Search for hadronic decays of feebly-interacting particles at NA62

The NA62 collaboration Cortina Gil, Eduardo ; Jerhot, Jan ; Lurkin, Nicolas ; et al.
Eur.Phys.J.C 85 (2025) 571, 2025.
Inspire Record 2877075 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.156981

The NA62 experiment at CERN has the capability to collect data in a beam-dump mode, where 400 GeV protons are dumped on an absorber. In this configuration, New Physics particles, including dark photons, dark scalars, and axion-like particles, may be produced in the absorber and decay in the instrumented volume beginning approximately 80 m downstream of the dump. A search for these particles decaying in flight to hadronic final states is reported, based on an analysis of a sample of $1.4 \times 10^{17}$ protons on dump collected in 2021. No evidence of a New Physics signal is observed, excluding new regions of parameter spaces of multiple models.

66 data tables

90% CL upper limit in dark photon coupling vs mass parameter space for combined di-lepton and hadronic final states, using bremsstrahlung production without the time-like form factor.

90% CL upper limit in dark photon coupling vs mass parameter space for combined di-lepton and hadronic final states, including mixing and bremsstrahlung production with a time-like form factor.

90% CL upper limit in dark scalar coupling vs mass parameter space for combined di-lepton and hadronic final states.

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Search for a neutral gauge boson with nonuniversal fermion couplings in vector boson fusion processes in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV

The CMS collaboration Hayrapetyan, Aram ; Tumasyan, Armen ; Adam, Wolfgang ; et al.
CMS-EXO-21-015, 2024.
Inspire Record 2863220 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.155915

The first search for a heavy neutral spin-1 gauge boson (Z') with nonuniversal fermion couplings produced via vector boson fusion processes and decaying to tau leptons or W bosons is presented. The analysis is performed using LHC data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, collected from 2016 to 2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The data are consistent with the standard model predictions. Upper limits are set on the product of the cross section for production of the Z' boson and its branching fraction to $\tau\tau$ or WW. The presence of a Z' boson decaying to $\tau^+\tau^-$ (W$^+$W$^-$) is excluded for masses up to 2.45 (1.60) TeV, depending on the Z' boson coupling to SM weak bosons, and assuming a Z' $\to$$\tau^+\tau^-$ (W$^+$W$^-$) branching fraction of 50%.

53 data tables

Cutflow for VBF Z' to tautau in ditau 2016 channel for different signal scenarios

Cutflow for VBF Z' to tautau in ditau 2017 channel for different signal scenarios

Cutflow for VBF Z' to tautau in ditau 2018 channel for different signal scenarios

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Search for heavy neutral resonances decaying to tau lepton pairs in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV

The CMS collaboration Hayrapetyan, Aram ; Tumasyan, Armen ; Adam, Wolfgang ; et al.
CMS-EXO-21-016, 2024.
Inspire Record 2856405 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.155459

A search for heavy neutral gauge bosons (Z') decaying into a pair of tau leptons is performed in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV at the CERN LHC. The data were collected with the CMS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The observations are found to be in agreement with the expectation from standard model processes. Limits at 95% confidence level are set on the product of the Z' production cross section and its branching fraction to tau lepton pairs for a range of Z' boson masses. For a narrow resonance in the sequential standard model scenario, a Z' boson with a mass below 3.5 TeV is excluded. This is the most stringent limit to date from this type of search.

23 data tables

Cutflow for signal samples in the hadronic di-tau channel for 2016 signal samples. Each entry other than the total is the relative efficiency with respect to the previous selection.

Cutflow for signal samples in the hadronic di-tau channel for 2017 signal samples. Each entry other than the total is the relative efficiency with respect to the previous selection.

Cutflow for signal samples in the hadronic di-tau channel for 2018 signal samples. Each entry other than the total is the relative efficiency with respect to the previous selection.

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Version 2
Search for a heavy resonance decaying into a Z and a Higgs boson in events with an energetic jet and two electrons, two muons, or missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV

The CMS collaboration Hayrapetyan, Aram ; Tumasyan, Armen ; Adam, Wolfgang ; et al.
JHEP 02 (2025) 089, 2025.
Inspire Record 2847311 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.153397

A search is presented for a heavy resonance decaying into a Z boson and a Higgs (H) boson. The analysis is based on data from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$, recorded with the CMS experiment in the years 2016-2018. Resonance masses between 1.4 and 5 TeV are considered, resulting in large transverse momenta of the Z and H bosons. Final states that result from Z boson decays to pairs of electrons, muons, or neutrinos are considered. The H boson is reconstructed as a single large-radius jet, recoiling against the Z boson. Machine-learning flavour-tagging techniques are employed to identify decays of a Lorentz-boosted H boson into pairs of charm or bottom quarks, or into four quarks via the intermediate H $\to$ WW* and ZZ* decays. The analysis targets H boson decays that were not generally included in previous searches using the H $\to$$\mathrm{b\bar{b}}$ channel. Compared with previous analyses, the sensitivity for high resonance masses is improved significantly in the channel where at most one b quark is tagged.

