Protons consist of three valence quarks, two up-quarks and one down-quark, held together by gluons and a sea of quark-antiquark pairs. Collectively, quarks and gluons are referred to as partons. In a proton-proton collision, typically only one parton of each proton undergoes a hard scattering - referred to as single-parton scattering - leaving the remainder of each proton only slightly disturbed. Here, we report the study of double- and triple-parton scatterings through the simultaneous production of three J/$\psi$ mesons, which consist of a charm quark-antiquark pair, in proton-proton collisions recorded with the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. We observed this process - reconstructed through the decays of J/$\psi$ mesons into pairs of oppositely charged muons - with a statistical significance above five standard deviations. We measured the inclusive fiducial cross section to be 272 $^{+141}_{-104}$ (stat) $\pm$ 17 (syst) fb, and compared it to theoretical expectations for triple-J/$\psi$ meson production in single-, double- and triple-parton scattering scenarios. Assuming factorization of multiple hard-scattering probabilities in terms of single-parton scattering cross sections, double- and triple-parton scattering are the dominant contributions for the measured process.
A search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying to a charm quark-antiquark pair, H $\to$$\mathrm{c\bar{c}}$, produced in association with a leptonically decaying V (W or Z) boson is presented. The search is performed with proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. Novel charm jet identification and analysis methods using machine learning techniques are employed. The analysis is validated by searching for Z $\to$$\mathrm{c\bar{c}}$ in VZ events, leading to its first observation at a hadron collider with a significance of 5.7 standard deviations. The observed (expected) upper limit on $\sigma$(VH)$ \mathcal{B}$(H $\to$$\mathrm{c\bar{c}}$) is 0.94 (0.50 $^{+0.22}_{-0.15}$) pb at 95% confidence level (CL), corresponding to 14 (7.6 $^{+3.4}_{-2.3}$) times the standard model prediction. For the Higgs-charm Yukawa coupling modifier, $\kappa_\mathrm{c}$, the observed (expected) 95% CL interval is 1.1 $\lt$ $\vert\kappa_\mathrm{C}\vert$ $\lt$ 5.5 ($\vert\kappa_\mathrm{c}\vert$ $\lt$ 3.4), the most stringent constraint to date.
The polarizations of prompt and non-prompt J$/\psi$ and $\psi$(2S) mesons are measured in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, using data samples collected by the CMS experiment in 2017 and 2018, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 103.3 fb$^{-1}$. Based on the analysis of the dimuon decay angular distributions in the helicity frame, the polar anisotropy, $\lambda_\theta$, is measured as a function of the transverse momentum, $p_\mathrm{T}$, of the charmonium states, in the 25-120 and 20-100 GeV ranges for the J$/\psi$ and $\psi$(2S), respectively. The non-prompt polarizations agree with predictions based on the hypothesis that, for $p_\mathrm{T}$$\gtrsim$ 25 GeV, the non-prompt J$/\psi$ and $\psi$(2S) are predominantly produced in two-body B meson decays. The prompt results clearly exclude strong transverse polarizations, even for $p_\mathrm{T}$ exceeding 30 times the J$/\psi$ mass, where $\lambda_\theta$ tends to an asymptotic value around 0.3. Taken together with previous measurements, by CMS and LHCb at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV, the prompt polarizations show a significant variation with $p_\mathrm{T}$, at low $p_\mathrm{T}$.
The J/$\psi$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-\mu^+\mu^-$ decay has been observed with a statistical significance in excess of five standard deviations. The analysis is based on an event sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment in 2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 33.6 fb$^{-1}$. Normalizing to the J/$\psi$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-$ decay mode leads to a branching fraction [10.1 $^{+3.3}_{-2.7}$ (stat) $\pm$ 0.4 (syst)] $\times$ 10$^{-7}$, a value that is consistent with the standard model prediction.
An analysis is presented based on models of the intrinsic transverse momentum (intrinsic $k_\mathrm{T}$) of partons in nucleons by studying the dilepton transverse momentum in Drell-Yan events. Using parameter tuning in event generators and existing data from fixed-target experiments and from hadron colliders, our investigation spans three orders of magnitude in center-of-mass energy and two orders of magnitude in dilepton invariant mass. The results show an energy-scaling behavior of the intrinsic $k_\mathrm{T}$ parameters, independent of the dilepton invariant mass at a given center-of-mass energy.
