This work presents a new inclusive search for supersymmetry (SUSY) by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV in final states with jets, missing transverse momentum and one or more isolated electrons and/or muons. The search is based on data from the full 2011 data-taking period, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 inverse fb. Single- and multi-lepton channels are treated together in one analysis. An increase in sensitivity is obtained by simultaneously fitting the number of events in statistically independent signal regions, and the shapes of distributions within those regions. A dedicated signal region is introduced to be sensitive to decay cascades of SUSY particles with small mass differences ("compressed SUSY"). Background uncertainties are constrained by fitting to the jet multiplicity distribution in background control regions. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations, and limits are set or extended on a number of SUSY models.
We report a study of final states containing a W boson and hadronic jets, produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. The data were collected with the ATLAS detector at the CERN LHC and comprise the full 2010 data sample of 36 pb^-1. Cross sections are determined using both the electron and muon decay modes of the W boson and are presented as a function of inclusive jet multiplicity, N_jet, for up to five jets. At each multiplicity, cross sections are presented as a function of jet transverse momentum, the scalar sum of the transverse momenta of the charged lepton, missing transverse momentum, and all jets, the invariant mass spectra of jets, and the rapidity distributions of various combinations of leptons and final-state jets. The results, corrected for all detector effects and for all backgrounds such as diboson and top quark pair production, are compared with particle-level predictions from perturbative QCD. Leading-order multiparton event generators, normalized to the NNLO total cross section for inclusive W-boson production, describe the data reasonably well for all measured inclusive jet multiplicities. Next-to-leading-order calculations from MCFM, studied here for N_jet >= 2, and BlackHat-Sherpa, studied here for N_jet >= 4, are found to be mostly in good agreement with the data.
The $t\bar{t}$ production cross-section dependence on jet multiplicity and jet transverse momentum is reported for proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV in the single-lepton channel. The data were collected with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider and comprise the full 2011 data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb$^{-1}$. Differential cross-sections are presented as a function of the jet multiplicity for up to eight jets using jet transverse momentum thresholds of 25, 40, 60, and 80 GeV, and as a function of jet transverse momentum up to the fifth jet. The results are shown after background subtraction and corrections for all detector effects, within a kinematic range closely matched to the experimental acceptance. Several QCD-based Monte Carlo models are compared with the results. Sensitivity to the parton shower modelling is found at the higher jet multiplicities, at high transverse momentum of the leading jet and in the transverse momentum spectrum of the fifth leading jet. The MC@NLO+HERWIG MC is found to predict too few events at higher jet multiplicities.
This paper reports a measurement of D*+/- meson production in jets from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement is based on a data sample recorded with the ATLAS detector with an integrated luminosity of 0.30 pb^-1 for jets with transverse momentum between 25 and 70 GeV in the pseudorapidity range |eta| < 2.5. D*+/- mesons found in jets are fully reconstructed in the decay chain: D*+ -> D0pi+, D0 -> K-pi+, and its charge conjugate. The production rate is found to be N(D*+/-)/N(jet) = 0.025 +/- 0.001(stat.) +/- 0.004(syst.) for D*+/- mesons that carry a fraction z of the jet momentum in the range 0.3 < z < 1. Monte Carlo predictions fail to describe the data at small values of z, and this is most marked at low jet transverse momentum.
Inclusive jet and dijet cross sections have been measured in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV using the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The cross sections were measured using jets clustered with the anti-kT algorithm with parameters R=0.4 and R=0.6. These measurements are based on the 2010 data sample, consisting of a total integrated luminosity of 37 inverse picobarns. Inclusive jet double-differential cross sections are presented as a function of jet transverse momentum, in bins of jet rapidity. Dijet double-differential cross sections are studied as a function of the dijet invariant mass, in bins of half the rapidity separation of the two leading jets. The measurements are performed in the jet rapidity range |y|<4.4, covering jet transverse momenta from 20 GeV to 1.5 TeV and dijet invariant masses from 70 GeV to 5 TeV. The data are compared to expectations based on next-to-leading order QCD calculations corrected for non-perturbative effects, as well as to next-to-leading order Monte Carlo predictions. In addition to a test of the theory in a new kinematic regime, the data also provide sensitivity to parton distribution functions in a region where they are currently not well-constrained.
