The ATLAS experiment has observed 1995 Z boson candidates in data corresponding to 0.15 inverse nb of integrated luminosity obtained in the 2011 LHC Pb+Pb run at sqrt(s_NN)=2.76 TeV. The Z bosons are reconstructed via di-electron and di-muon decay channels, with a background contamination of less than 3%. Results from the two channels are consistent and are combined. Within the statistical and systematic uncertainties, the per-event Z boson yield is proportional to the number of binary collisions estimated by the Glauber model. The elliptic anisotropy of the azimuthal distribution of the Z boson with respect to the event plane is found to be consistent with zero.
Measurements are presented of differential cross-sections for top quark pair production in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV relative to the total inclusive top quark pair production cross-section. A data sample of 2.05/fb recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is used. Relative differential cross-sections are derived as a function of the invariant mass, the transverse momentum and the rapidity of the top quark pair system. Events are selected in the lepton (electron or muon) + jets channel. The background-subtracted differential distributions are corrected for detector effects, normalized to the total inclusive top quark pair production cross-section and compared to theoretical predictions. The measurement uncertainties range typically between 10% and 20% and are generally dominated by systematic effects. No significant deviations from the Standard Model expectations are observed.
Measurements of inclusive jet and dijet production cross sections are presented. Data from LHC proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV, corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity, have been collected with the CMS detector. Jets are reconstructed up to rapidity 2.5, transverse momentum 2 TeV, and dijet invariant mass 5 TeV, using the anti-k$_t$ clustering algorithm with distance parameter R = 0.7. The measured cross sections are corrected for detector effects and compared to perturbative QCD predictions at next-to-leading order, using five sets of parton distribution functions.
Spectra of identified charged hadrons are measured in pp collisions at the LHC for sqrt(s) = 0.9, 2.76, and 7 TeV. Charged pions, kaons, and protons in the transverse-momentum range pt approximately 0.1-1.7 GeV and for rapidities abs(y) < 1 are identified via their energy loss in the CMS silicon tracker. The average pt increases rapidly with the mass of the hadron and the event charged-particle multiplicity, independently of the center-of-mass energy. The fully corrected pt spectra and integrated yields are compared to various tunes of the PYTHIA6 and PYTHIA8 event generators.
Rapidity distributions are presented for events containing either a Z boson or a photon with a single jet in proton-proton collisions produced at the CERN LHC. The data, collected with the CMS detector at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV, correspond to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 inverse femtobarns. The individual rapidity distributions of the boson and the jet are consistent within 5% with expectations from perturbative QCD. However, QCD predictions for the sum and the difference in rapidities of the two final-state objects show discrepancies with CMS data. In particular, next-to-leading-order QCD calculations, and two common Monte Carlo event generators using different methods to match matrix-element partons with parton showers, appear inconsistent with the data as well as with each other.
Measurements of the differential and double-differential Drell-Yan cross sections are presented using an integrated luminosity of 4.5(4.8) inverse femtobarns in the dimuon (dielectron) channel of proton-proton collision data recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV. The measured inclusive cross section in the Z-peak region (60-120 GeV) is $\sigma(\ell \ell)$ = 986.4 +/- 0.6 (stat.) +/- 5.9 (exp. syst.) +/- 21.7 (th. syst.) +/- 21.7 (lum.) pb for the combination of the dimuon and dielectron channels. Differential cross sections $d\sigma/dm$ for the dimuon, dielectron, and combined channels are measured in the mass range 15 to 1500 GeV and corrected to the full phase space. Results are also presented for the measurement of the double-differential cross section $d^2\sigma/dm d |y|$ in the dimuon channel over the mass range 20 to 1500 GeV and absolute dimuon rapidity from 0 to 2.4. These measurements are compared to the predictions of perturbative QCD calculations at next-to-leading and next-to-next-to-leading orders using various sets of parton distribution functions.
A study of dijet production in proton-proton collisions was performed at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV for jets with pt > 35 GeV and abs(y) < 4.7 using data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2010. Events with at least one pair of jets are denoted as 'inclusive'. Events with exactly one pair of jets are called 'exclusive'. The ratio of the cross section of all pairwise combinations of jets to the exclusive dijet cross section as a function of the rapidity difference between jets abs(Delta(y)) is measured for the first time up to abs(Delta(y)) = 9.2. The ratio of the cross section for the pair consisting of the most forward and the most backward jet from the inclusive sample to the exclusive dijet cross section is also presented. The predictions of the Monte Carlo event generators PYTHIA6 and PYTHIA8 agree with the measurements. In both ratios the HERWIG++ generator exhibits a more pronounced rise versus abs(Delta(y)) than observed in the data. The BFKL-motivated generators CASCADE and HEJ+ARIADNE predict for these ratios a significantly stronger rise than observed.
Measurements of the normalized rapidity (y) and transverse momentum (qT) distributions of Drell-Yan muon and electron pairs in the Z-boson mass region (60<M(ll)<120 GeV) are reported. The results are obtained using a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 inverse picobarns. The distributions are measured over the ranges |y|<3.5 and qT<600 GeV and compared with QCD calculations using recent parton distribution functions. Overall agreement is observed between the models and data for the rapidity distribution, while no single model describes the Z transverse-momentum distribution over the full range.
Spectra of identified charged hadrons are measured in pPb collisions with the CMS detector at the LHC at sqrt(sNN) = 5.02 TeV. Charged pions, kaons, and protons in the transverse-momentum range pt approximately 0.1-1.7 GeV and laboratory rapidity abs(y) < 1 are identified via their energy loss in the silicon tracker. The average pt increases with particle mass and the charged multiplicity of the event. The increase of the average pt with charged multiplicity is greater for heavier hadrons. Comparisons to Monte Carlo event generators reveal that EPOS LHC, which incorporates additional hydrodynamic evolution of the created system, is able to reproduce most of the data features, unlike HIJING and AMPT. The pt spectra and integrated yields are also compared to those measured in pp and PbPb collisions at various energies. The average transverse momentum and particle ratio measurements indicate that particle production at LHC energies is strongly correlated with event particle multiplicity.
Jet cross sections have been measured for the first time in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV using the ATLAS detector. The measurement uses an integrated luminosity of 17 nb-1 recorded at the Large Hadron Collider. The anti-kt algorithm is used to identify jets, with two jet resolution parameters, R = 0.4 and 0.6. The dominant uncertainty comes from the jet energy scale, which is determined to within 7% for central jets above 60 GeV transverse momentum. Inclusive single-jet differential cross sections are presented as functions of jet transverse momentum and rapidity. Dijet cross sections are presented as functions of dijet mass and the angular variable $\chi$. The results are compared to expectations based on next-to-leading-order QCD, which agree with the data, providing a validation of the theory in a new kinematic regime.
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