16 data tables

The product of signal acceptance and efficiency for signal events as a function of $m_{Z'}$ for the charged-lepton and neutrino channels in the SR. The efficiency is calculated with respect to Z boson decays to charged leptons and neutrinos for the charged-lepton and neutrino channels, respectively. For comparison, the results from the $\leq$ 1 b category of the previous CMS search in the ZH channel are shown as dashed lines.

The product of signal acceptance and efficiency for signal events as a function of $m_{Z'}$ for the charged-lepton and neutrino channels in the SR. The efficiency is calculated with respect to Z boson decays to charged leptons and neutrinos for the charged-lepton and neutrino channels, respectively. For comparison, the results from the $\leq$ 1 b category of the previous CMS search in the ZH channel are shown as dashed lines.

Distributions in $m_{Z'}^{rec}$ for data in the SRs, together with fits of the background functions under the background-only hypothesis for the muon channel. The number of observed events in each bin is divided by the bin width. The signal predictions are shown for different Z' boson masses, normalized to an arbitrary cross section of 1 fb. In the panels below the distributions, the ratios of data to the background function are displayed. The shaded green areas represent the statistical uncertainty from the fit. The $\chi^2$ values per number of degrees of freedom ($\chi^2$/n.d.f.) and the corresponding $p$-values are provided for each fit.

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Version 2
Anomaly detection search for new resonances decaying into a Higgs boson and a generic new particle $X$ in hadronic final states using $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV $pp$ collisions with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS collaboration Aad, Georges ; Abbott, Braden Keim ; Abbott, Dale ; et al.
Phys.Rev.D 108 (2023) 052009, 2023.
Inspire Record 2666488 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.135828

A search is presented for a heavy resonance $Y$ decaying into a Standard Model Higgs boson $H$ and a new particle $X$ in a fully hadronic final state. The full Large Hadron Collider Run 2 dataset of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}= 13$ TeV collected by the ATLAS detector from 2015 to 2018 is used, and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. The search targets the high $Y$-mass region, where the $H$ and $X$ have a significant Lorentz boost in the laboratory frame. A novel signal region is implemented using anomaly detection, where events are selected solely because of their incompatibility with a learned background-only model. It is defined using a jet-level tagger for signal-model-independent selection of the boosted $X$ particle, representing the first application of fully unsupervised machine learning to an ATLAS analysis. Two additional signal regions are implemented to target a benchmark $X$ decay into two quarks, covering topologies where the $X$ is reconstructed as either a single large-radius jet or two small-radius jets. The analysis selects Higgs boson decays into $b\bar{b}$, and a dedicated neural-network-based tagger provides sensitivity to the boosted heavy-flavor topology. No significant excess of data over the expected background is observed, and the results are presented as upper limits on the production cross section $\sigma(pp \rightarrow Y \rightarrow XH \rightarrow q\bar{q}b\bar{b}$) for signals with $m_Y$ between 1.5 and 6 TeV and $m_X$ between 65 and 3000 GeV.

6 data tables

Acceptance times efficiency for signal grid in anomaly signal region.

Acceptance times efficiency for signal grid in merged two-prong signal region.

Acceptance times efficiency for signal grid in resolved two-prong signal region.

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Search for inelastic dark matter in events with two displaced muons and missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV

The CMS collaboration Hayrapetyan, Aram ; Tumasyan, Armen ; Adam, Wolfgang ; et al.
Phys.Rev.Lett. 132 (2024) 041802, 2024.
Inspire Record 2661228 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.140434

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.

6 data tables

Definition of ABCD bins and yields in data, per match category. The predicted yield in the bin with the smallest backgrounds (bin D) is extracted from the simultaneous four-bin fit by assuming zero signal, which corresponds to $(\text{Obs. B} \times \text{Obs. C}) / (\text{Obs. A})$ in this limit.

Systematic uncertainties in the analysis. The jet uncertainties are larger in 2017 because of noise issues with the ECAL endcap. The tracking inefficiency in 2016 is caused by the unexpected saturation of photodiode signals in the tracker.

Simulated muon reconstruction efficiency of standard (blue squares) and displaced (red circles) reconstruction algorithms as a function of transverse vertex displacement $v_{xy}$. The two dashed vertical gray lines denote the ends of the fiducial tracker and muon detector regions, respectively.

