A search is presented for a heavy vector resonance decaying into a Z boson and the standard model Higgs boson, where the Z boson is identified through its leptonic decays to electrons, muons, or neutrinos, and the Higgs boson is identified through its hadronic decays. The search is performed in a Lorentz-boosted regime and is based on data collected from 2016 to 2018 at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$. Upper limits are derived on the production of a narrow heavy resonance Z', and a mass below 3.5 and 3.7 TeV is excluded at 95% confidence level in models where the heavy vector boson couples exclusively to fermions and to bosons, respectively. These are the most stringent limits placed on the Heavy Vector Triplet Z' model to date. If the heavy vector boson couples exclusively to standard model bosons, upper limits on the product of the cross section and branching fraction are set between 23 and 0.3 fb for a Z' mass between 0.8 and 4.6 TeV, respectively. This is the first limit set on a heavy vector boson coupling exclusively to standard model bosons in its production and decay.
The product of signal acceptance and efficiency in the 0l categories for the signal produced via qqbar annihilation.
The product of signal acceptance and efficiency in the 2l categories for the signal produced via qqbar annihilation.
The product of signal acceptance and efficiency in the 0l categories for the signal produced via vector boson fusion.
A search is performed for the rare decay W$^\pm\to\pi^\pm\gamma$ in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV. Data corresponding to an on W integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$ were collected during 2016 to 2018 with the CMS detector. This analysis exploits a novel search strategy based on W boson production in top quark pair events. An inclusive search for the W$^\pm\to\pi^\pm\gamma$ decay is not optimal at the LHC because of the high trigger thresholds. Instead, a trigger selection is exploited in which the W boson originating from one of the top quarks is used to tag the event in a leptonic decay. The W boson emerging from the other top quark is used to search for the W$^\pm\to\pi^\pm\gamma$ signature. Such decays are characterized by an isolated track pointing to a large energy deposit, and by an isolated photon of large transverse momentum. The presence of b quark jets reduces the background from the hadronization of light-flavor quarks and gluons. The W$^\pm\to\pi^\pm\gamma$ decay is not observed. An upper exclusion limit is set to this branching fraction, corresponding to 1.50 $\times$ 10$^{-5}$ at 95% confidence level, whereas the expected upper limit exclusion limit is 0.85 $^{+0.52}_{-0.29}$ $\times$ 10$^{-5}$.
The product of signal efficiency and acceptance per year and per lepton channel (muon or electron).
Expected and observed upper exclusion limits on the branching fraction of the decay of a W boson into a pion and a photon, using 2016 to 2018 data.
A search is described for the production of a pair of bottom-type vector-like quarks (VLQs), each decaying into a b or $\mathrm{\bar{b}}$ quark and either a Higgs or a Z boson, with a mass greater than 1000 GeV. The analysis is based on data from proton-proton collisions at a 13 TeV center-of-mass energy recorded at the CERN LHC, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$. As the predominant decay modes of the Higgs and Z bosons are to a pair of quarks, the analysis focuses on final states consisting of jets resulting from the six quarks produced in the events. Since the two jets produced in the decay of a highly Lorentz-boosted Higgs or Z boson can merge to form a single jet, nine independent analyses are performed, categorized by the number of observed jets and the reconstructed event mode. No signal in excess of the expected background is observed. Lower limits are set on the VLQ mass at 95% confidence level equal to 1570 GeV in the case where the VLQ decays exclusively to a b quark and a Higgs boson, 1390 GeV for when it decays exclusively to a b quark and a Z boson, and 1450 GeV for when it decays equally in these two modes. These limits represent significant improvements over the previously published VLQ limits.
Measured values of the trigger efficiencies for events with $\HT > 1350\GeV$. The uncertainties are statistical only.
Reconstructed VLQ mass distributions for simulated signal events with a generated VLQ mass $m_{B} = 1200\GeV$. A moderate requirement of $\chi^{2}$/ndf < 2$ is applied to the events. Mass distributions for 4-jet (left), 5-jet (center), and 6-jet (right) events are shown for the three decay modes: bHbH (upper row), bHbZ (middle row), and bZbZ (lower row).
Reconstructed VLQ mass distributions for simulated signal events with a generated VLQ mass $m_{B} = 1200\GeV$. A moderate requirement of $\chi^{2}$/ndf < 2$ is applied to the events. Mass distributions for 4-jet (left), 5-jet (center), and 6-jet (right) events are shown for the three decay modes: bHbH (upper row), bHbZ (middle row), and bZbZ (lower row).
