Search for flavor-changing neutral-current couplings between the top quark and the $Z$ boson with LHC Run 2 proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS collaboration Aad, G. ; Abbott, B. ; Abbott, D.C. ; et al.
Phys.Rev.D 108 (2023) 032019, 2023.
Inspire Record 2627201 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.145074

A search for flavor-changing neutral-current couplings between a top quark, an up or charm quark and a $Z$ boson is presented, using proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analyzed dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. The search targets both single-top-quark events produced as $gq\rightarrow tZ$ (with $q = u, c$) and top-quark-pair events, with one top quark decaying through the $t \rightarrow Zq$ channel. The analysis considers events with three leptons (electrons or muons), a $b$-tagged jet, possible additional jets, and missing transverse momentum. The data are found to be consistent with the background-only hypothesis and 95% confidence-level limits on the $t \rightarrow Zq$ branching ratios are set, assuming only tensor operators of the Standard Model effective field theory framework contribute to the $tZq$ vertices. These are $6.2 \times 10^{-5}$ ($13\times 10^{-5}$) for $t\rightarrow Zu$ ($t\rightarrow Zc$) for a left-handed $tZq$ coupling, and $6.6 \times 10^{-5}$ ($12\times 10^{-5}$) in the case of a right-handed coupling. These results are interpreted as 95% CL upper limits on the strength of corresponding couplings, yielding limits for $|C_{uW}^{(13)*}|$ and $|C_{uB}^{(13)*}|$ ($|C_{uW}^{(31)}|$ and $|C_{uB}^{(31)}|$) of 0.15 (0.16), and limits for $|C_{uW}^{(23)*}|$ and $|C_{uB}^{(23)*}|$ ($|C_{uW}^{(32)}|$ and $|C_{uB}^{(32)}|$) of 0.22 (0.21), assuming a new-physics energy scale $\Lambda_\text{NP}$ of 1 TeV.

18 data tables

Summary of the signal strength $\mu$ parameters obtained from the fits to extract LH and RH results for the FCNC tZu and tZc couplings. For the reference branching ratio, the most stringent limits are used.

Observed and expected 95% CL limits on the FCNC $t\rightarrow Zq$ branching ratios and the effective coupling strengths for different vertices and couplings (top eight rows). For the latter, the energy scale is assumed to be $\Lambda_{NP}$ = 1 TeV. The bottom rows show, for the case of the FCNC $t\rightarrow Zu$ branching ratio, the observed and expected 95% CL limits when only one of the two SRs, either SR1 or SR2, and all CRs are included in the likelihood.

Comparison between data and background prediction before the fit (Pre-Fit) for the mass of the SM top-quark candidate in SR1. The uncertainty band includes both the statistical and systematic uncertainties in the background prediction. The four FCNC LH signals are also shown separately, normalized to five times the cross-section corresponding to the most stringent observed branching ratio limits. The first (last) bin in all distributions includes the underflow (overflow). The lower panels show the ratios of the data (Data) to the background prediction (Bkg.).

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Combination of inclusive top-quark pair production cross-section measurements using ATLAS and CMS data at $\sqrt{s}= 7$ and 8 TeV

The ATLAS & CMS collaborations Aad, G. ; Abbott, B. ; Abbott, D.C. ; et al.
JHEP 07 (2023) 213, 2023.
Inspire Record 2088291 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.110250

A combination of measurements of the inclusive top-quark pair production cross-section performed by ATLAS and CMS in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV at the LHC is presented. The cross-sections are obtained using top-quark pair decays with an opposite-charge electron-muon pair in the final state and with data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 5 fb$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV and about 20 fb$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV for each experiment. The combined cross-sections are determined to be $178.5 \pm 4.7$ pb at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV and $243.3^{+6.0}_{-5.9}$ pb at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV with a correlation of 0.41, using a reference top-quark mass value of 172.5 GeV. The ratio of the combined cross-sections is determined to be $R_{8/7}= 1.363\pm 0.032$. The combined measured cross-sections and their ratio agree well with theory calculations using several parton distribution function (PDF) sets. The values of the top-quark pole mass (with the strong coupling fixed at 0.118) and the strong coupling (with the top-quark pole mass fixed at 172.5 GeV) are extracted from the combined results by fitting a next-to-next-to-leading-order plus next-to-next-to-leading-log QCD prediction to the measurements. Using a version of the NNPDF3.1 PDF set containing no top-quark measurements, the results obtained are $m_t^\text{pole} = 173.4^{+1.8}_{-2.0}$ GeV and $\alpha_\text{s}(m_Z)= 0.1170^{+ 0.0021}_{-0.0018}$.

