This Letter reports the observation of single top quarks produced together with a photon, which directly probes the electroweak coupling of the top quark. The analysis uses 139 fb$^{-1}$ of 13 TeV proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Requiring a photon with transverse momentum larger than 20 GeV and within the detector acceptance, the fiducial cross section is measured to be 688 $\pm$ 23 (stat.) $^{+75}_{-71}$ (syst.) fb, to be compared with the standard model prediction of 515 $^{+36}_{-42}$ fb at next-to-leading order in QCD.
This table shows the values for $\sigma_{tq\gamma}\times\mathcal{B}(t\rightarrow l\nu b)$ and $\sigma_{tq\gamma}\times\mathcal{B}(t\rightarrow l\nu b)+\sigma_{t(\rightarrow l\nu b\gamma)q}$ obtained by a profile-likelihood fit in the fiducial parton-level phase space (defined in Table 1) and particle-level phase space (defined in Table 2), respectively.
Distribution of the reconstructed top-quark mass in the $W\gamma\,$CR before the profile-likelihood fit. The "Total" column corresponds to the sum of the expected contributions from the signal and background processes. The uncertainty represents the sum of statistical and systematic uncertainties in the signal and background predictions. The first and last bins include the underflow and overflow, respectively.
Distribution of the NN output in the 0fj$\,$SR in data and the expected contribution of the signal and background processes after the profile-likelihood fit. The "Total" column corresponds to the sum of the expected contributions from the signal and background processes. The uncertainty represents the sum of statistical and systematic uncertainties in the signal and background predictions considering the correlations of the uncertainties as obtained by the fit.
A search for flavor-changing neutral-current couplings between a top quark, an up or charm quark and a $Z$ boson is presented, using proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analyzed dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. The search targets both single-top-quark events produced as $gq\rightarrow tZ$ (with $q = u, c$) and top-quark-pair events, with one top quark decaying through the $t \rightarrow Zq$ channel. The analysis considers events with three leptons (electrons or muons), a $b$-tagged jet, possible additional jets, and missing transverse momentum. The data are found to be consistent with the background-only hypothesis and 95% confidence-level limits on the $t \rightarrow Zq$ branching ratios are set, assuming only tensor operators of the Standard Model effective field theory framework contribute to the $tZq$ vertices. These are $6.2 \times 10^{-5}$ ($13\times 10^{-5}$) for $t\rightarrow Zu$ ($t\rightarrow Zc$) for a left-handed $tZq$ coupling, and $6.6 \times 10^{-5}$ ($12\times 10^{-5}$) in the case of a right-handed coupling. These results are interpreted as 95% CL upper limits on the strength of corresponding couplings, yielding limits for $|C_{uW}^{(13)*}|$ and $|C_{uB}^{(13)*}|$ ($|C_{uW}^{(31)}|$ and $|C_{uB}^{(31)}|$) of 0.15 (0.16), and limits for $|C_{uW}^{(23)*}|$ and $|C_{uB}^{(23)*}|$ ($|C_{uW}^{(32)}|$ and $|C_{uB}^{(32)}|$) of 0.22 (0.21), assuming a new-physics energy scale $\Lambda_\text{NP}$ of 1 TeV.
Summary of the signal strength $\mu$ parameters obtained from the fits to extract LH and RH results for the FCNC tZu and tZc couplings. For the reference branching ratio, the most stringent limits are used.
Observed and expected 95% CL limits on the FCNC $t\rightarrow Zq$ branching ratios and the effective coupling strengths for different vertices and couplings (top eight rows). For the latter, the energy scale is assumed to be $\Lambda_{NP}$ = 1 TeV. The bottom rows show, for the case of the FCNC $t\rightarrow Zu$ branching ratio, the observed and expected 95% CL limits when only one of the two SRs, either SR1 or SR2, and all CRs are included in the likelihood.
Comparison between data and background prediction before the fit (Pre-Fit) for the mass of the SM top-quark candidate in SR1. The uncertainty band includes both the statistical and systematic uncertainties in the background prediction. The four FCNC LH signals are also shown separately, normalized to five times the cross-section corresponding to the most stringent observed branching ratio limits. The first (last) bin in all distributions includes the underflow (overflow). The lower panels show the ratios of the data (Data) to the background prediction (Bkg.).
