Differential cross-section measurements of $Z\gamma$ production in association with hadronic jets are presented, using the full 139 fb$^{-1}$ dataset of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV proton-proton collisions collected by the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the LHC. Distributions are measured using events in which the $Z$ boson decays leptonically and the photon is usually radiated from an initial-state quark. Measurements are made in both one and two observables, including those sensitive to the hard scattering in the event and others which probe additional soft and collinear radiation. Different Standard Model predictions, from both parton-shower Monte Carlo simulation and fixed-order QCD calculations, are compared with the measurements. In general, good agreement is observed between data and predictions from MATRIX and MiNNLO$_\text{PS}$, as well as next-to-leading-order predictions from MadGraph5_aMC@NLO and Sherpa.
A search for a light charged Higgs boson (H$^+$) decaying to a W boson and a CP-odd Higgs boson (A) in final states with e$\mu\mu$ or $\mu\mu\mu$ is performed using data from pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV, recorded by the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. In this search, it is assumed that the H$^+$ boson is produced in decays of top quarks, and the A boson decays to two oppositely charged muons. The presence of signals for H$^+$ boson masses between 100 and 160 GeV and A boson masses between 15 and 75 GeV is investigated. No evidence for the production of the H$^+$ boson is found. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are obtained on the combined branching fraction for the decay chain t $\to$ bH$^+$ $\to$ bW$^+$A $\to$ bW$^+\mu^+\mu^-$, of 1.9 $\times$ 10$^{-6}$ to 8.6 $\times$ 10$^{-6}$, depending on the masses of the H$^+$ and A bosons. These are the first limits for these decay modes of the H$^+$ and A bosons.
The correlations between different moments of two flow amplitudes, extracted with the recently developed asymmetric cumulants, are measured in Pb$-$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV recorded by the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The magnitudes of the measured observables show a dependence on the different moments as well as on the collision centrality, indicating the presence of non-linear response in all even moments up to the eighth. Furthermore, the higher-order asymmetric cumulants show different signatures than the symmetric and lower-order asymmetric cumulants. Comparisons with state-of-the-art event generators using two different parametrizations obtained from Bayesian optimization show differences between data and simulations in many of the studied observables, indicating a need for further tuning of the models behind those event generators. These results provide new and independent constraints on the initial conditions and transport properties of the system created in heavy-ion collisions.
The ALICE Collaboration reports three measurements in ultra-peripheral proton$-$lead collisions at forward rapidity. The exclusive two-photon process \ggmm and the exclusive photoproduction of J/$\psi$ are studied. J/$\psi$ photoproduction with proton dissociation is measured for the first time at a hadron collider. The cross section for the two-photon process of dimuons in the invariant mass range from 1 to 2.5 GeV/$c^2$ agrees with leading order quantum electrodynamics calculations. The exclusive and dissociative cross sections for J/$\psi$ photoproductions are measured for photon$-$proton centre-of-mass energies from 27 to 57 GeV. They are in good agreement with HERA results.
The ALICE Collaboration reports a differential measurement of inclusive jet suppression using pp and Pb$-$Pb collision data at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV. Charged-particle jets are reconstructed using the anti-$k_{\rm T}$ algorithm with resolution parameters $R =$ 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6 in pp collisions and $R =$ 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 in central (0$-$10%), semi-central (30$-$50%), and peripheral (60$-$80%) Pb$-$Pb collisions. A novel approach based on machine learning is employed to mitigate the influence of jet background. This enables measurements of inclusive jet suppression in new regions of phase space, including down to the lowest jet $p_{\rm T} \geq 40$ GeV/$c$ at $R = 0.6$ in central Pb$-$Pb collisions. This is an important step for discriminating different models of jet quenching in the quark-gluon plasma. The transverse momentum spectra, nuclear modification factors, derived cross section, and nuclear modification factor ratios for different jet resolution parameters of charged-particle jets are presented and compared to model predictions. A mild dependence of the nuclear modification factor ratios on collision centrality and resolution parameter is observed. The results are compared to a variety of jet-quenching models with varying levels of agreement.