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Search for direct production of winos and higgsinos in events with two same-charge leptons or three leptons in $pp$ collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS collaboration Aad, Georges ; Abbott, Braden Keim ; Abbott, Dale ; et al.
JHEP 11 (2023) 150, 2023.
Inspire Record 2660233 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.134245

A search for supersymmetry targeting the direct production of winos and higgsinos is conducted in final states with either two leptons ($e$ or $\mu$) with the same electric charge, or three leptons. The analysis uses 139 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV collected with the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess over the Standard Model expectation is observed. Simplified and complete models with and without $R$-parity conservation are considered. In topologies with intermediate states including either $Wh$ or $WZ$ pairs, wino masses up to 525 GeV and 250 GeV are excluded, respectively, for a bino of vanishing mass. Higgsino masses smaller than 440 GeV are excluded in a natural $R$-parity-violating model with bilinear terms. Upper limits on the production cross section of generic events beyond the Standard Model as low as 40 ab are obtained in signal regions optimised for these models and also for an $R$-parity-violating scenario with baryon-number-violating higgsino decays into top quarks and jets. The analysis significantly improves sensitivity to supersymmetric models and other processes beyond the Standard Model that may contribute to the considered final states.

70 data tables

Observed exclusion limits at 95% CL for the WZ-mediated simplified model of wino $\tilde{\chi}^{\pm}_{1}/\tilde{\chi}^{0}_{2}$ production from Fig 13(b) and Fig 8(aux).

positive one $\sigma$ observed exclusion limits at 95% CL for the WZ-mediated simplified model of wino $\tilde{\chi}^{\pm}_{1}/\tilde{\chi}^{0}_{2}$ production from Fig 13(b) and Fig 8(aux).

negative $\sigma$ variation of observed exclusion limits at 95% CL for the WZ-mediated simplified model of wino $\tilde{\chi}^{\pm}_{1}/\tilde{\chi}^{0}_{2}$ production from Fig 13(b) and Fig 8(aux).

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Version 2
Observation of the rare decay of the $\eta$ meson to four muons

The CMS collaboration Hayrapetyan, Aram ; Tumasyan, Armen ; Adam, Wolfgang ; et al.
Phys.Rev.Lett. 131 (2023) 091903, 2023.
Inspire Record 2657654 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.140340

A search for the rare $\eta$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-\mu^+\mu^-$ double-Dalitz decay is performed using a sample of proton-proton collisions, collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC with high-rate muon triggers in 2017-2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb$^{-1}$. A signal having a statistical significance well in excess of 5 standard deviations is observed. Using the $\eta$$\to$$\mu^+ \mu^-$ decay as normalization, the branching fraction $\mathcal{B}(\eta$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-\mu^+\mu^-)$ = [5.0 $\pm$ 0.8 (stat) $\pm$ 0.7 (syst) $\pm$ 0.7 ($\mathcal{B}_{2\mu}$)] $\times$ 10$^{-9}$ is measured, where the last term is the uncertainty in the normalization channel branching fraction. This work achieves an improved precision of over five orders of magnitude compared to previous results, leading to the first measurement of this branching fraction, which is found to agree with theoretical predictions.

3 data tables

The total efficiencies for the four-muon ($A_{4\mu}^{i,j}$, red and blue points) and two-muon ($A_{2\mu}^{i,j}$, orange and green points) decay channels, as functions of the generated meson's $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ and $y$, evaluated through MC simulation.

Measured ratio of $\mathcal{B}_{4\mu}/\mathcal{B}_{2\mu}$

Measured branching fraction $\mathcal{B}_{4\mu}$


Search in diphoton and dielectron final states for displaced production of Higgs or $Z$ bosons with the ATLAS detector in $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV $pp$ collisions

The ATLAS collaboration Aad, Georges ; Abbott, Braden Keim ; Abbott, Dale ; et al.
Phys.Rev.D 108 (2023) 012012, 2023.
Inspire Record 2654099 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.135829

A search is presented for displaced production of Higgs bosons or $Z$ bosons, originating from the decay of a neutral long-lived particle (LLP) and reconstructed in the decay modes $H\rightarrow \gamma\gamma$ and $Z\rightarrow ee$. The analysis uses the full Run 2 data set of proton$-$proton collisions delivered by the LHC at an energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV between 2015 and 2018 and recorded by the ATLAS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. Exploiting the capabilities of the ATLAS liquid argon calorimeter to precisely measure the arrival times and trajectories of electromagnetic objects, the analysis searches for the signature of pairs of photons or electrons which arise from a common displaced vertex and which arrive after some delay at the calorimeter. The results are interpreted in a gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking model with pair-produced higgsinos that decay to LLPs, and each LLP subsequently decays into either a Higgs boson or a $Z$ boson. The final state includes at least two particles that escape direct detection, giving rise to missing transverse momentum. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation. The results are used to set upper limits on the cross section for higgsino pair production, up to a $\tilde\chi^0_1$ mass of 369 (704) GeV for decays with 100% branching ratio of $\tilde\chi^0_1$ to Higgs ($Z$) bosons for a $\tilde\chi^0_1$ lifetime of 2 ns. A model-independent limit is also set on the production of pairs of photons or electrons with a significant delay in arrival at the calorimeter.