Higgs boson production via gluon-gluon fusion is measured in the $WW^{\ast} \to e\nu\mu\nu$ decay channel. The dataset utilized corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS detector from $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider between 2015 and 2018. Differential cross sections are measured in a fiducial phase space restricted to the production of at most one additional jet. The results are consistent with Standard Model expectations, derived using different Monte Carlo generators.
Measured differential fiducial cross section for $p_{T}^{H}$ in the 0+1-jet fiducial region using the regularized in-likelihood unfolding method. The quoted uncertainties include statistical and systematic uncertainties from experimental and theory sources as well as background normalization effects and shape effects from background and signal.
Measured differential fiducial cross section for $m_{\ell\ell}$ in the 0+1-jet fiducial region using the regularized in-likelihood unfolding method. The quoted uncertainties include statistical and systematic uncertainties from experimental and theory sources as well as background normalization effects and shape effects from background and signal.
Measured differential fiducial cross section for $Y_{\ell\ell}$ in the 0+1-jet fiducial region using the regularized in-likelihood unfolding method. The quoted uncertainties include statistical and systematic uncertainties from experimental and theory sources as well as background normalization effects and shape effects from background and signal.
A search for nonresonant Higgs boson pair production in the $b\bar{b}b\bar{b}$ final state is presented. The analysis uses 126 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data at $\sqrt{s}={13}$ TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider, and targets both the gluon-gluon fusion and vector-boson fusion production modes. No evidence of the signal is found and the observed (expected) upper limit on the cross-section for nonresonant Higgs boson pair production is determined to be 5.4 (8.1) times the Standard Model predicted cross-section at 95% confidence level. Constraints are placed on modifiers to the $HHH$ and $HHVV$ couplings. The observed (expected) $2\sigma$ constraints on the $HHH$ coupling modifier, $\kappa_\lambda$, are determined to be $[-3.5, 11.3]$ ($[-5.4, 11.4]$), while the corresponding constraints for the $HHVV$ coupling modifier, $\kappa_{2V}$, are $[-0.0, 2.1]$ ($[-0.1, 2.1]$). In addition, constraints on relevant coefficients are derived in the context of the Standard Model effective field theory and Higgs effective field theory, and upper limits on the $HH$ production cross-section are placed in seven Higgs effective field theory benchmark scenarios.
Distributions of the reconstructed m<sub>HH</sub> in data (shown by the black points), the estimated background (shown by the yellow histograms) in the VBF signal region with |Δη<sub>HH</sub>| < 1.5. The hatching shows the total uncertainty of the background estimate. The distribution of the expected background is obtained using the best-fit values of the nuisance parameters in the fit to the data with the background-only hypothesis. Distributions for three choices of couplings are shown: the SM, κ<sub>λ</sub>= 6, and κ<sub>2V</sub> = 0 (with all other couplings set to their SM values in the last two models), scaled so as to be visible on the plot. The lower panels show the ratio of the observed data yield to the predicted background in each bin. Events in the overflow bins are counted in the yields of the final bins. In the HEPData entry, the raw value per histogram bin is provided, while in the published paper the values in the histogram are scaled by the bin width.
Distributions of the reconstructed m<sub>HH</sub> in data (shown by the black points), the estimated background (shown by the yellow histograms) in the VBF signal region with |Δη<sub>HH</sub>| > 1.5. The hatching shows the total uncertainty of the background estimate. The distribution of the expected background is obtained using the best-fit values of the nuisance parameters in the fit to the data with the background-only hypothesis. Distributions for three choices of couplings are shown: the SM, κ<sub>λ</sub>= 6, and κ<sub>2V</sub> = 0 (with all other couplings set to their SM values in the last two models), scaled so as to be visible on the plot. The lower panels show the ratio of the observed data yield to the predicted background in each bin. Events in the overflow bins are counted in the yields of the final bins. In the HEPData entry, the raw value per histogram bin is provided, while in the published paper the values in the histogram are scaled by the bin width.