2 data tables

Full covariance matrix including all systematic uncertainties expressed as nuisance parameters. With the exception of the cross section parameters, all parameters were normalised to 1 before the fit. Therefore, the diagonal elements represent the constraint in quadrature.

Full covariance matrix including all systematic uncertainties expressed as nuisance parameters. With the exception of the cross section parameters, all parameters were normalised to 1 before the fit. Therefore, the diagonal elements represent the constraint in quadrature.


Search for lepton-flavor-violation in $Z$-boson decays with $\tau$-leptons with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS collaboration Aad, Georges ; Abbott, Braden Keim ; Abbott, Dale ; et al.
Phys.Rev.Lett. 127 (2022) 271801, 2022.
Inspire Record 1865746 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.105516

A search for lepton-flavor-violating $Z\to e\tau$ and $Z\to\mu\tau$ decays with $pp$ collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC is presented. This analysis uses 139 fb$^{-1}$ of Run 2 $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV and is combined with the results of a similar ATLAS search in the final state in which the $\tau$-lepton decays hadronically, using the same data set as well as Run 1 data. The addition of leptonically decaying $\tau$-leptons significantly improves the sensitivity reach for $Z\to\ell\tau$ decays. The $Z\to\ell\tau$ branching fractions are constrained in this analysis to $\mathcal{B}(Z\to e\tau)<7.0\times10^{-6}$ and $\mathcal{B}(Z\to \mu\tau)<7.2\times10^{-6}$ at 95% confidence level. The combination with the previously published analyses sets the strongest constraints to date: $\mathcal{B}(Z\to e\tau)<5.0\times10^{-6}$ and $\mathcal{B}(Z\to \mu\tau)<6.5\times10^{-6}$ at 95% confidence level.

16 data tables

The best-fit predicted and observed distributions of the combined NN output in the low-$p_\text{T}$-SR for the $e\tau_\mu$ channel. The first and last bin include underflow and overflow events, respectively.

The best-fit predicted and observed distributions of the combined NN output in the low-$p_\text{T}$-SR for the $\mu\tau_e$ channel. The first and last bin include underflow and overflow events, respectively.

The best-fit predicted and observed distributions of the combined NN output in the high-$p_\text{T}$-SR for the $e\tau_\mu$ channel. The first and last bin include underflow and overflow events, respectively.

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Search for pairs of highly collimated photon-jets in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS collaboration Aaboud, Morad ; Aad, Georges ; Abbott, Brad ; et al.
Phys.Rev.D 99 (2019) 012008, 2019.
Inspire Record 1692387 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.85728

Results of a search for the pair production of photon-jets$-$collimated groupings of photons$-$in the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. Highly collimated photon-jets can arise from the decay of new, highly boosted particles that can decay to multiple photons collimated enough to be identified in the electromagnetic calorimeter as a single, photonlike energy cluster. Data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.7 fb$^{-1}$, were collected in 2015 and 2016. Candidate photon-jet pair production events are selected from those containing two reconstructed photons using a set of identification criteria much less stringent than that typically used for the selection of photons, with additional criteria applied to provide improved sensitivity to photon-jets. Narrow excesses in the reconstructed diphoton mass spectra are searched for. The observed mass spectra are consistent with the Standard Model background expectation. The results are interpreted in the context of a model containing a new, high-mass scalar particle with narrow width, $X$, that decays into pairs of photon-jets via new, light particles, $a$. Upper limits are placed on the cross section times the product of branching ratios $\sigma \times \mathcal{B}(X \rightarrow aa) \times \mathcal {B}(a \rightarrow \gamma \gamma)^{2}$ for 200 GeV $< m_{X} <$ 2 TeV and for ranges of $ m_a $ from a lower mass of 100 MeV up to between 2 and 10 GeV, depending upon $ m_X $. Upper limits are also placed on $\sigma \times \mathcal{B}(X \rightarrow aa) \times \mathcal {B}(a \rightarrow 3\pi^{0})^{2}$ for the same range of $ m_X $ and for ranges of $ m_a $ from a lower mass of 500 MeV up to between 2 and 10 GeV.