Results are presented on the production of jets of particles in association with a Z/gamma* boson, in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector. The analysis includes the full 2010 data set, collected with a low rate of multiple proton-proton collisions in the accelerator, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 pb^-1. Inclusive jet cross sections in Z/gamma* events, with Z/gamma* decaying into electron or muon pairs, are measured for jets with transverse momentum pT > 30 GeV and jet rapidity |y| < 4.4. The measurements are compared to next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations, and to predictions from different Monte Carlo generators implementing leading-order matrix elements supplemented by parton showers.
A search for the weak production of charginos and neutralinos into final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis uses 2.06 fb^-1 of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV proton-proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with standard model expectations in two signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric and simplified models. For the simplified models, degenerate lightest chargino and next-to-lightest neutralino masses up to 300 GeV are excluded for mass differences from the lightest neutralino up to 300 GeV.
Distributions sensitive to the underlying event in QCD jet events have been measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, based on 37/pb of proton-proton collision data collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. Charged-particle mean $p_T$ and densities of all-particle $E_T$ and charged-particle multiplicity and $p_T$ have been measured in regions azimuthally transverse to the hardest jet in each event. These are presented both as one-dimensional distributions and with their mean values as functions of the leading-jet transverse momentum from 20 GeV to 800 GeV. The correlation of charged-particle mean $p_T$ with charged-particle multiplicity is also studied, and the $E_T$ densities include the forward rapidity region; these features provide extra data constraints for Monte Carlo modelling of colour reconnection and beam-remnant effects respectively. For the first time, underlying event observables have been computed separately for inclusive jet and exclusive dijet event selections, allowing more detailed study of the interplay of multiple partonic scattering and QCD radiation contributions to the underlying event. Comparisons to the predictions of different Monte Carlo models show a need for further model tuning, but the standard approach is found to generally reproduce the features of the underlying event in both types of event selection.
A generic search for anomalous production of events with at least three charged leptons is presented. The data sample consists of $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV collected in 2012 by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$. Events are required to have at least three selected lepton candidates, at least two of which must be electrons or muons, while the third may be a hadronically decaying tau. Selected events are categorized based on their lepton flavour content and signal regions are constructed using several kinematic variables of interest. No significant deviations from Standard Model predictions are observed. Model-independent upper limits on contributions from beyond the Standard Model phenomena are provided for each signal region, along with prescription to re-interpret the limits for any model. Constraints are also placed on models predicting doubly charged Higgs bosons and excited leptons. For doubly charged Higgs bosons decaying to $e\tau$ or $\mu\tau$, lower limits on the mass are set at 400 GeV at 95% confidence level. For excited leptons, constraints are provided as functions of both the mass of the excited state and the compositeness scale $\Lambda$, with the strongest mass constraints arising in regions where the mass equals $\Lambda$. In such scenarios, lower mass limits are set at 3.0 TeV for excited electrons and muons, 2.5 TeV for excited taus, and 1.6 TeV for every excited-neutrino flavour.
This paper presents a measurement of the W^+W^- production cross section in pp collisions at sqrt{s}=7 TeV. The leptonic decay channels are analyzed using data corresponding to an integrated 4.6 fb-1 collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The W^+W^- production cross section sigma(pp -> W^+W^-+X) is measured to be 51.9 +- 2.0 (stat) +- 3.9 (syst) +- 2.0 (lumi) pb, compatible with the Standard Model prediction of 44.7 +2.1 -1.9 pb. A measurement of the normalized fiducial cross section as a function of the leading lepton transverse momentum is also presented. The reconstructed transverse momentum distribution of the leading lepton is used to extract limits on anomalous WWZ and WWgamma couplings.