The first observation of the concurrent production of two J/$\psi$ mesons in proton-nucleus collisions is presented. The analysis is based on a proton-lead (pPb) data sample recorded at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 8.16 TeV by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 174.6 nb$^{-1}$. The two J/$\psi$ mesons are reconstructed in their $\mu^+\mu^-$ decay channels with transverse momenta $p_\mathrm{T}$$\gt$ 6.5 GeV and rapidity $\lvert y \rvert$$\lt$ 2.4. Events where one of the J/$\psi$ mesons is reconstructed in the dielectron channel are also considered in the search. The pPb $\to$ J/$\psi$J/$\psi$ + X process is observed with a significance of 5.3 standard deviations. The measured inclusive fiducial cross section, using the four-muon channel alone, is $\sigma$(pPb $\to$ J/$\psi$J/$\psi$ + X) = 22.0 $\pm$ 8.9 (stat) $\pm$ 1.5 (syst) nb. A fit of the data to the expected rapidity separation for pairs of J/$\psi$ mesons produced in single (SPS) and double (DPS) parton scatterings yields $\sigma^{\mathrm{pPb} \to \mathrm{J}/\psi\mathrm{J}/\psi +\mathrm{X}}_\text{SPS}$ = 16.5 $\pm$ 10.8 (stat) $\pm$ 0.1 (syst) nb and $\sigma^{\mathrm{pPb} \to \mathrm{J}/\psi\mathrm{J}/\psi + \mathrm{X}}_\text{DPS}$ = 5.4 $\pm$ 6.2 (stat) $\pm$ 0.4 (syst) nb, respectively. This latter result can be transformed into a lower bound on the effective DPS cross section, closely related to the squared average interparton transverse separation in the collision, of $\sigma_\text{eff}$$\gt$ 1.0 mb at 95% confidence level.
We present an observation of photon-photon production of $\tau$ lepton pairs in ultraperipheral lead-lead collisions. The measurement is based on a data sample with an integrated luminosity of 404 $\mu$b$^{-1}$ collected by the CMS experiment at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. The $\gamma\gamma$$\to$$\tau^+\tau^-$ process is observed for $\tau\tau$ events with a muon and three charged hadrons in the final state. The measured fiducial cross section is $\sigma(\gamma\gamma$$\to$$\tau^+\tau^-)$ = 4.8 $\pm$ 0.6 (stat) $\pm$ 0.5 (syst) $\mu$b, in agreement with leading-order QED predictions. Using $\sigma(\gamma\gamma$$\to$$\tau^+\tau^-)$, we estimate a model-dependent value of the anomalous magnetic moment of the $\tau$ lepton of $a_\tau$ = 0.001 $^{+0.055}_{-0.089}$.
The first observation of the decay $\Xi^-_\mathrm{b}$$\to$$\psi$(2S)$\Xi^-$ and measurement of the branching ratio of $\Xi^-_\mathrm{b}$$\to$$\psi$(2S)$\Xi^-$ to $\Xi^-_\mathrm{b}$$\to$ J/$\psi$$\Xi^-$ are presented. The J/$\psi$ and $\psi$(2S) mesons are reconstructed using their dimuon decay modes. The results are based on proton-proton colliding beam data from the LHC collected by the CMS experiment at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV in 2016-2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$. The branching fraction ratio is measured to be $\mathcal{B}$($\Xi^-_\mathrm{b}$$\to$$\psi$(2S)$\Xi^-$) / $\mathcal{B}$($\Xi^-_\mathrm{b}$$\to$ J/$\psi$$\Xi^-$) = 0.84 $^{+0.21}_{-0.19}$ (stat) $\pm$ 0.10 (syst) $\pm$ 0.02 ($\mathcal{B}$), where the last uncertainty comes from the uncertainties in the branching fractions of the charmonium states. New measurements of the $\Xi_\mathrm{b}$(5945)$^{0}$ baryon mass and natural width are also presented, using the $\Xi_\mathrm{b}^-\pi^+$ final state, where the $\Xi^-_\mathrm{b}$ baryon is reconstructed through the decays J/$\psi \Xi^-$, $\psi$(2S)$\Xi^-$, J/$\psi \Lambda$K$^-$, and J/$\psi \Sigma^0$K$^-$. Finally, the fraction of the $\Xi^-_\mathrm{b}$ baryons produced from $\Xi_\mathrm{b}$(5945)$^{0}$ decays is determined.
Charge-dependent azimuthal particle correlations with respect to the second-order event plane in pPb and PbPb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV have been studied with the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measurement is performed with a three-particle correlation technique, using two particles with the same or opposite charge within the pseudorapidity range abs(eta) < 2.4, and a third particle measured in the hadron forward calorimeters (4.4 < abs(eta) < 5). The observed differences between the same and opposite sign correlations, as functions of multiplicity and eta gap between the two charged particles, are of similar magnitude in pPb and PbPb collisions at the same multiplicities. These results pose a challenge for the interpretation of charge-dependent azimuthal correlations in heavy ion collisions in terms of the chiral magnetic effect.
A search for pair production of bottom squarks in events with hadronically decaying $\tau$-leptons, $b$-tagged jets and large missing transverse momentum is presented. The analyzed dataset is based on proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded by the ATLAS detector from 2015 to 2018, and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. The observed data are compatible with the expected Standard Model background. Results are interpreted in a simplified model where each bottom squark is assumed to decay into the second-lightest neutralino $\tilde \chi_2^0$ and a bottom quark, with $\tilde \chi_2^0$ decaying into a Higgs boson and the lightest neutralino $\tilde \chi_1^0$. The search focuses on final states where at least one Higgs boson decays into a pair of hadronically decaying $\tau$-leptons. This allows the acceptance and thus the sensitivity to be significantly improved relative to the previous results at low masses of the $\tilde \chi_2^0$, where bottom-squark masses up to 850 GeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level, assuming a mass difference of 130 GeV between $\tilde \chi_2^0$ and $\tilde \chi_1^0$. Model-independent upper limits are also set on the cross section of processes beyond the Standard Model.
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