The first measurement of the polarisation of coherently photoproduced J/$\psi$ mesons in ultra-peripheral Pb$-$Pb collisions, using data at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV, is presented. The J/$\psi$ meson is measured via its dimuon decay channel in the forward rapidity interval $-4.0 < y < -2.5$ using the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC. An event sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 750 $\mu{\rm b}^{-1}$$\pm$ 5% (syst) is analysed. Hadronic activity is highly suppressed since the interaction is mediated by a photon. The polar and azimuthal angle distributions of the decay muons are measured, and the polarisation parameters $\mathbf{\lambda_{\theta}}$, $\mathbf{\lambda_{\varphi}}$, $\mathbf{\lambda_{\theta\varphi}}$ are extracted. The analysis is carried out in the helicity frame. The results are found to be consistent with a transversely polarised J/$\psi$. These values are compared with previous measurements by the H1 and ZEUS experiments. The polarisation parameters of coherent J/$\psi$ photoproduction in Pb$-$Pb collisions are found to be consistent with the $s$-channel helicity conservation hypothesis.
A standard model effective field theory (SMEFT) analysis with dimension-six operators probing nonresonant new physics effects is performed in the Higgs-strahlung process, where the Higgs boson is produced in association with a W or Z boson, in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The final states in which the W or Z boson decays leptonically and the Higgs boson decays to a pair of bottom quarks are considered. The analyzed data were collected by the CMS experiment between 2016 and 2018 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. An approach designed to simultaneously optimize the sensitivity to Wilson coefficients of multiple SMEFT operators is employed. Likelihood scans as functions of the Wilson coefficients that carry SMEFT sensitivity in this final state are performed for different expansions in SMEFT. The results are consistent with the predictions of the standard model.
This letter reports the observation of $W(\ell\nu)\gamma\gamma$ production in proton-proton collisions. This measurement uses the full Run 2 sample of events recorded at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV by the ATLAS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$. Events with a leptonically-decaying $W$ boson and at least two photons are considered. The background-only hypothesis is rejected with an observed and expected significance of $5.6$ standard deviations. The inclusive fiducial production cross section of $W(e\nu)\gamma\gamma$ and $W(\mu\nu)\gamma\gamma$ events is measured to be $\sigma_{\mathrm{fid}} = 13.8 \pm 1.1 (\mathrm{stat}) \substack{+2.1 \\ -2.0} (\mathrm{syst}) \pm 0.1 (\mathrm{lumi})$ fb, in agreement with the Standard Model prediction.
A measurement of prompt photon-pair production in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV is presented. The data were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. Events with two photons in the well-instrumented region of the detector are selected. The photons are required to be isolated and have a transverse momentum of $p_\mathrm{T,\gamma_{1(2)}} > 40(30)$ GeV for the leading (sub-leading) photon. The differential cross sections as functions of several observables for the diphoton system are measured and compared with theoretical predictions from state-of-the-art Monte Carlo and fixed-order calculations. The QCD predictions from next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations and multi-leg merged calculations are able to describe the measured integrated and differential cross sections within uncertainties, whereas lower-order calculations show significant deviations, demonstrating that higher-order perturbative QCD corrections are crucial for this process. The resummed predictions with parton showers additionally provide an excellent description of the low transverse-momentum regime of the diphoton system.
The azimuthal variation of jet yields in heavy-ion collisions provides information about the path-length dependence of the energy loss experienced by partons passing through the hot, dense nuclear matter known as the quark-gluon plasma. This paper presents the azimuthal anisotropy coefficients $v_2$, $v_3$, and $v_4$ measured for jets in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} =$ 5.02 TeV using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurement uses data collected in 2015 and 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.2 nb$^{-1}$. The $v_n$ values are measured as a function of the transverse momentum of the jets between 71 GeV and 398 GeV and the event centrality. A nonzero value of $v_2$ is observed in all but the most central collisions. The value of $v_2$ is largest for jets with lower transverse momentum, with values up to 0.05 in mid-central collisions. A smaller, nonzero value of $v_3$ of approximately 0.01 is measured with no significant dependence on jet $p_T$ or centrality, suggesting that fluctuations in the initial state play a small but distinct role in jet energy loss. No significant deviation of $v_4$ from zero is observed in the measured kinematic region.
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