The first evidence for the Higgs boson decay to a $Z$ boson and a photon is presented, with a statistical significance of 3.4 standard deviations. The result is derived from a combined analysis of the searches performed by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations with proton-proton collision data sets collected at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) from 2015 to 2018. These correspond to integrated luminosities of around 140 fb$^{-1}$ for each experiment, at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The measured signal yield is $2.2\pm0.7$ times the Standard Model prediction, and agrees with the theoretical expectation within 1.9 standard deviations.
The negative profile log-likelihood test statistic, where $\Lambda$ represents the likelihood ratio, as a function of the signal strength $\mu$ derived from the ATLAS data, the CMS data, and the combined result.
Presented are the first measurements of the transverse single-spin asymmetries ($A_N$) for neutral pions and eta mesons in $p$+Au and $p$+Al collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV in the pseudorapidity range $|\eta|<$0.35 with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The asymmetries are consistent with zero, similar to those for midrapidity neutral pions and eta mesons produced in $p$+$p$ collisions. These measurements show no evidence of additional effects that could potentially arise from the more complex partonic environment present in proton-nucleus collisions.
Data from Figure 2 (a) of the $\pi^{0}$ transverse single-spin asymmetry in $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV $p^{\uparrow}+$Au and $p^{\uparrow}+$Al collisions as a function of $p_{T}$.
Data from Figure 2 (b) of the $\eta$ transverse single-spin asymmetry in $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV $p^{\uparrow}+$Au and $p^{\uparrow}+$Al collisions as a function of $p_{T}$.
Measurements of the suppression and correlations of dijets is performed using 3 $\mu$b$^{-1}$ of Xe+Xe data at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} = 5.44$ TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Dijets with jets reconstructed using the $R=0.4$ anti-$k_t$ algorithm are measured differentially in jet $p_{\text{T}}$ over the range of 32 GeV to 398 GeV and the centrality of the collisions. Significant dijet momentum imbalance is found in the most central Xe+Xe collisions, which decreases in more peripheral collisions. Results from the measurement of per-pair normalized and absolutely normalized dijet $p_{\text{T}}$ balance are compared with previous Pb+Pb measurements at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} =5.02$ TeV. The differences between the dijet suppression in Xe+Xe and Pb+Pb are further quantified by the ratio of pair nuclear-modification factors. The results are found to be consistent with those measured in Pb+Pb data when compared in classes of the same event activity and when taking into account the difference between the center-of-mass energies of the initial parton scattering process in Xe+Xe and Pb+Pb collisions. These results should provide input for a better understanding of the role of energy density, system size, path length, and fluctuations in the parton energy loss.
The centrality intervals in Xe+Xe collisions and their corresponding TAA with absolute uncertainties.
The centrality intervals in Xe+Xe and Pb+Pb collisions for matching SUM ET FCAL intervals and respective TAA values for Xe+Xe collisions.
The performance of the jet energy scale (JES) for jets with $|y| < 2.1$ evaluated as a function of pT_truth in different centrality bins. Simulated hard scatter events were overlaid onto events from a dedicated sample of minimum-bias Xe+Xe data.
A search for physics beyond the standard model (SM) in the final state with a hadronically decaying tau lepton and a neutrino is presented. This analysis is based on data recorded by the CMS experiment from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the LHC, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{=1}$. The transverse mass spectrum is analyzed for the presence of new physics. No significant deviation from the SM prediction is observed. Limits are set on the production cross section of a W' boson decaying into a tau lepton and a neutrino. Lower limits are set on the mass of the sequential SM-like heavy charged vector boson and the mass of a quantum black hole. Upper limits are placed on the couplings of a new boson to the SM fermions. Constraints are put on a nonuniversal gauge interaction model and an effective field theory model. For the first time, upper limits on the cross section of $t$-channel leptoquark (LQ) exchange are presented. These limits are translated into exclusion limits on the LQ mass and on its coupling in the $t$-channel. The sensitivity of this analysis extends into the parameter space of LQ models that attempt to explain the anomalies observed in B meson decays. The limits presented for the various interpretations are the most stringent to date. Additionally, a model-independent limit is provided.
The transverse mass distribution of $ au$ leptons and missing transverse momentum observed in the Run-2 data (black dots with statistical uncertainty) as well as the expectation from SM processes (stacked histograms). Different signal hypotheses normalized to 10 fb$^{-1}$ are illustrated as dashed lines for exemplary SSM W$\prime$ boson, QBH and EFT signal hypotheses. The ratios of the background-subtracted data yields to the expected background yields are presented in the lower panel. The combined statistical and systematic uncertainties in the background are represented by the grey shaded band in the ratio panel.
