Signals consistent with the B$^+_\mathrm{c}$(2S) and B$^{*+}_\mathrm{c}$(2S) states are observed in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV, in an event sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$, collected by the CMS experiment during the 2016, 2017, and 2018 LHC running periods. These excited $\bar{\mathrm{b}}$c states are observed in the B$^+_\mathrm{c}\pi^+\pi^-$ invariant mass spectrum, with the ground state B$^+_\mathrm{c}$ reconstructed through its decay to J/$\psi\,\pi^+$. The two states are well resolved from each other and are observed with a significance exceeding five standard deviations. The mass of the B$^+_\mathrm{c}$(2S) meson is measured to be 6871.0 $\pm$ 1.2 (stat) $\pm$ 0.8 (syst) $\pm$ 0.8 (B$^+_\mathrm{c}$) MeV, where the last term corresponds to the uncertainty in the world-average B$^+_\mathrm{c}$ mass.
A search for supersymmetry is presented based on events with at least one photon, jets, and large missing transverse momentum produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$ and were recorded at the LHC with the CMS detector in 2016. The analysis characterizes signal-like events by categorizing the data into various signal regions based on the number of jets, the number of b-tagged jets, and the missing transverse momentum. No significant excess of events is observed with respect to the expectations from standard model processes. Limits are placed on the gluino and top squark pair production cross sections using several simplified models of supersymmetric particle production with gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking. Depending on the model and the mass of the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle, the production of gluinos with masses as large as 2120 GeV and the production of top squarks with masses as large as 1230 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level.
Dijet angular distributions are measured over a wide range of dijet invariant masses in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, at the CERN LHC. The event sample, recorded with the CMS detector, corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 36 inverse picobarns. The data are found to be in good agreement with the predictions of perturbative QCD, and yield no evidence of quark compositeness. With a modified frequentist approach, a lower limit on the contact interaction scale for left-handed quarks of Lambda = 5.6 TeV (6.7 TeV) for destructive (constructive) interference is obtained at the 95% confidence level.
Measurements of dijet azimuthal decorrelations in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV using the CMS detector at the CERN LHC are presented. The analysis is based on an inclusive dijet event sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.9 inverse picobarns. The results are compared to predictions from perturbative QCD calculations and various Monte Carlo event generators. The dijet azimuthal distributions are found to be sensitive to initial-state gluon radiation.
A measurement of the angular correlations between beauty and anti-beauty hadrons (B B-bar) produced in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV at the CERN LHC is presented, probing for the first time the region of small angular separation. The B hadrons are identified by the presence of displaced secondary vertices from their decays. The B hadron angular separation is reconstructed from the decay vertices and the primary-interaction vertex. The differential B B-bar production cross section, measured from a data sample collected by CMS and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.1 inverse picobarns, shows that a sizable fraction of the B B-bar pairs are produced with small opening angles. These studies provide a test of QCD and further insight into the dynamics of b b-bar production.
The spectra of strange hadrons are measured in proton-proton collisions, recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC, at centre-of-mass energies of 0.9 and 7 TeV. The K^0_s, Lambda, and Xi^- particles and their antiparticles are reconstructed from their decay topologies and the production rates are measured as functions of rapidity and transverse momentum. The results are compared to other experiments and to predictions of the PYTHIA Monte Carlo program. The transverse momentum distributions are found to differ substantially from the PYTHIA results and the production rates exceed the predictions by up to a factor of three.
Bose-Einstein correlations between identical particles are measured in samples of proton-proton collisions at 0.9 and 7 TeV centre-of-mass energies, recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The signal is observed in the form of an enhancement of number of pairs of same-sign charged particles with small relative momentum. The dependence of this enhancement on kinematic and topological features of the event is studied.
For the first time, a search for the rare decay of the W boson to three charged pions has been performed. Proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS experiment at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 77.3 fb$^{-1}$, have been analyzed. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation. An upper limit of 1.01 $\times$ 10$^{-6}$ is set at 95% confidence level on the branching fraction of the W boson to three charged pions. This provides a strong motivation for theoretical calculations of this branching fraction.
The observation of the standard model (SM) Higgs boson decay to a pair of bottom quarks is presented. The main contribution to this result is from processes in which Higgs bosons are produced in association with a W or Z boson (VH), and are searched for in final states including 0, 1, or 2 charged leptons and two identified bottom quark jets. The results from the measurement of these processes in a data sample recorded by the CMS experiment in 2017, comprising 41.3 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV, are described. When combined with previous VH measurements using data collected at $\sqrt{s}=$ 7, 8, and 13 TeV, an excess of events is observed at $m_\mathrm{H} =$ 125.09 GeV with a significance of 4.8 standard deviations, where the expectation for the SM Higgs boson is 4.9. The corresponding measured signal strength is 1.01 $\pm$ 0.22. The combination of this result with searches by the CMS experiment for H $\to\mathrm{b\overline{b}}$ in other production processes yields an observed (expected) significance of 5.6 (5.5) standard deviations and a signal strength of 1.04 $\pm$ 0.20.
A search is presented for pairs of light pseudoscalar bosons, in the mass range from 4 to 15 GeV, produced from decays of the 125 GeV Higgs boson. The decay modes considered are final states that arise when one of the pseudoscalars decays to a pair of tau leptons, and the other one either into a pair of tau leptons or muons. The search is based on proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS experiment in 2016 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV that correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb${-1}$. The 2$\mu$2$\tau$ and 4$\tau$ channels are used in combination to constrain the product of the Higgs boson production cross section and the branching fraction into 4$\tau$ final state, $\sigma\mathcal{B}$, exploiting the linear dependence of the fermionic coupling strength of pseudoscalar bosons on the fermion mass. No significant excess is observed beyond the expectation from the standard model. The observed and expected upper limits at 95% confidence level on $\sigma\mathcal{B}$, relative to the standard model Higgs boson production cross section, are set respectively between 0.022 and 0.23 and between 0.027 and 0.19 in the mass range probed by the analysis.
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