A search for physics beyond the standard model in events with at least three charged leptons (electrons or muons) is presented. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2016-2018. The two targeted signal processes are pair production of type-III seesaw heavy fermions and production of a light scalar or pseudoscalar boson in association with a pair of top quarks. The heavy fermions may be manifested as an excess of events with large values of leptonic transverse momenta or missing transverse momentum. The light scalars or pseudoscalars may create a localized excess in the dilepton mass spectra. The results exclude heavy fermions of the type-III seesaw model for masses below 880 GeV at 95% confidence level in the scenario of equal branching fractions to each lepton flavor. This is the most restrictive limit on the flavor-democratic scenario of the type-III seesaw model to date. Assuming a Yukawa coupling of unit strength to top quarks, branching fractions of new scalar (pseudoscalar) bosons to dielectrons or dimuons above 0.004 (0.03) and 0.04 (0.03) are excluded at 95% confidence level for masses in the range 15-75 and 108-340 GeV, respectively. These are the first limits in these channels on an extension of the standard model with scalar or pseudoscalar particles.
The $M_{T}$ distribution in the WZ-enriched region. The last bin contains the overflow events.
The $L_{T}$ distribution in the ttZ-enriched region. The last bin contains the overflow events.
The $S_{T}$ distribution in the ZZ-enriched region. The last bin contains the overflow events.
A general search is presented for a low-mass $\tau^-\tau^+$ resonance produced in association with a bottom quark. The search is based on proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. The data are consistent with the standard model expectation. Upper limits at 95% confidence level on the cross section times branching fraction are determined for two signal models: a light pseudoscalar Higgs boson decaying to a pair of $\tau$ leptons produced in association with bottom quarks, and a low-mass boson X decaying to a $\tau$-lepton pair that is produced in the decay of a bottom-like quark B such that B $\to$ bX. Masses between 25 and 70 GeV are probed for the light pseudoscalar boson with upper limits ranging from 250 to 44 pb. Upper limits from 20 to 0.3 pb are set on B masses between 170 and 450 GeV for X boson masses between 20 and 70 GeV.
The product of acceptance, efficiency, and branching fraction of $\mathrm{b}\overline{\mathrm{b}}\mathrm{A}$ production with $\mathrm{A} \rightarrow \tau\tau$ in the $\mathrm{e}\tau_\mathrm{h}$ and $\mu\tau_\mathrm{h}$ channels of the 1 b tag event category, as a function of the pseudoscalar mass. The selections are as described in the paper. The uncertainty refers to the statistical uncertainty only.
Observed $m_{\tau\tau}$ distribution in the $\mathrm{e}\tau_\mathrm{h}$ channel of the 1 b tag category, compared to the expected SM background contributions. The signal distributions for $\mathrm{b}\overline{\mathrm{b}}\mathrm{A}$ production with pseudoscalar mass 40 and 60 GeV are overlaid to illustrate the sensitivity. They are normalized to the cross section times branching fraction of 800 pb. The uncertainty band represents the sum in quadrature of statistical and systematic uncertainties obtained from the fit. The lower panel shows the ratio between the observed and expected events in each bin.
Observed $m_{\tau\tau}$ distribution in the $\mu\tau_\mathrm{h}$ channel of the 1 b tag category, compared to the expected SM background contributions. The signal distributions for $\mathrm{b}\overline{\mathrm{b}}\mathrm{A}$ production with pseudoscalar mass 40 and 60 GeV are overlaid to illustrate the sensitivity. They are normalized to the cross section times branching fraction of 800 pb. The uncertainty band represents the sum in quadrature of statistical and systematic uncertainties obtained from the fit. The lower panel shows the ratio between the observed and expected events in each bin.
A search for a new heavy particle decaying to a pair of vector bosons (WW or WZ) is presented using data from the CMS detector corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$ collected in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV in 2016. One of the bosons is required to be a W boson decaying to e$\nu$ or $\mu\nu$, while the other boson is required to be reconstructed as a single massive jet with substructure compatible with that of a highly-energetic quark pair from a W or Z boson decay. The search is performed in the resonance mass range between 1.0 and 4.5 TeV. The largest deviation from the background-only hypothesis is observed for a mass near 1.4 TeV and corresponds to a local significance of 2.5 standard deviations. The result is interpreted as an upper bound on the resonance production cross section. Comparing the excluded cross section values and the expectations from theoretical calculations in the bulk graviton and heavy vector triplet models, spin-2 WW resonances with mass smaller than 1.07 TeV and spin-1 WZ resonances lighter than 3.05 TeV, respectively, are excluded at 95% confidence level.