Bayesian upper exclusion limits at 95% CL on the product of the cross section and branching fraction of a W$\prime$ boson decaying to a $\tau$ lepton and a neutrino in the SSM model. For this model, W$\prime$ boson masses of up to 4.8 TeV can be excluded. The limit is given by the intersection of the observed (solid) limit and the theoretical cross section (blue dotted curve). The 68 and 95% quantiles of the limits are represented by the green and yellow bands, respectively. The $\sigma \mathcal{B}$ for an SSM W' boson, along with its associated uncertainty, calculated at NNLO precision in QCD is shown.
Bayesian 95% CL model-independent upper limit on the product of signal cross sections and branching fraction for the $\tau+\nu$ decay for a back-to-back $\tau$ lepton plus $p_{T}^{miss}$ topology. To calculate this limit, all events for signal, background, and data are summed starting from a minimum $m_{T}$ threshold and then divided by the total number of events. No assumption on signal shape is included in this limit. The expected (dashed line) and observed (solid line) limits are shown as well as the 68% and 95% CL uncertainty bands (green and yellow, respectively).
The PHENIX experiment reports systematic measurements at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider of $\phi$-meson production in asymmetric Cu$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$=200 GeV and in U$+$U collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}$=193 GeV. Measurements were performed via the $\phi\rightarrow K^{+}K^{-}$ decay channel at midrapidity $|\eta|<0.35$. Features of $\phi$-meson production measured in Cu$+$Cu, Cu$+$Au, Au$+$Au, and U$+$U collisions were found to not depend on the collision geometry, which was expected because the yields are averaged over the azimuthal angle and follow the expected scaling with nuclear-overlap size. The elliptic flow of the $\phi$ meson in Cu$+$Au, Au$+$Au, and U$+$U collisions scales with second-order-participant eccentricity and the length scale of the nuclear-overlap region (estimated with the number of participating nucleons). At moderate $p_T$, $\phi$-meson production measured in Cu$+$Au and U$+$U collisions is consistent with coalescence-model predictions, whereas at high $p_T$ the production is in agreement with expectations for in-medium energy loss of parent partons prior to their fragmentation. The elliptic flow for $\phi$ mesons measured in Cu$+$Au and U$+$U collisions is well described by a (2+1)D viscous-hydrodynamic model with specific-shear viscosity $\eta/s=1/4\pi$.
Invariant transverse momentum spectra measured for $\phi$ mesons in (a) Cu+Au and (b) U+U collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV at midrapidity
Invariant transverse momentum spectra measured for $\phi$ mesons in (c) Cu+Au and (d) U+U collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV at midrapidity. Data-to- Levy fit ratios.
The $\phi$-meson nuclear modification factors $R_{AB}$ measured as a function of $p_T$ in different centrality intervals of (a) to (d) Cu+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV and (e) to (h) U+U collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 193 GeV at midrapidity $|\eta|<0.35$. The normalization uncertainty from p+p of about $\sim9.7\%$ is not shown.
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 $\alpha_\text{s}(m_Z)= 0.1170^{+ 0.0021}_{-0.0018}$.
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.
Polarized proton-proton collisions provide leading-order access to gluons, presenting an opportunity to constrain gluon spin-momentum correlations within transversely polarized protons and enhance our understanding of the three-dimensional structure of the proton. Midrapidity open-heavy-flavor production at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV is dominated by gluon-gluon fusion, providing heightened sensitivity to gluon dynamics relative to other production channels. Transverse single-spin asymmetries of positrons and electrons from heavy-flavor hadron decays are measured at midrapidity using the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. These charge-separated measurements are sensitive to gluon correlators that can in principle be related to gluon orbital angular momentum via model calculations. Explicit constraints on gluon correlators are extracted for two separate models, one of which had not been constrained previously.
Data from Figure 1 of open heavy flavor $e^{\pm}$ transverse single-spin asymmetries in transversely polarized p+p collisions as a function of $p_{T}$.
The first measurement of the ${\rm e}^{+}{\rm e}^{-}$ pair production at low lepton pair transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T,ee}$) and low invariant mass ($m_{\rm ee}$) in non-central Pb$-$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV at the LHC is presented. The dielectron production is studied with the ALICE detector at midrapidity ($|\eta_{\rm e}| < 0.8$) as a function of invariant mass ($0.4 \leq m_{\rm ee} < 2.7$ GeV/$c^2$) in the 50$-$70% and 70$-$90% centrality classes for $p_{\rm T,ee} < 0.1$ GeV/$c$, and as a function of $p_{\rm T,ee}$ in three $m_{\rm ee}$ intervals in the most peripheral Pb$-$Pb collisions. Below a $p_{\rm T,ee}$ of 0.1 GeV/$c$, a clear excess of ${\rm e}^{+}{\rm e}^{-}$ pairs is found compared to the expectations from known hadronic sources and predictions of thermal radiation from the medium. The $m_{\rm ee}$ excess spectra are reproduced, within uncertainties, by different predictions of the photon$-$photon production of dielectrons, where the photons originate from the extremely strong electromagnetic fields generated by the highly Lorentz-contracted Pb nuclei. Lowest-order quantum electrodynamic (QED) calculations, as well as a model that takes into account the impact-parameter dependence of the average transverse momentum of the photons, also provide a good description of the $p_{\rm T,ee}$ spectra. The measured $\sqrt{\langle p_{\rm T,ee}^{2} \rangle}$ of the excess $p_{\rm T,ee}$ spectrum in peripheral Pb$-$Pb collisions is found to be comparable to the values observed previously at RHIC in a similar phase-space region.
