Proton-proton interactions resulting in final states with two photons are studied in a search for the signature of flavor-changing neutral current interactions of top quarks (t) and Higgs bosons (H). The analysis is based on data collected at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$. No significant excess above the background prediction is observed. Upper limits on the branching fractions ($\mathcal{B}$) of the top quark decaying to a Higgs boson and an up (u) or charm quark (c) are derived through a binned fit to the diphoton invariant mass spectrum. The observed (expected) 95% confidence level upper limits are found to be 0.019 (0.031)% for $\mathcal B$(t $\to$ Hu) and 0.073 (0.051)% for $\mathcal{B}$(t $\to$ Hc). These are the strictest upper limits yet determined.
A search for low-mass dilepton resonances in Higgs boson decays is conducted in the four-lepton final state. The decay is assumed to proceed via a pair of beyond the standard model particles, or one such particle and a Z boson. The search uses proton-proton collision data collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$, at a center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV. No significant deviation from the standard model expectation is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on model-independent Higgs boson decay branching fractions. Additionally, limits on dark photon and axion-like particle production, based on two specific models, are reported.
A search for physics beyond the standard model (SM) in the final state with a hadron- ically 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 bo- son 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 lim- its 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.
A search is presented for long-lived particles produced in pairs in proton-proton collisions at the LHC operating at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data were collected with the CMS detector during the period from 2015 through 2018, and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$. This search targets pairs of long-lived particles with mean proper decay lengths between 0.1 and 100 mm, each of which decays into at least two quarks that hadronize to jets, resulting in a final state with two displaced vertices. No significant excess of events with two displaced vertices is observed. In the context of $R$-parity violating supersymmetry models, the pair production of long-lived neutralinos, gluinos, and top squarks is excluded at 95% confidence level for cross sections larger than 0.08 fb, masses between 800 and 3000 GeV, and mean proper decay lengths between 1 and 25 mm.
The production of c and b quarks in gamma-gamma collisions is studied with the L3 detector at LEP with 410 pb^-1 of data, collected at centre-of-mass energies from 189 GeV to 202 GeV. Hadronic final states containing c and b quarks are identified by detecting electrons or muons from their semileptonic decays. The cross sections sigma(e+e- -> e+e- c c~ X) and sigma(e+e- -> e+e- b b~ X) are measured and compared to next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations. The cross section of b production is measured in gamma-gamma collisions for the first time. It is in excess of the QCD prediction by a factor of three.
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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.
The reactions gamma gamma -> pi^+pi^-pi^+pi^- and gamma gamma -> pi^+pi^0pi^-pi^0 are studied with the L3 detector at LEP in a data sample collected at centre-of-mass energies from 161GeV to 209GeV with a total integrated luminosity of 698/pb. A spin-parity-helicity analysis of the rho^0 rho^0 and rho^+ rho^- systems for two-photon centre-of-mass energies between 1GeV and 3GeV shows the dominance of the spin-parity state 2+ with helicity 2. The contribution of 0+ and 0- spin-parity states is also observed, whereas contributions of 2- states and of a state with spin-parity 2+ and zero helicity are found to be negligible.
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Hadron production and lepton-pair production in e+e- collisions are studied with data collected with the L3 detector at LEP at centre-of-mass energies sqrt{s}=192-208GeV. Using a total integrated luminosity of 453/pb, 36057 hadronic events and 12863 lepton-pair events are selected. The cross sections for hadron production and lepton-pair production are measured for the full sample and for events where no high-energy initial-state-radiation photon is emitted prior to the collisions. Lepton-pair events are further investigated and forward-backward asymmetries are measured. Finally, the differential cross sections for electron-positron pair-production is determined as a function of the scattering angle. An overall good agreement is found with Standard Model predictions.
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