This Letter reports a search for a heavy particle that decays to WW using events produced in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV. The data were recorded in 2011 by the ATLAS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb-1. WW to l nu l' nu'(l, l' = e or mu) final states are considered and the distribution of the transverse mass of the WW candidates is found to be consistent with Standard Model expectations. Upper limits on the production cross section times branching ratio into W boson pairs are set for Randall-Sundrum and bulk Randall-Sundrum gravitons, which result in observed 95% CL lower limits on the masses of the two particles of 1.23 TeV and 0.84 TeV, respectively.
The jet fragmentation function and transverse profile for jets with 25 GeV < ptJet < 500 GeV and etaJet<1.2 produced in proton-proton collisions with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV are presented. The measurement is performed using data with an integrated luminosity of 36 pb^-1. Jets are reconstructed and their momentum measured using calorimetric information. The momenta of the charged particle constituents are measured using the tracking system. The distributions corrected for detector effects are compared with various Monte Carlo event generators and generator tunes. Several of these choices show good agreement with the measured fragmentation function. None of these choices reproduce both the transverse profile and fragmentation function over the full kinematic range of the measurement.
A search is presented for direct chargino production based on a disappearing-track signature using 20.3 fb-1 of proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV collected with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. In anomaly-mediated supersymmetry breaking (AMSB) models, the lightest chargino is nearly mass-degenerate with the lightest neutralino and its lifetime is long enough to be detected in the tracking detectors by identifying decays that result in tracks with no associated hits in the outer region of the tracking system. Some models with supersymmetry also predict charginos with a significant lifetime. This analysis attains sensitivity for charginos with a lifetime between 0.1 ns and 10 ns, and significantly surpasses the reach of the LEP experiments. No significant excess above the background expectation is observed for candidate tracks with large transverse momentum, and constraints on chargino properties are obtained. In the AMSB scenarios, a chargino mass below 270 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level.
A search for production of supersymmetric particles in final states containing jets, missing transverse momentum, and at least one hadronically decaying tau lepton is presented. The data were recorded by the ATLAS experiment in sqrt(s) = 7 TeV proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider. No excess above the Standard Model background expectation was observed in 2.05 fb-1 of data. The results are interpreted in the context of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking models with Mmess = 250 TeV, N5 = 3, mu > 0, and Cgrav = 1. The production of supersymmetric particles is excluded at 95% C.L. up to a supersymmetry breaking scale Lambda = 30 Tev, independent of tan(beta), and up to Lambda = 43 TeV for large tan(beta).
A search has been performed for the experimental signature of an isolated photon with high transverse momentum, at least one jet identified as originating from a bottom quark, and high missing transverse momentum. Such a final state may originate from supersymmetric models with gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking in events in which one of a pair of higgsino-like neutralinos decays into a photon and a gravitino while the other decays into a Higgs boson and a gravitino. The search is performed using the full dataset of 7 TeV proton-proton collisions recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2011, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb-1. A total of 7 candidate events are observed while 7.5 pm 2.2 events are expected from the Standard Model background. The results of the search are interpreted in the context of general gauge mediation to exclude certain regions of a benchmark plane for higgsino-like neutralino production.
A search is presented for direct top squark pair production in final states with one isolated electron or muon, jets, and missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV. The measurement is based on 4.7 fb-1 of data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Each top squark is assumed to decay to a top quark and the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP). The data are found to be consistent with Standard Model expectations. Top squark masses between 230 GeV and 440 GeV are excluded with 95% confidence for massless LSPs, and top squark masses around 400 GeV are excluded for LSP masses up to 125 GeV.
The NA44 Collaboration has measured yields and differential distributions of K+, K-, pi+, pi- in transverse kinetic energy and rapidity, around the center-of-mass rapidity in 158 A GeV/c Pb+Pb collisions at the CERN SPS. A considerable enhancement of K+ production per pi is observed, as compared to p+p collisions at this energy. To illustrate the importance of secondary hadron rescattering as an enhancement mechanism, we compare strangeness production at the SPS and AGS with predictions of the transport model RQMD.
The NA44 collaboration has measured charged kaon and pion distributions at midrapidity in sulphur and proton collisions with nuclear targets at 200 and 450 GeV/c per nucleon, respectively. The inverse slopes of kaons are larger than those of pions. The difference in the inverse slopes of pions, kaons and protons, all measured in our spectrometer, increases with system size and is consistent with the buildup of collective flow for larger systems. The target dependence of both the yields and inverse slopes is stronger for the sulphur beam suggesting the increased importance of secondary rescattering for SA reactions. The rapidity density, dN/dy, of both K+ and K- increases more rapidly with system size than for pi+ in a similar rapidity region. This trend continues with increasing centrality, and according to RQMD, it is caused by secondary reactions between mesons and baryons. The K-/K+ ratio falls with increasing system size but more slowly than the pbar/p ratio. The pi-/pi+ ratio is close to unity for all systems. From pBe to SPb the K+/p ratio decreases while K-/pbar increases and ({K+*K-}/{p*pbar})**1/2 stays constant. These data suggest that as larger nuclei collide, the resulting system has a larger transverse expansion, baryon density and an increasing fraction of strange quarks.
Single particle distributions of π ± , K ± , p , p and d near mid-rapidity from 450 GeV/c p A and 200 GeV/c per nucleon SA collisions are presented. Inverse slope parameters are extracted from the transverse mass spectra, and examined for indications of collective phenomena. Proton and antiproton yields are determined for different projectile-target combinations. First results from 160 GeV/c per nucleon PbPb collisions are presented.
The HELIOS experiment has measured inclusivep⊥ spectra of negative particles in the rapidity region 1.0<y<1.9. The general shape of thep⊥ spectra in p +W, O+W and S+W is similar, but cannot be described by a single exponential. Compared to p+p collisions, an excess is observed for low and highp⊥. This effect increases with the projectile mass. Except for very lowE⊥, the average transverse momentum <p⊥> is found to be approximately constant up to the highest accessible values ofE⊥.
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