The fragmentation properties of jets containing $b$-hadrons are studied using charged $B$ mesons in 139 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV, recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during the period from 2015 to 2018. The $B$ mesons are reconstructed using the decay of $B^{\pm}$ into $J/\psi K^{\pm}$, with the $J/\psi$ decaying into a pair of muons. Jets are reconstructed using the anti-$k_t$ algorithm with radius parameter $R=0.4$. The measurement determines the longitudinal and transverse momentum profiles of the reconstructed $B$ hadrons with respect to the axes of the jets to which they are geometrically associated. These distributions are measured in intervals of the jet transverse momentum, ranging from 50 GeV to above 100 GeV. The results are corrected for detector effects and compared with several Monte Carlo predictions using different parton shower and hadronisation models. The results for the longitudinal and transverse profiles provide useful inputs to improve the description of heavy-flavour fragmentation in jets.
A direct search for Higgs bosons produced via vector-boson fusion and subsequently decaying into invisible particles is reported. The analysis uses 139 $\text{fb}^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$=13 $\text{TeV}$ recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The observed numbers of events are found to be in agreement with the background expectation from Standard Model processes. For a scalar Higgs boson with a mass of 125 $\text{GeV}$ and a Standard Model production cross section, an observed upper limit of $0.145$ is placed on the branching fraction of its decay into invisible particles at 95% confidence level, with an expected limit of $0.103$. These results are interpreted in the context of models where the Higgs boson acts as a portal to dark matter, and limits are set on the scattering cross section of weakly interacting massive particles and nucleons. Invisible decays of additional scalar bosons with masses from 50 $\text{GeV}$ to 2 $\text{TeV}$ are also studied, and the derived upper limits on the cross section times branching fraction decrease with increasing mass from 1.0 $\text{pb}$ for a scalar boson mass of 50 $\text{GeV}$ to 0.1 $\text{pb}$ at a mass of 2 $\text{TeV}$.
A search for Majorana neutrinos in same-sign $WW$ scattering events is presented. The analysis uses $\sqrt{s}= 13$ TeV proton-proton collision data with an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$ recorded during 2015-2018 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis targets final states including exactly two same-sign muons and at least two hadronic jets well separated in rapidity. The modelling of the main backgrounds, from Standard Model same-sign $WW$ scattering and $WZ$ production, is constrained with data in dedicated signal-depleted control regions. The distribution of the transverse momentum of the second-hardest muon is used to search for signals originating from a heavy Majorana neutrino with a mass between 50 GeV and 20 TeV. No significant excess is observed over the background expectation. The results are interpreted in a benchmark scenario of the Phenomenological Type-I Seesaw model. In addition, the sensitivity to the Weinberg operator is investigated. Upper limits at the 95% confidence level are placed on the squared muon-neutrino-heavy-neutrino mass-mixing matrix element $\vert V_{\mu N} \vert^{2}$ as a function of the heavy Majorana neutrino's mass $m_N$, and on the effective $\mu\mu$ Majorana neutrino mass $|m_{\mu\mu}|$.
Searches for dark matter with liquid xenon time projection chamber experiments have traditionally focused on the region of the parameter space that is characteristic of weakly interacting massive particles, ranging from a few GeV/$c^2$ to a few TeV/$c^2$. Models of dark matter with a mass much heavier than this are well motivated by early production mechanisms different from the standard thermal freeze-out, but they have generally been less explored experimentally. In this work, we present a re-analysis of the first science run (SR1) of the LZ experiment, with an exposure of $0.9$ tonne$\times$year, to search for ultraheavy particle dark matter. The signal topology consists of multiple energy deposits in the active region of the detector forming a straight line, from which the velocity of the incoming particle can be reconstructed on an event-by-event basis. Zero events with this topology were observed after applying the data selection calibrated on a simulated sample of signal-like events. New experimental constraints are derived, which rule out previously unexplored regions of the dark matter parameter space of spin-independent interactions beyond a mass of 10$^{17}$ GeV/$c^2$.
We present a measurement of the $\ttbar$ differential cross section with respect to the $\ttbar$ invariant mass, dSigma/dMttbar, in $\ppbar$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV using an integrated luminosity of $2.7\invfb$ collected by the CDF II experiment. The $\ttbar$ invariant mass spectrum is sensitive to a variety of exotic particles decaying into $\ttbar$ pairs. The result is consistent with the standard model expectation, as modeled by \texttt{PYTHIA} with \texttt{CTEQ5L} parton distribution functions.
Conventional hadronic matter consists of baryons and mesons made of three quarks and quark-antiquark pairs, respectively. The observation of a new type of hadronic state, a doubly charmed tetraquark containing two charm quarks, an anti-$u$ and an anti-$d$ quark, is reported using data collected by the LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. This exotic state with a mass of about 3875 MeV$/c^2$ manifests itself as a narrow peak in the mass spectrum of $D^0D^0\pi^+$ mesons just below the $D^{*+}D^0$ mass threshold. The near threshold mass together with a strikingly narrow width reveals the resonance nature of the state.
