A search for resonances in events with the $\gamma$+jet final state has been performed using proton-proton collision data collected at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The total data analyzed correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. Models of excited quarks and quantum black holes are considered. Using a wide-jet reconstruction for the candidate jet, the $\gamma$+jet invariant mass spectrum measured in data is examined for the presence of resonances over the standard model continuum background. The background is estimated by fitting the mass distribution with a functional form. The data exhibit no statistically significant deviations from the expected standard model background. Exclusion limits at 95% confidence level on the resonance mass and other parameters are set. Excited light-flavor quarks (excited bottom quarks) are excluded up to a mass of 6.0 (3.8) TeV. Quantum black hole production is excluded for masses up to 7.5 (5.2) TeV in the Arkani-Hamed-Dimopoulos-Dvali (Randall-Sundrum) model. These lower mass bounds are the most stringent to date among those obtained in the $\gamma$+jet final state.

A full set of optimized observables is measured in an angular analysis of the decay B$^0$$\to$ K$^*$(892)$^0\mu^+\mu^-$ using a sample of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$. The analysis is performed in six bins of the squared invariant mass of the dimuon system, $q^2$, over the range 1.1 $\lt$$q^2$$\lt$ 16 GeV$^2$. The results are among the most precise experimental measurements of the angular observables for this decay and are compared to a variety of predictions based on the standard model. Some of these predictions exhibit tension with the measurements.

A search is presented for the pair production of new heavy resonances, each decaying into a top quark (t) or antiquark and a gluon (g). The analysis uses data recorded with the CMS detector from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. Events with one muon or electron, multiple jets, and missing transverse momentum are selected. After using a deep neural network to enrich the data sample with signal-like events, distributions in the scalar sum of the transverse momenta of all reconstructed objects are analyzed in the search for a signal. No significant deviations from the standard model prediction are found. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the product of cross section and branching fraction squared for the pair production of excited top quarks in the $\mathrm{t^*}$ $\to$ tg decay channel. The upper limits range from 120 to 0.8 fb for a $\mathrm{t^*}$ with spin-1/2 and from 15 to 1.0 fb for a $\mathrm{t^*}$ with spin-3/2. These correspond to mass exclusion limits up to 1050 and 1700 GeV for spin-1/2 and spin-3/2 $\mathrm{t^*}$ particles, respectively. These are the most stringent limits to date on the existence of $\mathrm{t^*}$ $\to$ tg resonances.

The results of a search for a standard model-like Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range between 70 and 110 GeV are presented. The analysis uses the data set collected by the CMS experiment in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV corresponding to integrated luminosities of 36.3 fb$^{-1}$, 41.5 fb$^{-1}$ and 54.4 fb$^{-1}$ during the 2016, 2017, and 2018 LHC running periods, respectively. No significant excess over the background expectation is observed and 95% confidence level upper limits are set on the product of the cross section and branching fraction for decays of an additional Higgs boson into two photons. The maximum deviation with respect to the background is seen for a mass hypothesis of 95.4 GeV with a local (global) significance of 2.9 (1.3) standard deviations. The observed upper limit ranges from 15 to 73 fb.

A search for the production of a W boson and a Higgs boson through vector boson scattering (VBS) is presented, using CMS data from proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV collected from 2016 to 2018. The integrated luminosity of the data sample is 138 fb$^{-1}$. Selected events must be consistent with the presence of two jets originating from VBS, the leptonic decay of the W boson to an electron or muon, possibly also through an intermediate $\tau$ lepton, and a Higgs boson decaying into a pair of b quarks, reconstructed as either a single merged jet or two resolved jets. A measurement of the process as predicted by the standard model (SM) is performed alongside a study of beyond-the-SM (BSM) scenarios. The SM analysis sets an observed (expected) 95% confidence level upper limit of 14.3 (9.9) on the ratio of the measured VBS WH cross section to that expected by the SM. The BSM analysis, conducted within the so-called $\kappa$ framework, excludes all scenarios with $\lambda_\mathrm{WZ}$ $\lt$ 0 that are consistent with current measurements, where $\lambda_\mathrm{WZ}$ = $\kappa_\mathrm{W} / \kappa_\mathrm{Z}$ and $\kappa_\mathrm{W}$ and $\kappa_\mathrm{Z}$ are the HWW and HZZ coupling modifiers, respectively. The signficance of the exclusion is beyond 5 standard deviations, and it is consistent with the SM expectation of $\lambda_\mathrm{WZ}$ = 1.

