The observation of the standard model (SM) Higgs boson decay to a pair of bottom quarks is presented. The main contribution to this result is from processes in which Higgs bosons are produced in association with a W or Z boson (VH), and are searched for in final states including 0, 1, or 2 charged leptons and two identified bottom quark jets. The results from the measurement of these processes in a data sample recorded by the CMS experiment in 2017, comprising 41.3 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV, are described. When combined with previous VH measurements using data collected at $\sqrt{s}=$ 7, 8, and 13 TeV, an excess of events is observed at $m_\mathrm{H} =$ 125.09 GeV with a significance of 4.8 standard deviations, where the expectation for the SM Higgs boson is 4.9. The corresponding measured signal strength is 1.01 $\pm$ 0.22. The combination of this result with searches by the CMS experiment for H $\to\mathrm{b\overline{b}}$ in other production processes yields an observed (expected) significance of 5.6 (5.5) standard deviations and a signal strength of 1.04 $\pm$ 0.20.

Properties of the Higgs boson are measured in the H to ZZ to 4l (l= e, mu) decay channel. A data sample of proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 inverse femtobarns is used. The signal strength modifier mu, defined as the ratio of the observed Higgs boson rate in the H to ZZ to 4l decay channel to the standard model expectation, is measured to be mu = 1.05 +0.19/-0.17 at m[H ]= 125.09 GeV, the combined ATLAS and CMS measurement of the Higgs boson mass. The signal strength modifiers for the individual Higgs boson production modes are also measured. The cross section in the fiducial phase space defined by the requirements on lepton kinematics and event topology is measured to be 2.92 +0.48/-0.44 (stat) +0.28/-0.24 (syst) fb, which is compatible with the standard model prediction of 2.76 +/- 0.14 fb. Differential cross sections are reported as a function of the transverse momentum of the Higgs boson, the number of associated jets, and the transverse momentum of the leading associated jet. The Higgs boson mass is measured to be m[H] = 125.26 +/- 0.21 GeV and the width is constrained using on-shell production to be Gamma[H] < 1.10 GeV, at 95% confidence level.

The azimuthal anisotropy Fourier coefficients ($v_n$) in 8.16 TeV pPb data are extracted via long-range two-particle correlations as a function of event multiplicity and compared to corresponding results in pp and PbPb collisions. Using a four-particle cumulant technique, $v_n$ correlations are measured for the first time in pp and pPb collisions. The $v_2$ and $v_4$ coefficients are found to be positively correlated in all collision systems. For high multiplicity pPb collisions an anticorrelation of $v_2$ and $v_3$ is observed, with a similar correlation strength as in PbPb data at the same multiplicity. The new correlation results strengthen the case for a common origin of the collectivity seen in pPb and PbPb collisions in the measured multiplicity range.

Charge-dependent azimuthal correlations of same- and opposite-sign pairs with respect to the second- and third-order event planes have been measured in pPb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} =$ 8.16 TeV and PbPb collisions at 5.02 TeV with the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measurement is motivated by the search for the charge separation phenomenon predicted by the chiral magnetic effect (CME) in heavy ion collisions. Three- and two-particle azimuthal correlators are extracted as functions of the pseudorapidity difference, the transverse momentum ($p_\mathrm{t}$) difference, and the $p_\mathrm{t}$ average of same- and opposite-charge pairs in various event multiplicity ranges. The data suggest that the charge-dependent three-particle correlators with respect to the second- and third-order event planes share a common origin, predominantly arising from charge-dependent two-particle azimuthal correlations coupled with an anisotropic flow. The CME is expected to lead to a $v_2$-independent three-particle correlation when the magnetic field is fixed. Using an event shape engineering technique, upper limits on the $v_2$-independent fraction of the three-particle correlator are estimated to be 13% for pPb and 7% for PbPb collisions at 95% confidence level. The results of this analysis, both the dominance of two-particle correlations as a source of the three-particle results and the similarities seen between PbPb and pPb, provide stringent constraints on the origin of charge-dependent three-particle azimuthal correlations and challenge their interpretation as arising from a chiral magnetic effect in heavy ion collisions.

