The production cross section of inclusive isolated photons has been measured by the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC in pp collisions at a centre-of-momentum energy of $\sqrt{s}=$ 7 TeV. The measurement is performed with the electromagnetic calorimeter EMCal and the central tracking detectors, covering a range of $|\eta|<0.27$ in pseudorapidity and a transverse momentum range of $ 10 < p_{\rm T}^{\gamma} < $ 60 GeV/$c$. The result extends the $p_{\rm T}$ coverage of previously published results of the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the same collision energy to smaller $p_{\rm T}$. The measurement is compared to next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations and to the results from the ATLAS and CMS experiments. All measurements and theory predictions are in agreement with each other.

The production of prompt $D^{0}$, $D^{+}_{\rm s}$, and $\Lambda_{\rm c}^{+}$ hadrons, and their ratios, $D^{+}_{\rm s}$/$D^{0}$ and $\Lambda_{\rm c}^{+}$/$D^{0}$, are measured in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV at midrapidity ($|y| <0.5$) with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed as a function of the charm-hadron transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) in intervals of charged-particle multiplicity, measured with two multiplicity estimators covering different pseudorapidity regions. While the strange to non-strange $D^{+}_{\rm s}$/$D^{0}$ ratio indicates no significant multiplicity dependence, the baryon-to-meson $p_{\rm T}$-differential $\Lambda_{\rm c}^{+}$/$D^{0}$ ratio shows a multiplicity-dependent enhancement, with a significance of 5.3$\sigma$ for $1< p_{\rm T} < 12$ GeV/$c$, comparing the highest multiplicity interval with respect to the lowest one. The measurements are compared with a theoretical model that explains the multiplicity dependence by a canonical treatment of quantum charges in the statistical hadronisation approach, and with predictions from event generators that implement colour reconnection mechanisms beyond the leading colour approximation to model the hadronisation process. The $\Lambda_{\rm c}^{+}$/$D^{0}$ ratios as a function of $p_{\rm T}$ present a similar shape and magnitude as the $\Lambda/K^{0}_{s}$ ratios in comparable multiplicity intervals, suggesting a potential common mechanism for light- and charm-hadron formation, with analogous multiplicity dependence. The $p_{\rm T}$-integrated ratios, extrapolated down to $p_{\rm T}$=0, do not show a significant dependence on multiplicity within the uncertainties.

The first measurements of elliptic flow of $\pi^\pm$, ${\rm K}^\pm$, p+$\overline{\rm p}$, ${\rm K_{S}^0}$, $\Lambda$+$\overline{\Lambda}$, $\phi$, $\Xi^-$+$\Xi^+$, and $\Omega^-$+$\Omega^+$ using multiparticle cumulants in Pb$-$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV are presented. Results obtained with two- ($v_2\{2\}$) and four-particle cumulants ($v_2\{4\}$) are shown as a function of transverse momentum, $p_{\rm T}$, for various collision centrality intervals. Combining the data for both $v_2\{2\}$ and $v_2\{4\}$ also allows us to report the first measurements of the mean elliptic flow, elliptic flow fluctuations, and relative elliptic flow fluctuations for various hadron species. These observables probe the event-by-event eccentricity fluctuations in the initial state and the contributions from the dynamic evolution of the expanding quark-gluon plasma. The characteristic features observed in previous $p_{\rm T}$-differential anisotropic flow measurements for identified hadrons with two-particle correlations, namely the mass ordering at low $p_{\rm T}$ and the approximate scaling with the number of constituent quarks at intermediate $p_{\rm T}$, are similarly present in the four-particle correlations and the combinations of $v_2\{2\}$ and $v_2\{4\}$. In addition, a particle species dependence of flow fluctuations is observed that could indicate a significant contribution from final state hadronic interactions. The comparison between experimental measurements and CoLBT model calculations, which combine the various physics processes of hydrodynamics, quark coalescence, and jet fragmentation, illustrates their importance over a wide $p_{\rm T}$ range.

First measurements of balance functions (BFs) of all combinations of identified charged hadron $(\pi,\rm K,\rm p)$ pairs in Pb$-$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV recorded by the ALICE detector are presented. The BF measurements are carried out as two-dimensional differential correlators versus the relative rapidity ($\Delta y$) and azimuthal angle ($\Delta\varphi$) of hadron pairs, and studied as a function of collision centrality. The $\Delta\varphi$ dependence of BFs is expected to be sensitive to the light quark diffusivity in the quark$-$gluon plasma. While the BF azimuthal widths of all pairs substantially decrease from peripheral to central collisions, the longitudinal widths exhibit mixed behaviors: BFs of $\pi\pi$ and cross-species pairs narrow significantly in more central collisions, whereas those of $\rm KK$ and $\rm pp$ are found to be independent of collision centrality. This dichotomy is qualitatively consistent with the presence of strong radial flow effects and the existence of two stages of quark production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Finally, the first measurements of the collision centrality evolution of BF integrals are presented, with the observation that charge balancing fractions are nearly independent of collision centrality in Pb$-$Pb collisions. Overall, the results presented provide new and challenging constraints for theoretical models of hadron production and transport in relativistic heavy-ion collisions.

The production of prompt $\rm \Lambda_{\rm c}^{+}$ baryons at midrapidity ($|y|<0.5$) was measured in central (0-10%) and mid-central (30-50%) Pb-Pb collisions at the center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon pair $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV with the ALICE detector. The results are more precise, more differential in centrality, and reach much lower transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}=1$ GeV/$c$) with respect to previous measurements performed by the ALICE, STAR, and CMS Collaborations in nucleus-nucleus collisions, allowing for an extrapolation down to $p_{\rm T}=0$. The $p_{\rm T}$-differential $\rm \Lambda_{\rm c}^{+}$/D$^0$ production ratio is enhanced with respect to the pp measurement for $4<p_{\rm T}<8$ GeV/$c$ by 3.7 standard deviations ($\sigma$), while the $p_{\rm T}$-integrated ratios are compatible within 1$\sigma$. The observed trend is similar to that observed in the strange sector for the $\Lambda/$K$^0_{\rm S}$ ratio. Model calculations including coalescence or statistical hadronization for charm-hadron formation are compared with the data.

