A search is reported for a light pseudoscalar Higgs boson decaying to a pair of tau leptons, produced in association with a b b-bar pair, in the context of two-Higgs-doublet models. The results are based on pp collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns. Pseudoscalar boson masses between 25 and 80 GeV are probed. No evidence for a pseudoscalar boson is found and upper limits are set on the production cross section times branching fraction to tau pairs between 7 and 39 pb at the 95% confidence level. This excludes pseudoscalar A bosons with masses between 25 and 80 GeV, with standard model-like Higgs boson negative couplings to down-type fermions, produced in association with b b-bar pairs, in Type-II, two-Higgs-doublet models.
An analysis of the decay $\Lambda_b \to J/\psi(\to\mu^+\mu^-)\Lambda(\to p \pi^-)$ decay is performed to measure the $\Lambda_b$ polarization and three angular parameters in data from pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 7 and 8 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The $\Lambda_b$ polarization is measured to be 0.00 $\pm$ 0.06 (stat) $\pm$ 0.06 (syst) and the parity-violating asymmetry parameter is determined to be 0.14 $\pm$ 0.14 (stat) $\pm$ 0.10 (syst). The measurements are compared to various theoretical predictions, including those from perturbative quantum chromodynamics.
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 exotic decays of the Higgs boson to a pair of light pseudoscalar particles a$_1$ is performed under the hypothesis that one of the pseudoscalars decays to a pair of opposite sign muons and the other decays to b$\overline{\mathrm{b}}$. Such signatures are predicted in a number of extensions of the standard model (SM), including next-to-minimal supersymmetry and two-Higgs-doublet models with an additional scalar singlet. The results are based on a data set of proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$, accumulated with the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in 2016 at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. No statistically significant excess is observed with respect to the SM backgrounds in the search region for pseudoscalar masses from 20 GeV to half of the Higgs boson mass. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the product of the production cross section and branching fraction, $\sigma_{\mathrm{h}}\mathcal{B}$(h $\to$ a$_1$ a$_1$ $\to$ $\mu^+\mu^-\mathrm{b}\bar{\mathrm{b}}$), ranging from 5 to 33 fb, depending on the pseudoscalar mass. Corresponding limits on the branching fraction, assuming the SM prediction for $\sigma_{\mathrm{h}}$, are (1$-$7)$\times$ 10$^{-4}$.
Measurements of $\mathrm{B}^*_\mathrm{s2}(5840)^0$ and $\mathrm{B}_\mathrm{s1}(5830)^0$ mesons are performed using a data sample of proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.6 fb$^{-1}$, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The analysis studies $P$-wave $\mathrm{B}^0_\mathrm{S}$ meson decays into $\mathrm{B}^{(*)+}\mathrm{K}^-$ and $\mathrm{B}^{(*)0}\mathrm{K}^0_\mathrm{S}$, where the $\mathrm{B}^+$ and $\mathrm{B}^0$ mesons are identified using the decays $\mathrm{B}^+\to\mathrm{J}/\psi\,\mathrm{K}^+$ and $\mathrm{B}^0\to\mathrm{J}/\psi\,\mathrm{K}^*(892)^0$. The masses of the $P$-wave $\mathrm{B}^0_\mathrm{S}$ meson states are measured and the natural width of the $\mathrm{B}^*_\mathrm{s2}(5840)^0$ state is determined. The first measurement of the mass difference between the charged and neutral $\mathrm{B}^*$ mesons is also presented. The $\mathrm{B}^*_\mathrm{s2}(5840)^0$ decay to $\mathrm{B}^0\mathrm{K}^0_\mathrm{S}$ is observed, together with a measurement of its branching fraction relative to the $\mathrm{B}^*_\mathrm{s2}(5840)^0\to\mathrm{B}^+\mathrm{K}^-$ decay.
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