Events with no charged particles produced between the two leading jets are studied in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV. The jets were required to have transverse momentum $p_\mathrm{T}^{\text{jet}}$ > 40 GeV and pseudorapidity 1.5 $<|\eta^{\text{jet}}| <$ 4.7, and to have values of $\eta^{\text{jet}}$ with opposite signs. The data used for this study were collected with the CMS detector during low-luminosity running at the LHC, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 8 pb$^{-1}$. Events with no charged particles with $p_\mathrm{T}$ > 0.2 GeV in the interval -1 < $\eta$ < 1 between the jets are observed in excess of calculations that assume no color-singlet exchange. The fraction of events with such a rapidity gap, amounting to 0.5-1% of the selected dijet sample, is measured as a function of the $p_\mathrm{T}$ of the second-leading jet and of the rapidity separation between the jets. The data are compared to previous measurements at the Tevatron, and to perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculations based on the Balitsky-Fadin-Kuraev-Lipatov evolution equations, including different modelings of the non-perturbative gap survival probability.

Charged-hadron transverse-momentum and pseudorapidity distributions in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV are measured with the inner tracking system of the CMS detector at the LHC. The charged-hadron yield is obtained by counting the number of reconstructed hits, hit-pairs, and fully reconstructed charged-particle tracks. The combination of the three methods gives a charged-particle multiplicity per unit of pseudorapidity, dN(charged)/d(eta), for |eta| < 0.5, of 5.78 +/- 0.01 (stat) +/- 0.23 (syst) for non-single-diffractive events, higher than predicted by commonly used models. The relative increase in charged-particle multiplicity from sqrt(s) = 0.9 to 7 TeV is 66.1% +/- 1.0% (stat) +/- 4.2% (syst). The mean transverse momentum is measured to be 0.545 +/- 0.005 (stat) +/- 0.015 (syst) GeV/c. The results are compared with similar measurements at lower energies.

Measurements of the differential production cross sections in transverse momentum and rapidity for B0 mesons produced in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV are presented. The dataset used was collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 40 inverse picobarns. The production cross section is measured from B0 meson decays reconstructed in the exclusive final state J/Psi K-short, with the subsequent decays J/Psi to mu^+ mu^- and K-short to pi^+ pi^-. The total cross section for pt(B0) > 5 GeV and y(B0) < 2.2 is measured to be 33.2 +/- 2.5 +/- 3.5 microbarns, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic.

The B^0_s differential production cross section is measured as functions of the transverse momentum and rapidity in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the J/Psi phi decay, and compared with predictions based on perturbative QCD calculations at next-to-leading order. The data sample, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 40 inverse picobarns. The B^0_s is reconstructed from the decays J/Psi to an oppositely charged muon pair and phi to K+ K-. The integrated B^0_s cross section times B^0_s to J/Psi phi branching fraction in the range 8 < pt(B) < 50 GeV/c and |y(b)| < 2.4 is measured to be 6.9 +/- 0.6 +/- 0.6 nb, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic.

A measurement of the underlying activity in scattering processes with a hard scale in the several GeV region is performed in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 0.9 and 7 TeV, using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The production of charged particles with pseudorapidity |eta| < 2 and transverse momentum pT > 0.5 GeV/c is studied in the azimuthal region transverse to that of the leading set of charged particles forming a track-jet. A significant growth of the average multiplicity and scalar-pT sum of the particles in the transverse region is observed with increasing pT of the leading track-jet, followed by a much slower rise above a few GeV/c. For track-jet pT larger than a few GeV/c, the activity in the transverse region is approximately doubled with a centre-of-mass energy increase from 0.9 to 7 TeV. Predictions of several QCD-inspired models as implemented in PYTHIA are compared to the data.

The charged particle transverse momentum (pT) spectra are presented for pp collisions at sqrt(s)=0.9 and 7 TeV. The data samples were collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and correspond to integrated luminosities of 231 inverse microbarns and 2.96 inverse picobarns, respectively. Calorimeter-based high-transverse-energy triggers are employed to enhance the statistical reach of the high-pT measurements. The results are compared with both leading-order QCD and with an empirical scaling of measurements at different collision energies using the scaling variable xT = 2 pT/sqrt(s) over the pT range up to 200 GeV/c. Using a combination of xT scaling and direct interpolation at fixed pT, a reference transverse momentum spectrum at sqrt(s)=2.76 TeV is constructed, which can be used for studying high-pT particle suppression in the dense QCD medium produced in heavy-ion collisions at that centre-of-mass energy.