Exclusion limits on the product of the production cross section and the branching fraction for a new spin-2 resonance decaying to WW, as a function of the resonance mass hypothesis.
Exclusion limits on the product of the production cross section and the branching fraction for a new spin-1 resonance decaying to WZ, as a function of the resonance mass hypothesis.
Signal selection efficiency times acceptance as a function of resonance mass for a spin-2 bulk graviton decaying to WW and a spin-1 W' decaying to WZ.
Properties of the Higgs boson are measured in the two-photon final state using 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data recorded at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Cross-section measurements for the production of a Higgs boson through gluon-gluon fusion, vector-boson fusion, and in association with a vector bosonor a top-quark pair are reported. The signal strength, defined as the ratio of the observed to the expected signal yield, is measured for each of these production processes as well as inclusively. The global signal strength measurement of $0.99 \pm 0.14$ improves on the precision of the ATLAS measurement at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ and 8 TeV by a factor of two. Measurements of gluon-gluon fusion and vector-boson fusion productions yield signal strengths compatible with the Standard Model prediction. Measurements of simplified template cross sections, designed to quantify the different Higgs boson production processes in specific regions of phase space, are reported. The cross section for the production of the Higgs boson decaying to two isolated photons in a fiducial region closely matching the experimental selection of the photons is measured to be $55 \pm 10$ fb, which is in good agreement with the Standard Model prediction of $64 \pm 2$ fb. Furthermore, cross sections in fiducial regions enriched in Higgs boson production in vector-boson fusion or in association with large missing transverse momentum, leptons or top-quark pairs are reported. Differential and double-differential measurements are performed for several variables related to the diphoton kinematics as well as the kinematics and multiplicity of the jets produced in association with a Higgs boson. No significant deviations from a wide array of Standard Model predictions are observed.
Measured differential cross section with associated uncertainties as a function of PT(2GAMMA). Each systematic uncertainty sources is fully uncorrelated with the other sources and fully correlated across bins, except for the background modelling systematics for which an uncorrelated treatment across bins is more appropriate.
Measured differential cross section with associated uncertainties as a function of YRAP(2GAMMA). Each systematic uncertainty sources is fully uncorrelated with the other sources and fully correlated across bins, except for the background modelling systematics for which an uncorrelated treatment across bins is more appropriate.
Measured differential cross section with associated uncertainties as a function of PTTHRUST(2GAMMA). Each systematic uncertainty sources is fully uncorrelated with the other sources and fully correlated across bins, except for the background modelling systematics for which an uncorrelated treatment across bins is more appropriate.
A study of the associated production of a Z boson and a charm quark jet (Z + c), and a comparison to production with a b quark jet (Z + b), in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV are presented. The analysis uses a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb$^{-1}$, collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The Z boson candidates are identified through their decays into pairs of electrons or muons. Jets originating from heavy flavour quarks are identified using semileptonic decays of c or b flavoured hadrons and hadronic decays of charm hadrons. The measurements are performed in the kinematic region with two leptons with $p_{\rm T}^{\ell} > $ 20 GeV, ${|\eta^{\ell}|} < $ 2.1, 71 $ < m_{\ell\ell} < $ 111 GeV, and heavy flavour jets with $p_{\rm T}^{{\rm jet}} > $ 25 GeV and ${|\eta^{{\rm jet}}|} < $ 2.5. The Z + c production cross section is measured to be $\sigma({\mathrm{p}}{\mathrm{p}} \rightarrow \mathrm{Z} + \mathrm{c} + \mathrm{X}) {\cal B}(\mathrm{Z} \rightarrow \ell^+\ell^-) = $ 8.8 $ \pm $ 0.5 (stat) $ \pm $ 0.6 (syst) pb. The ratio of the Z + c and Z + b production cross sections is measured to be $\sigma({\mathrm{p}}{\mathrm{p}} \rightarrow \mathrm{Z} + \mathrm{c} + \mathrm{X}) / \sigma({\mathrm{p}}{\mathrm{p}} \rightarrow \mathrm{Z} + \mathrm{b} + \mathrm{X}) = $ 2.0 $ \pm $ 0.2 (stat) $ \pm $ 0.2 (syst). The Z + c production cross section and the cross section ratio are also measured as a function of the transverse momentum of the Z boson and of the heavy flavour jet. The measurements are compared with theoretical predictions.