35 data tables

Distribution of the reconstructed diphoton mass for data events passing the analysis selection, in the low-$\Delta E$ category. There are no data events above 2700 GeV.

Distribution of the reconstructed diphoton mass for data events passing the analysis selection, in the high-$\Delta E$ category. There are no data events above 2700 GeV.

The observed upper limits on the production cross-section times the product of branching ratios for the benchmark signal scenario involving a scalar particle $X$ with narrow width decaying via $X\rightarrow aa\rightarrow 4\gamma$, $\sigma_X\times B(X\rightarrow aa)\times B(a\rightarrow\gamma\gamma)^2$. The limits for $m_{a}$ = 5 GeV and 10 GeV do not cover as large a range as the other mass points, since the region of interest is limited to $ m_{a} < 0.01 \times m_{X}$.

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Version 2
Search for squarks and gluinos in final states with hadronically decaying $\tau$-leptons, jets, and missing transverse momentum using $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS collaboration Aaboud, Morad ; Aad, Georges ; Abbott, Brad ; et al.
Phys.Rev.D 99 (2019) 012009, 2019.
Inspire Record 1688943 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.84426

A search for supersymmetry in events with large missing transverse momentum, jets, and at least one hadronically decaying $\tau$-lepton is presented. Two exclusive final states with either exactly one or at least two $\tau$-leptons are considered. The analysis is based on proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded by the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess is observed over the Standard Model expectation. At 95% confidence level, model-independent upper limits on the cross section are set and exclusion limits are provided for two signal scenarios: a simplified model of gluino pair production with $\tau$-rich cascade decays, and a model with gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking (GMSB). In the simplified model, gluino masses up to 2000 GeV are excluded for low values of the mass of the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP), while LSP masses up to 1000 GeV are excluded for gluino masses around 1400 GeV. In the GMSB model, values of the supersymmetry-breaking scale are excluded below 110 TeV for all values of $\tan\beta$ in the range $2 \leq \tan\beta \leq 60$, and below 120 TeV for $\tan\beta>30$.

104 data tables

1$\tau$ Compressed SR eff.

1$\tau$ Compressed SR eff.

1$\tau$ MediumMass SR eff.

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Search for charged Higgs bosons decaying into top and bottom quarks at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS collaboration Aaboud, Morad ; Aad, Georges ; Abbott, Brad ; et al.
JHEP 11 (2018) 085, 2018.
Inspire Record 1686365 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.83203

A search for charged Higgs bosons heavier than the top quark and decaying via $H^\pm \rightarrow tb$ is presented. The data analysed corresponds to 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV and was recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2015 and 2016. The production of a charged Higgs boson in association with a top quark and a bottom quark, $pp \rightarrow tb H^\pm$, is explored in the mass range from $m_{H^\pm}$ = 200 to 2000 GeV using multi-jet final states with one or two electrons or muons. Events are categorised according to the multiplicity of jets and how likely these are to have originated from hadronisation of a bottom quark. Multivariate techniques are used to discriminate between signal and background events. No significant excess above the background-only hypothesis is observed and exclusion limits are derived for the production cross-section times branching fraction of a charged Higgs boson as a function of its mass, which range from 2.9 pb at $m_{H^\pm}$ = 200 GeV to 0.070 pb at $m_{H^\pm}$ = 2000 GeV. The results are interpreted in two benchmark scenarios of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model.

5 data tables

Expected and observed limits for the production of $H^{+} \to tb$ in association with a top quark and a bottom quark. The bands surrounding the expected limit show the 68% and 95% confidence intervals. The limits are based on the combination of the $\ell+$jets and $\ell\ell$ final states. Theory predictions are shown for three representative values of $\tan\beta$ in the $m_h^{\mathrm{mod-}}$ benchmark scenario. Uncertainties in the predicted $H^+$ cross-sections or branching ratios are not considered.