45 data tables

Average timing distributions for SR data and the estimated background as determined by the background-only fit, in each of the five exclusive $\rho$ categories. For comparison, the expected timing shapes for a few different signal models are superimposed, with each model labeled by the values of the $\tilde\chi^0_1$ mass and lifetime, as well as decay mode. To provide some indication of the variations in signal yield and shape, three signal models are shown for each of the $\tilde\chi^0_1$ decay modes, namely $\tilde\chi^0_1$ $\rightarrow$ $H \tilde G$ and $\tilde\chi^0_1$ $\rightarrow$ $Z \tilde G$. The models shown include a rather low $\tilde\chi^0_1$ mass value of 135 GeV for lifetimes of either 2 ns or 10 ns, and a higher $\tilde\chi^0_1$ mass value which is near the 95% CL exclusion limit for each decay mode for a lifetime of 2 ns. Each signal model is shown with the signal normalization corresponding to a BR value of unity for the decay mode in question.

Average timing distributions for SR data and the estimated background as determined by the background-only fit, in each of the five exclusive $\rho$ categories. For comparison, the expected timing shapes for a few different signal models are superimposed, with each model labeled by the values of the $\tilde\chi^0_1$ mass and lifetime, as well as decay mode. To provide some indication of the variations in signal yield and shape, three signal models are shown for each of the $\tilde\chi^0_1$ decay modes, namely $\tilde\chi^0_1$ $\rightarrow$ $H \tilde G$ and $\tilde\chi^0_1$ $\rightarrow$ $Z \tilde G$. The models shown include a rather low $\tilde\chi^0_1$ mass value of 135 GeV for lifetimes of either 2 ns or 10 ns, and a higher $\tilde\chi^0_1$ mass value which is near the 95% CL exclusion limit for each decay mode for a lifetime of 2 ns. Each signal model is shown with the signal normalization corresponding to a BR value of unity for the decay mode in question.

Average timing distributions for SR data and the estimated background as determined by the background-only fit, in each of the five exclusive $\rho$ categories. For comparison, the expected timing shapes for a few different signal models are superimposed, with each model labeled by the values of the $\tilde\chi^0_1$ mass and lifetime, as well as decay mode. To provide some indication of the variations in signal yield and shape, three signal models are shown for each of the $\tilde\chi^0_1$ decay modes, namely $\tilde\chi^0_1$ $\rightarrow$ $H \tilde G$ and $\tilde\chi^0_1$ $\rightarrow$ $Z \tilde G$. The models shown include a rather low $\tilde\chi^0_1$ mass value of 135 GeV for lifetimes of either 2 ns or 10 ns, and a higher $\tilde\chi^0_1$ mass value which is near the 95% CL exclusion limit for each decay mode for a lifetime of 2 ns. Each signal model is shown with the signal normalization corresponding to a BR value of unity for the decay mode in question.

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A search for new physics in central exclusive production using the missing mass technique with the CMS detector and the CMS-TOTEM precision proton spectrometer

The CMS & TOTEM collaborations Tumasyan, Armen ; Adam, Wolfgang ; Andrejkovic, Janik Walter ; et al.
Eur.Phys.J.C 83 (2023) 827, 2023.
Inspire Record 2639338 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.135797

A generic search is presented for the associated production of a Z boson or a photon with an additional unspecified massive particle X, pp $\to$ pp + Z/$\gamma$ + X, in proton-tagged events from proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, recorded in 2017 with the CMS detector and the CMS-TOTEM precision proton spectrometer. The missing mass spectrum is analysed in the 600-1600 GeV range and a fit is performed to search for possible deviations from the background expectation. No significant excess in data with respect to the background predictions has been observed. Model-independent upper limits on the visible production cross section of pp $\to$ pp + Z/$\gamma$ + X are set.

35 data tables

Comparison of the $m_{miss}$ shapes for the simulated signal events within the fiducial region and those outside it, after including the effect of PU protons as describe in the text, for a generated $m_{X}$ mass of 1000 GeV. The distributions are shown for multi(+z)-multi(−z) proton reconstruction categories.

Comparison of the $m_{miss}$ shapes for the simulated signal events within the fiducial region and those outside it, after including the effect of PU protons as describe in the text, for a generated $m_{X}$ mass of 1000 GeV. The distributions are shown for multi(+z)-single(−z) proton reconstruction categories.

Comparison of the $m_{miss}$ shapes for the simulated signal events within the fiducial region and those outside it, after including the effect of PU protons as describe in the text, for a generated $m_{X}$ mass of 1000 GeV. The distributions are shown for single(+z)-multi(−z) proton reconstruction categories.

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