An exotic narrow state in the $D^0D^0\pi^+$ mass spectrum just below the $D^{*+}D^0$ mass threshold is studied using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb$^{-1}$ acquired with the LHCb detector in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13 TeV. The state is consistent with the ground isoscalar $T^+_{cc}$ tetraquark with a quark content of $cc\bar{u}\bar{d}$ and spin-parity quantum numbers $\mathrm{J}^{\mathrm{P}}=1^+$. Study of the $DD$ mass spectra disfavours interpretation of the resonance as the isovector state. The decay structure via intermediate off-shell $D^{*+}$ mesons is confirmed by the $D^0\pi^+$ mass distribution. The mass of the resonance and its coupling to the $D^{*}D$ system are analysed. Resonance parameters including the pole position, scattering length, effective range and compositeness are measured to reveal important information about the nature of the $T^+_{cc}$ state. In addition, an unexpected dependence of the production rate on track multiplicity is observed.
Presented is the search for anomalous Higgs boson decays into two axion-like particles (ALPs) using the full Run 2 data set of 140 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment. The ALPs are assumed to decay into two photons, providing sensitivity to recently proposed models that could explain the $(g-2)_\mu$ discrepancy. This analysis covers an ALP mass range from 100 MeV to 62 GeV and ALP-photon couplings in the range $10^{-5}\, \text{TeV}^{-1}<C_{a\gamma\gamma}/\Lambda<1\, \text{TeV}^{-1}$, and therefore includes signatures with significantly displaced vertices and highly collinear photons. No significant excess of events above the Standard Model background is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are placed on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to two ALPs in the four-photon final state, and are in the range of $ 10^{-5}$ to $3\times 10^{-2}$, depending on the hypothesized ALP mass and ALP-photon coupling strength.
Searches are conducted for new spin-0 or spin-1 bosons using events where a Higgs boson with mass $125$ GeV decays into four leptons ($\ell =$$e$,$\mu$). This decay is presumed to occur via an intermediate state which contains two on-shell, promptly decaying bosons: $H \rightarrow XX/ZX \rightarrow 4\ell$, where the new boson $X$ has a mass between 1 and 60 GeV. The search uses $pp$ collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV. The data are found to be consistent with Standard Model expectations. Limits are set on fiducial cross sections and on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to decay into $XX/ZX$, improving those from previous publications by a factor between two and four. Limits are also set on mixing parameters relevant in extensions of the Standard Model containing a dark sector where $X$ is interpreted to be a dark boson.
Observed and expected upper limits at 95% CL for the cross section of the $H\to Z_dZ_d\to 4\ell$ process, assuming SM Higgs boson production via the gluon-gluon fusion process. All final states are combined.
Observed and expected upper limits at 95% CL for the cross sections of the $H\to Z_dZ_d\to 4\mu$ processes, assuming SM Higgs boson production via the gluon-gluon fusion process. The regions of 2 GeV to 4.4 GeV, and 8 GeV to 12 GeV are each excluded by the quarkonia veto. The step changes at $m_{Z_d}= 15 \,\text{GeV}$ are due to the change in selection from the Low Mass to the High Mass analysis.
Observed and expected upper limits at 95% CL for the cross sections of the $H\to aa\to 4\mu$ processes, assuming SM Higgs boson production via the gluon-gluon fusion process. The regions of 2 GeV to 4.4 GeV, and 8 GeV to 12 GeV are each excluded by the quarkonia veto. The step changes at $m_{Z_d}= 15 \,\text{GeV}$ are due to the change in selection from the Low Mass to the High Mass analysis.
The standard model (SM) of particle physics is spectacularly successful, yet the measured value of the muon anomalous magnetic moment $(g-2)_\mu$ deviates from SM calculations by 3.6$\sigma$. Several theoretical models attribute this to the existence of a "dark photon," an additional U(1) gauge boson, which is weakly coupled to ordinary photons. The PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has searched for a dark photon, $U$, in $\pi^0,\eta \rightarrow \gamma e^+e^-$ decays and obtained upper limits of $\mathcal{O}(2\times10^{-6})$ on $U$-$\gamma$ mixing at 90% CL for the mass range $30<m_U<90$ MeV/$c^2$. Combined with other experimental limits, the remaining region in the $U$-$\gamma$ mixing parameter space that can explain the $(g-2)_\mu$ deviation from its SM value is nearly completely excluded at the 90% confidence level, with only a small region of $29<m_U<32$ MeV/$c^2$ remaining.
The experimental sensitivity and observed limit on the number of dark photon candidates as a function of the assumed dark photon mass.
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