Expected and observed upper limits on $\tan\beta$ as a function of $m_{H^{+}}$ in the $m_h^{\mathrm{mod-}}$ scenario of the MSSM. Limits are shown for $\tan\beta$ values in the range of 0.5-60, where predictions are available from both scenarios. The bands surrounding the expected limits show the 68% and 95% confidence intervals. The limits are based on the combination of the $\ell+$jets and $\ell\ell$ final states. The production cross-section of $t\bar{t}H$ and $tH$, as well as the branching ratios of the $H$, are fixed to their SM values at each point in the plane. Uncertainties on the predicted $H^{+}$ cross-sections or branching ratios are not considered.

Expected and observed lower limits on $\tan\beta$ as a function of $m_{H^{+}}$ in the $m_h^{\mathrm{mod-}}$ scenario of the MSSM. Limits are shown for $\tan\beta$ values in the range of 0.5-60, where predictions are available from both scenarios. The bands surrounding the expected limits show the 68% and 95% confidence intervals. The limits are based on the combination of the $\ell+$jets and $\ell\ell$ final states. The production cross-section of $t\bar{t}H$ and $tH$, as well as the branching ratios of the $H$, are fixed to their SM values at each point in the plane. Uncertainties on the predicted $H^{+}$ cross-sections or branching ratios are not considered.

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Search for pair production of heavy vector-like quarks decaying into hadronic final states in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS collaboration Aaboud, M. ; Aad, Georges ; Abbott, Brad ; et al.
Phys.Rev.D 98 (2018) 092005, 2018.
Inspire Record 1685207 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.83661

A search is presented for the pair production of heavy vector-like quarks, $T\bar T$ or $B\bar B$, that decay into final states with jets and no reconstructed leptons. Jets in the final state are classified using a deep neural network as arising from hadronically decaying $W/Z$ bosons, Higgs bosons, top quarks, or background. The analysis uses data from the ATLAS experiment corresponding to 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions with a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV delivered by the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 and 2016. No significant deviation from the Standard Model expectation is observed. Results are interpreted assuming the vector-like quarks decay into a Standard Model boson and a third-generation-quark, $T\rightarrow Wb,Ht,Zt$ or $B\rightarrow Wt,Hb,Zb$, for a variety of branching ratios. At 95% confidence level, the observed (expected) lower limit on the vector-like $B$-quark mass for a weak-isospin doublet ($B, Y$) is 950 (890) GeV, and the lower limits on the masses for the pure decays $B\rightarrow Hb$ and $T\rightarrow Ht$, where these results are strongest, are 1010 (970) GeV and 1010 (1010) GeV, respectively.

9 data tables

Expected and observed upper limits at the 95% CL on the $T\bar T$ cross section as a function of $T$ mass under the assumption BR($T\to Ht$)=1.

Expected and observed upper limits at the 95% CL on the $B\bar B$ cross section as a function of $B$ mass under the assumption BR($B\to Hb$)=1.

Expected and observed upper limits at the 95% CL on the $B\bar B$ cross section as a function of $B$ mass under the assumption of a weak-isospin doublet.

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Version 2
Search for new phenomena in events with same-charge leptons and $b$-jets in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}= 13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS collaboration Aaboud, Morad ; Aad, Georges ; Abbott, Brad ; et al.
JHEP 12 (2018) 039, 2018.
Inspire Record 1684489 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.83662

A search for new phenomena in events with two same-charge leptons or three leptons and jets identified as originating from $b$-quarks in a data sample of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}= 13$ TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is reported. No significant excess is found and limits are set on vector-like quark, four-top-quark, and same-sign top-quark pair production. The observed (expected) 95% CL mass limits for a vector-like $T$- and $B$-quark singlet are $m_T &gt; 0.98$ $(0.99)$ TeV and $m_B &gt; 1.00$ $(1.01)$ TeV respectively. Limits on the production of the vector-like $T_{5/3}$-quark are also derived considering both pair and single production; in the former case the lower limit on the mass of the $T_{5/3}$-quark is (expected to be) 1.19 (1.21) TeV. The Standard Model four-top-quark production cross-section upper limit is (expected to be) 69 (29) fb. Constraints are also set on exotic four-top-quark production models. Finally, limits are set on same-sign top-quark pair production. The upper limit on $uu \to tt$ production is (expected to be) 89 (59) fb for a mediator mass of 1 TeV, and a dark-matter interpretation is also derived, excluding a mediator of 3 TeV with a dark-sector coupling of 1.0 and a coupling to ordinary matter above 0.31.