The production of non-prompt ${\rm D}^{0}$ mesons from beauty-hadron decays was measured at midrapidity ($\left| y \right| < 0.5$) in Pb-Pb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02~\mathrm{TeV}$ with the ALICE experiment at the LHC. Their nuclear modification factor ($R_{\rm AA}$), measured for the first time down to $p_{\rm T}=1~\mathrm{GeV}/c$ in the $0-10$% and $30-50$% centrality classes, indicates a significant suppression, up to a factor of about three, for $p_{\rm T} > 5~\mathrm{GeV}/c$ in the $0-10$% central Pb-Pb collisions. The data are described by models that include both collisional and radiative processes in the calculation of beauty-quark energy loss in the quark-gluon plasma, and quark recombination in addition to fragmentation as a hadronisation mechanism. The ratio of the non-prompt to prompt ${\rm D}^{0}$-meson $R_{\rm AA}$ is larger than unity for $p_{\rm T} > 4~\mathrm{GeV}/c$ in the $0-10$% central Pb-Pb collisions, as predicted by models in which beauty quarks lose less energy than charm quarks in the quark-gluon plasma because of their larger mass.

The production yields of non-prompt $\mathrm{D_s}^{+}$ mesons, namely $\mathrm{D_s}^{+}$ mesons from beauty-hadron decays, were measured for the first time as a function of the transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) at midrapidity ($|y|<0.5$) in central and semi-central Pb$-$Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV with the ALICE experiment at the LHC. The $\mathrm{D_s}^{+}$ mesons and their charge conjugates were reconstructed from the hadronic decay channel $\mathrm{D_s}^{+} \to \phi\pi^+$, with $\phi \to {\rm K}^-{\rm K}^+$, in the $4 < p_{\rm T}<36$ GeV/$c$ and $2 < p_{\rm T}<24$ GeV/$c$ intervals for the 0$-$10% and 30$-$50% centrality classes, respectively. The measured yields of non-prompt $\mathrm{D_s}^{+}$ mesons are compared to those of prompt $\mathrm{D_s}^{+}$ and non-prompt $\mathrm{D^0}$ mesons by calculating the ratios of the production yields in Pb$-$Pb collisions and the nuclear modification factor $R_\mathrm{AA}$. The ratio between the $R_\mathrm{AA}$ of non-prompt $\mathrm{D_s}^{+}$ and prompt $\mathrm{D_s}^{+}$ mesons, and that between the $R_\mathrm{AA}$ of non-prompt $\mathrm{D_s}^{+}$ and non-prompt $\mathrm{D^0}$ mesons in central Pb$-$Pb collisions are found to be on average higher than unity in the $4< p_{\rm T}<12$ GeV/$c$ interval with a statistical significance of about $1.6\,\sigma$ and $1.7\,\sigma$, respectively. The measured $R_\mathrm{AA}$ ratios are compared with the predictions of theoretical models of heavy-quark transport in a hydrodynamically expanding QGP that incorporate hadronisation via quark recombination.

We search for new massive scalar particles X and Y through the resonant process X $\to$ YH $\to$$\mathrm{b\bar{b}b\bar{b}}$, where H is the standard model Higgs boson. Data from CERN LHC proton-proton collisions are used, collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV in 2016-2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The search is performed in mass ranges of 0.9-4 TeV for X and 60-600 GeV for Y, where both Y and H are reconstructed as Lorentz-boosted single large-area jets. The results are interpreted in the context of the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model and also in an extension of the standard model with two additional singlet scalar fields. The 95% confidence level upper limits for the production cross section vary between 0.1 and 150 fb depending on the X and Y masses, and represent a significant improvement over results from previous searches.

We present the first direct search for exotic Higgs boson decays H $\to$$\mathcal{A}\mathcal{A}$, $\mathcal{A}$$\to$$\gamma\gamma$ in events with two photonlike objects. The hypothetical particle $\mathcal{A}$ is a low-mass spin-0 particle decaying promptly to a merged diphoton reconstructed as a single photonlike object. We analyze the data collected by the CMS experiment at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 136 fb$^{-1}$. No excess above the estimated background is found. We set upper limits on the branching fraction $\mathcal{B}$(H $\to$$\mathcal{A}\mathcal{A}$$\to$ 4$\gamma$) of (0.9-3.3) $\times$ 10$^{-3}$ at 95% confidence level for masses of $\mathcal{A}$ in the range 0.1-1.2 GeV.

A search for the nonresonant production of Higgs boson pairs (HH) via gluon-gluon and vector boson fusion processes in final states with two bottom quarks and two tau leptons is presented. The search uses data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. Events in which at least one tau lepton decays hadronically are considered and multiple machine learning techniques are used to identify and extract the signal. The data are found to be consistent, within uncertainties, with the standard model (SM) predictions. Upper limits on the HH production cross section are set to constrain the parameter space for anomalous Higgs boson couplings. The observed (expected) upper limit at 95% confidence level corresponds to 3.3 (5.2) times the SM prediction for the inclusive HH cross section and to 124 (154) times the SM prediction for the vector boson fusion HH cross section. At 95% confidence level, the Higgs field self-coupling is constrained to be within -1.7 and 8.7 times the SM expectation, and the coupling of two Higgs bosons to two vector bosons is constrained to be within -0.4 and 2.6 times the SM expectation.