeV), significant positive $v_2$ values are observed that are similar between pPb and PbPb collisions at comparable charged particle multiplicities. This observation suggests a common origin for the multi-particle collectivity for high-$p_\text{T}$ particles in the two systems.
Energy-energy correlators are constructed by averaging the number of charged particle pairs within jets, weighted by the product of their transverse momenta, as a function of the angular separation of the particles within a pair. They are sensitive to a multitude of perturbative and nonperturbative quantum chromodynamics phenomena in high-energy particle collisions. Using lead-lead data recorded with the CMS detector, energy-energy correlators inside high transverse momentum jets are measured in heavy ion collisions for the first time. The data are obtained at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 1.70 nb$^{-1}$. A similar analysis is done for proton-proton collisions at the same center-of-mass energy to establish a reference. The ratio of lead-lead to proton-proton energy-energy correlators reveals significant jet substructure modifications in the quark-gluon plasma. The results are compared to different models that incorporate either color coherence or medium response effects, where the two effects predict similar substructure modifications.
Incoherent J/$\psi$ photoproduction in heavy ion ultraperipheral collisions (UPCs), in which the photon interacts with localized, fluctuating gluonic hotspots rather than the entire nucleus, provides a unique probe of those fluctuations. This study presents the first measurement of the dependence of this photoproduction yield on the photon-nucleon center-of-mass energy ($W_\gamma^\mathrm{N}$), using PbPb UPCs at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. The data corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1.52 nb$^{-1}$, recorded by the CMS experiment. The measurement covers a wide $W_\gamma^\mathrm{N}$ range of $\approx$40-400 GeV, probing gluons carrying a fraction of nucleon momentum $x$ in the range between 5.9 $\times$ 10$^{-3}$ and 6.5 $\times$ 10$^{-5}$. The measured incoherent J/$\psi$ photoproduction cross section is suppressed relative to theoretical predictions without nuclear effects. However, the ratio of incoherent to coherent photoproduction remains constant across the probed $W_\gamma^\mathrm{N}$ and $x$ range. Together, these results pose significant challenges to current theoretical models which include gluon saturation or nuclear shadowing effects.
The pseudorapidity ($\eta$) distributions of charged hadrons are measured using data collected at the highest ever nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.36 TeV for collisions of lead-lead ions. The data were recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2022 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 0.30 $\pm$ 0.03 $\mu$b$^{-1}$. Using the CMS silicon pixel detector, the yields of primary charged hadrons produced in the range $\vert\eta\vert$$\lt$ 2.6 are reported. The evolution of the midrapidity particle density as a function of collision centrality is also reported. In the 5% most central collisions, the charged-hadron $\eta$ density in the range $\vert\eta\vert$ $\lt$ 0.5 is found to be 2032 $\pm$ 91 (syst), with negligible statistical uncertainty. This result is consistent with an extrapolation from nucleus-nucleus collision data at lower center-of-mass energies. Comparisons are made to various Monte Carlo event generators and to previous measurements of lead-lead and xenon-xenon collisions at similar collision energies. These new data detail the dependence of particle production on the collision energy, initial collision geometry, and the size of the colliding nuclei.
The inclusive WZ production cross section is measured in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13.6 TeV, using data collected during 2022 with the CMS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34.7 fb$^{-1}$. The measurement uses multileptonic final states and a simultaneous likelihood fit to the number of events in four different lepton flavour categories: eee, ee$\mu$, $\mu\mu $e, and $\mu\mu\mu$. The selection is optimized to minimize the number of background events, and relies on an efficient prompt lepton discrimination strategy. The WZ production cross section is measured in a phase space defined within a 30 GeV window around the Z boson mass, as $\sigma_{\text{total}}$(pp $\to$ WZ) = 55.2 $\pm$ 1.2 (stat) $\pm$ 1.2 (syst) $\pm$ 0.8 (lumi) $\pm$ 0.3 (theo) pb. In addition, the cross section is measured in a fiducial phase space closer to the detector-level requirements. All the measurements presented in this paper are in agreement with standard model predictions.
The polarization of the $\Lambda$ and $\overline{\Lambda}$ hyperons along the beam direction has been measured in proton-lead (pPb) collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 8.16 TeV. The data were obtained with the CMS detector at the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 186.0 $\pm$ 6.5 nb$^{-1}$. A significant azimuthal dependence of the hyperon polarization, characterized by the second-order Fourier sine coefficient $P_{z,s2}$, is observed. The $P_{z,s2}$ values decrease as a function of charged particle multiplicity, but increase with transverse momentum. A hydrodynamic model that describes the observed $P_{z,s2}$ values in nucleus-nucleus collisions by introducing vorticity effects does not reproduce either the sign or the magnitude of the pPb results. These observations pose a challenge to the current theoretical implementation of spin polarization in heavy ion collisions and offer new insights into the origin of spin polarization in hadronic collisions at LHC energies.
The second-order azimuthal anisotropy Fourier harmonics, v2, are obtained in pPb and PbPb collisions over a wide pseudorapidity (eta) range based on correlations among six or more charged particles. The pPb data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35 inverse nanobarns, were collected during the 2013 LHC pPb run at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV by the CMS experiment. A sample of semi-peripheral PbPb collision data at sqrt(s[NN])= 2.76 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.5 inverse microbarns and covering a similar range of particle multiplicities as the pPb data, is also analyzed for comparison. The six- and eight-particle cumulant and the Lee-Yang zeros methods are used to extract the v2 coefficients, extending previous studies of two- and four-particle correlations. For both the pPb and PbPb systems, the v2 values obtained with correlations among more than four particles are consistent with previously published four-particle results. These data support the interpretation of a collective origin for the previously observed long-range (large Delta[eta]) correlations in both systems. The ratios of v2 values corresponding to correlations including different numbers of particles are compared to theoretical predictions that assume a hydrodynamic behavior of a pPb system dominated by fluctuations in the positions of participant nucleons. These results provide new insights into the multi-particle dynamics of collision systems with a very small overlapping region.
Measurements of two- and multi-particle angular correlations in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 5, 7, and 13 TeV are presented as a function of charged-particle multiplicity. The data, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 1.0 inverse picobarn (5 TeV), 6.2 inverse picobarns (7 TeV), and 0.7 inverse picobarns (13 TeV), were collected using the CMS detector at the LHC. The second-order (v[2]) and third-order (v[3]) azimuthal anisotropy harmonics of unidentified charged particles, as well as v[2] of K0 short and Lambda/anti-Lambda particles, are extracted from long-range two-particle correlations as functions of particle multiplicity and transverse momentum. For high-multiplicity pp events, a mass ordering is observed for the v[2] values of charged hadrons (mostly pions), K0 short, and Lambda/anti-Lambda, with lighter particle species exhibiting a stronger azimuthal anisotropy signal below pt of about 2 GeV/c. For 13 TeV data, the v[2] signals are also extracted from four- and six-particle correlations for the first time in pp collisions, with comparable magnitude to those from two-particle correlations. These observations are similar to those seen in pPb and PbPb collisions, and support the interpretation of a collective origin for the observed long-range correlations in high-multiplicity pp collisions.
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