28 data tables

Expected and observed limits on vector-like B-quark pair production as a function of mass, assuming the branching ratios expected in the singlet model.

Expected and observed limits on vector-like B-quark pair production as a function of mass, assuming the branching ratios expected in the singlet model.

Expected and observed limits on vector-like T-quark pair production as a function of mass, assuming the branching ratios expected in the singlet model.

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Search for dark matter in events with a hadronically decaying vector boson and missing transverse momentum in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS collaboration Aaboud, M. ; Aad, Georges ; Abbott, Brad ; et al.
JHEP 10 (2018) 180, 2018.
Inspire Record 1684341 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.83180

A search for dark matter (DM) particles produced in association with a hadronically decaying vector boson is performed using $pp$ collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$, recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. This analysis improves on previous searches for processes with hadronic decays of $W$ and $Z$ bosons in association with large missing transverse momentum (mono-$W/Z$ searches) due to the larger dataset and further optimization of the event selection and signal region definitions. In addition to the mono-$W/Z$ search, the as yet unexplored hypothesis of a new vector boson $Z^\prime$ produced in association with dark matter is considered (mono-$Z^\prime$ search). No significant excess over the Standard Model prediction is observed. The results of the mono-$W/Z$ search are interpreted in terms of limits on invisible Higgs boson decays into dark matter particles, constraints on the parameter space of the simplified vector-mediator model and generic upper limits on the visible cross sections for $W/Z$+DM production. The results of the mono-$Z^\prime$ search are shown in the framework of several simplified-model scenarios involving DM production in association with the $Z^\prime$ boson.

92 data tables

The product of the acceptance and effifiency. Defined as the number of signal events satisfying the full set of selection criteria, divided by the total number of generated signal events, after the full event selection for the combined mono-W and mono-Z signal of the simplified vector-mediator model, shown in dependence on mass of the Z' mediator (mZp). For a given model, the signal contributions from each category are summed together.

The product of the acceptance and effifiency. Defined as the number of signal events satisfying the full set of selection criteria, divided by the total number of generated signal events, after the full event selection for the mono-Z' dark fermion and dark-Higgs signal models, shown in dependence on the mass of the Z' mediator (mZp). For a given model, the signal contributions from each category are summed together.

The observed and expected MET distributions with 36.1fb-1 of data with sqrt(s) = 13 TeV in the mono-W/Z signal region with the merged event topology after the profile-likelihood fit. This is shown for the 0b-tagged jet, high purity, event category.

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Search for Higgs boson pair production in the $\gamma\gamma WW^{*}$ channel using $pp$ collision data recorded at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS collaboration Aaboud, Morad ; Aad, Georges ; Abbott, Brad ; et al.
Eur.Phys.J.C 78 (2018) 1007, 2018.
Inspire Record 1683431 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.83967

Searches for non-resonant and resonant Higgs boson pair production are performed in the $\gamma\gamma WW^{*}$ channel with the final state of $\gamma\gamma\ell\nu jj$ using 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. No significant deviation from the Standard Model prediction is observed. A 95% confidence-level observed upper limit of 7.7 pb is set on the cross section for non-resonant production, while the expected limit is 5.4 pb. A search for a narrow-width resonance $X$ decaying to a pair of Standard Model Higgs bosons $HH$ is performed with the same set of data, and the observed upper limits on $\sigma(pp \rightarrow X) \times B(X \rightarrow HH)$ range between 40.0 pb and 6.1 pb for masses of the resonance between 260 GeV and 500 GeV, while the expected limits range between 17.6 pb and 4.4 pb. When deriving the limits above, the Standard Model branching ratios of the $H \rightarrow \gamma\gamma$ and $H \rightarrow WW^{*}$ are assumed.

4 data tables

Number of data events without pTyy selection for $m_X$ = 260 GeV.

Number of data events witht pTyy selection for non-resonant.

Observed and expected 95% CL upper limits on the cross-section of gluon-fusion initialted resonant production of the mass of the resonance times the branch ratio (BR) of X to HH with assuming the BR of H to gammagamma and H to WW.

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