Signal yields N(Z+c) and N(Z+b), efficiency*acceptance correction factors C(Z+c) and C(Z+b), cross section sigma(Z+c)B and cross section ratios sigma(Z+c)/sigma(Z+b) in the three categories (semileptonic, D+-, D*) and in the two Z boson decay channels (e+e-, mu+mu-). The factors that correct the acceptance and selection inefficiencies are also given. They include the relevant branching fraction for the corresponding channel. All uncertainties quoted in the table are statistical, except for those of the measured cross sections and cross section ratios where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is the estimated systematic uncertainty
Z+c and Z+b signal yields, differential cross section dsigma(Z+c)/dpTZ times branching ratio and differential cross sections ratio dsigma(Z+c)/dpTZ / dsigma(Z+b)/dpTZ for three ranges of the transverse momentum of the Z boson in the semileptonic mode
Z+c and Z+b signal yields, differential cross section dsigma(Z+c)/dpTZ times branching ratio and differential cross sections ratio dsigma(Z+c)/dpTZ / dsigma(Z+b)/dpTZ for three ranges of the transverse momentum of the jet in the semileptonic mode
A search for heavy neutral Higgs bosons and $Z^{\prime}$ bosons is performed using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ from proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2015 and 2016. The heavy resonance is assumed to decay to $\tau^+\tau^-$ with at least one tau lepton decaying to final states with hadrons and a neutrino. The search is performed in the mass range of 0.2-2.25 TeV for Higgs bosons and 0.2-4.0 TeV for $Z^{\prime}$ bosons. The data are in good agreement with the background predicted by the Standard Model. The results are interpreted in benchmark scenarios. In the context of the hMSSM scenario, the data exclude $\tan\beta > 1.0$ for $m_A$ = 0.25 TeV and $\tan\beta > 42$ for $m_A$ = 1.5 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the Sequential Standard Model, $Z^{\prime}_\mathrm{SSM}$ with $m_{Z^{\prime}} < 2.42$ TeV is excluded at 95% confidence level, while $Z^{\prime}_\mathrm{NU}$ with $m_{Z^{\prime}} < 2.25$ TeV is excluded for the non-universal $G(221)$ model that exhibits enhanced couplings to third-generation fermions.
Observed and predicted mTtot distribution in the b-veto category of the 1l1tau_h channel. Despite listing this as an exclusive final state (as there must be no b-jets), there is no explicit selection on the presence of additional light-flavour jets. Please note that the bin content is divided by the bin width in the paper figure, but not in the HepData table. In the paper, the first bin is cut off at 60 GeV for aesthetics but contains underflows down to 50 GeV as in the HepData table. The last bin includes overflows. The combined prediction for A and H bosons with masses of 300, 500 and 800 GeV and $\tan\beta$ = 10 in the hMSSM scenario are also provided.
Observed and predicted mTtot distribution in the b-tag category of the 1l1tau_h channel. Despite listing this as an exclusive final state (as there must be at least one b-jets), there is no explicit selection on the presence of additional light-flavour jets. Please note that the bin content is divided by the bin width in the paper figure, but not in the HepData table. In the paper, the first bin is cut off at 60 GeV for aesthetics but contains underflows down to 50 GeV as in the HepData table. The last bin includes overflows. The combined prediction for A and H bosons with masses of 300, 500 and 800 GeV and $\tan\beta$ = 10 in the hMSSM scenario are also provided.
Observed and predicted mTtot distribution in the b-veto category of the 2tau_h channel. Despite listing this as an exclusive final state (as there must be no b-jets), there is no explicit selection on the presence of additional light-flavour jets. Please note that the bin content is divided by the bin width in the paper figure, but not in the HepData table. The last bin includes overflows. The combined prediction for A and H bosons with masses of 300, 500 and 800 GeV and $\tan\beta$ = 10 in the hMSSM scenario are also provided.
The results of a search for new heavy $W^\prime$ bosons decaying to an electron or muon and a neutrino using proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV are presented. The dataset was collected in 2015 and 2016 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$. As no excess of events above the Standard Model prediction is observed, the results are used to set upper limits on the $W^\prime$ boson cross-section times branching ratio to an electron or muon and a neutrino as a function of the $W^\prime$ mass. Assuming a $W^\prime$ boson with the same couplings as the Standard Model $W$ boson, $W^\prime$ masses below 5.1 TeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level.
Transverse mass distribution for events satisfying all selection criteria in the electron channel.
Transverse mass distribution for events satisfying all selection criteria in the muon channel.
Upper limits at the 95% CL on the cross section for SSM W' production and decay to the electron+neutrino channel as a function of the W' pole mass.