Differential $e^+e^-$ yield in 50--70\% Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV as a function of $m_{\rm ee}$ for $p_{\rm T,ee} < 0.1$ GeV/$c$. Electrons are measured within $|\eta_{\rm e}| < 0.8$ and $p_{\rm T,e} > 0.2$ GeV/$c$. The quoted upper limits correspond to a 90% confidence level.
Differential $e^+e^-$ yield in 70--90\% Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV as a function of $m_{\rm ee}$ for $p_{\rm T,ee} < 0.1$ GeV/$c$. Electrons are measured within $|\eta_{\rm e}| < 0.8$ and $p_{\rm T,e} > 0.2$ GeV/$c$.
Differential excess $e^+e^-$ yield in 50--70\% Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV as a function of $m_{\rm ee}$ for $p_{\rm T,ee} < 0.1$ GeV/$c$. Electrons are measured within $|\eta_{\rm e}| < 0.8$ and $p_{\rm T,e} > 0.2$ GeV/$c$. The quoted upper limits correspond to a 90% confidence level.
The first measurement of event-by-event antideuteron number fluctuations in high energy heavy-ion collisions is presented. The measurements are carried out at midrapidity ($|\eta| < 0.8$) as a function of collision centrality in Pb$-$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV using the ALICE detector. A significant negative correlation between the produced antiprotons and antideuterons is observed in all collision centralities. The results are compared with coalescence calculations, which fail to describe the measurement, in particular if a correlated production of protons and neutrons is assumed. Thermal-statistical model calculations describe the data within uncertainties only for correlation volumes that are different with respect to those describing proton yields and a similar measurement of net-proton number fluctuations.
Second order to first order cumulant ratio of the $\overline{d}$ multiplicity distribution as a function of collision centrality in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV.
Pearson correlation between the measured $\overline{p}$ and $\overline{d}$ as a function of collision centrality in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV.
Dependence of $\overline{p}$-$\overline{d}$ correlation on pseudorapidity acceptance of $\overline{p}$ and $\overline{d}$ selection in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV. Results are for 0.0--10.0$\%$ collision centrality.
We report about the properties of the underlying event measured with ALICE at the LHC in pp and p$-$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV. The event activity, quantified by charged-particle number and summed-$p_{\rm T}$ densities, is measured as a function of the leading-particle transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}$). These quantities are studied in three azimuthal-angle regions relative to the leading particle in the event: toward, away, and transverse. Results are presented for three different $p_{\rm T}$ thresholds (0.15, 0.5, and 1 GeV/$c$) at mid-pseudorapidity ($|\eta|<0.8$). The event activity in the transverse region, which is the most sensitive to the underlying event, exhibits similar behaviour in both pp and p$-$Pb collisions, namely, a steep increase with $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}$ for low $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}$, followed by a saturation at $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig} \approx 5$ GeV/$c$. The results from pp collisions are compared with existing measurements at other centre-of-mass energies. The quantities in the toward and away regions are also analyzed after the subtraction of the contribution measured in the transverse region. The remaining jet-like particle densities are consistent in pp and p$-$Pb collisions for $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}>10$ GeV/$c$, whereas for lower $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}$ values the event activity is slightly higher in p$-$Pb than in pp collisions. The measurements are compared with predictions from the PYTHIA 8 and EPOS LHC Monte Carlo event generators.
Fig. 4: Number density $N_{\rm ch}$ (left) and $\Sigma p_{\rm T}$ (right) distributions as a function of $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}$ in Transverse, Away, and Toward regions for $p_{\rm T} >$ 0.5 GeV/$c$. The shaded areas and the error bars around the data points represent the systematic and statistical uncertainties, respectively.
Fig. 5: Number density $N_{\rm ch}$ (left) and $\Sigma p_{\rm T}$ (right) distributions as a function of $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}$ in Transverse, Away, and Toward regions for $p_{\rm T} >$ 0.5 GeV/$c$. The shaded areas and the error bars around the data points represent the systematic and statistical uncertainties, respectively.
Fig. 6a: Number density $N_{\rm ch}$ (left) and $\Sigma p_{\rm T}$ (right) distributions as a function of $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}$ in Away and Toward regions after the subtraction of Number density $N_{\rm ch}$ and $\Sigma p_{\rm T}$ distributions in the transverse region for pp collisions for $p_{\rm T} >$ 0.5 GeV/$c$. The shaded areas and the error bars around the data points represent the systematic and statistical uncertainties, respectively.
Forum