A measurement is performed of Higgs bosons produced with high transverse momentum ($p_\mathrm{T}$) via vector boson or gluon fusion in proton-proton collisions. The result is based on a data set with a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected in 2016-2018 with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The decay of a high-$p_\mathrm{T}$ Higgs boson to a boosted bottom quark-antiquark pair is selected using large-radius jets and employing jet substructure and heavy-flavor taggers based on machine learning techniques. Independent regions targeting the vector boson and gluon fusion mechanisms are defined based on the topology of two quark-initiated jets with large pseudorapidity separation. The signal strengths for both processes are extracted simultaneously by performing a maximum likelihood fit to data in the large-radius jet mass distribution. The observed signal strengths relative to the standard model expectation are 4.9 $^{+1.9}_{-1.6}$ and 1.6 $^{+1.7}_{-1.5}$ for the vector boson and gluon fusion mechanisms, respectively. A differential cross section measurement is also reported in the simplified template cross section framework.

A search for heavy neutral leptons (HNLs) of Majorana or Dirac type using proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV is presented. The data were collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. Events with three charged leptons (electrons, muons, and hadronically decaying tau leptons) are selected, corresponding to HNL production in association with a charged lepton and decay of the HNL to two charged leptons and a standard model (SM) neutrino. The search is performed for HNL masses between 10 GeV and 1.5 TeV. No evidence for an HNL signal is observed in data. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are found for the squared coupling strength of the HNL to SM neutrinos, considering exclusive coupling of the HNL to a single SM neutrino generation, for both Majorana and Dirac HNLs. The limits exceed previously achieved experimental constraints for a wide range of HNL masses, and the limits on tau neutrino coupling scenarios with HNL masses above the W boson mass are presented for the first time.

The first evidence for the standard model production of a top quark in association with a W boson and a Z boson is reported. The measurement is performed in multilepton final states, where the Z boson is reconstructed via its decays to electron or muon pairs and the W boson decays either to leptons or hadrons. The analysed data were recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in 2016-2018 in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The measured cross section is 354 $\pm$ 54 (stat) $\pm$ 95 (syst) fb, and corresponds to a statistical significance of 3.4 standard deviations.

A measurement of the Higgs boson (H) production via vector boson fusion (VBF) and its decay into a bottom quark-antiquark pair ($\mathrm{b\bar{b}}$) is presented using proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS experiment at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 90.8 fb$^{-1}$. Treating the gluon-gluon fusion process as a background and constraining its rate to the value expected in the standard model (SM) within uncertainties, the signal strength of the VBF process, defined as the ratio of the observed signal rate to that predicted by the SM, is measured to be $\mu^\text{qqH}_\mathrm{Hb\bar{b}}$ = 1.01 $^{+0.55}_{-0.46}$. The VBF signal is observed with a significance of 2.4 standard deviations relative to the background prediction, while the expected significance is 2.7 standard deviations. Considering inclusive Higgs boson production and decay into bottom quarks, the signal strength is measured to be $\mu^\text{incl.}_\mathrm{Hb\bar{b}}$ = 0.99 $^{+0.48}_{-0.41}$, corresponding to an observed (expected) significance of 2.6 (2.9) standard deviations.

A search for dark matter in events with a displaced nonresonant muon pair and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is performed using an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton (pp) collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV produced by the LHC in 2016-2018. No significant excess over the predicted backgrounds is observed. Upper limits are set on the product of the inelastic dark matter production cross section $\sigma$(pp $\to$ A' $\to$$\chi_1$$\chi_2$) and the decay branching fraction $\mathcal{B}$($\chi_2$$\to$$\chi_1 \mu^+ \mu^-$), where A' is a dark photon and $\chi_1$ and $\chi_2$ are states in the dark sector with near mass degeneracy. This is the first dedicated collider search for inelastic dark matter.