The observed 95% CL exclusion limits as a function of κ<sub>λ</sub> (obtained using the signal strength μ<sub>ggF+VBF</sub> as the POI) from the combined ggF and VBF signal regions, as shown by the solid black line. The value of κ<sub>2V</sub> is fixed to 1. The blue and yellow bands show respectively the 1σ and 2σ bands around the expected exclusion limits, which are shown by the dashed black line. The expected exclusion limits are obtained using a fit to the data with the background-only hypothesis. The dark red line shows the predicted combined ggF and VBF HH cross-section as a function of κ<sub>λ</sub>.
A search for pair-produced vector-like quarks using events with exactly one lepton ($e$ or $\mu$), at least four jets including at least one $b$-tagged jet, and large missing transverse momentum is presented. Data from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV, recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC from 2015 to 2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$, are analysed. Vector-like partners $T$ and $B$ of the top and bottom quarks are considered, as is a vector-like $X$ with charge +5/3, assuming their decay into a $W$, $Z$, or Higgs boson and a third-generation quark. No significant deviations from the Standard Model expectation are observed. Upper limits on the production cross-section of $T$ and $B$ quark pairs as a function of their mass are derived for various decay branching ratio scenarios. The strongest lower limits on the masses are 1.59 TeV assuming mass-degenerate VLQs and branching ratios corresponding to the weak-isospin doublet model, and 1.47 TeV (1.46 TeV) for exclusive $T \rightarrow Zt$ ($B/X \rightarrow Wt$) decays. In addition, lower limits on the $T$ and $B$ quark masses are derived for all possible branching ratios.
Expected and observed upper limits at 95% CL on the cross section of vector-like quark pair production for $T\bar{T}$ and $\mathcal{B}(T\rightarrow Zt) = 100$%.
Expected and observed upper limits at 95% CL on the cross section of vector-like quark pair production for $B\bar{B}$ and $\mathcal{B}(B\rightarrow Wt) = 100$%.
Expected and observed upper limits at 95% CL on the cross section of vector-like quark pair production for $T\bar{T}$ in the singlet model.
The ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider has been used to measure jet substructure modification and suppression in Pb+Pb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s_{_\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02~\mathrm{TeV}$ in comparison with $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=5.02~\mathrm{TeV}$. The Pb+Pb data, collected in 2018, have an integrated luminosity of $1.72~\mathrm{nb^{-1}}$, while the $pp$ data, collected in 2017, have an integrated luminosity of $260~\mathrm{pb}^{-1}$. Jets used in this analysis are clustered using the anti-$k_{t}$ algorithm with a radius parameter $R=0.4$. The jet constituents, defined by both tracking and calorimeter information, are used to determine the angular scale $r_\mathrm{g}$ of the first hard splitting inside the jet by reclustering them using the Cambridge-Aachen algorithm and employing the soft-drop grooming technique. The nuclear modification factor, $R_\mathrm{AA}$, used to characterize jet suppression in Pb+Pb collisions, is presented differentially in $r_\mathrm{g}$, jet transverse momentum, and in intervals of collision centrality. The $R_\mathrm{AA}$ value is observed to depend significantly on jet $r_\mathrm{g}$. Jets produced with the largest measured $r_\mathrm{g}$ are found to be twice as suppressed as those with the smallest $r_\mathrm{g}$ in central Pb+Pb collisions. The $R_\mathrm{AA}$ values do not exhibit a strong variation with jet $p_\mathrm{T}$ in any of the $r_\mathrm{g}$ intervals. The $r_\mathrm{g}$ and $p_\mathrm{T}$ dependence of jet $R_\mathrm{AA}$ is qualitatively consistent with a picture of jet quenching arising from coherence and provides the most direct evidence in support of this approach.
Summary of jet double differential cross section in pp collisions at 5.02 TeV as a function of pT in bins of rg. Uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.
Summary of jet double differential cross section in pp collisions at 5.02 TeV as a function of rg in bins of pT. Uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.
Summary of per-event jet yields in Pb+Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV as a function of pT in bins of rg for 50-80% centrality interval, normalized by the respective centrality interval's <TAA>. Uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.
A search for supersymmetry involving the pair production of gluinos decaying via off-shell third-generation squarks into the lightest neutralino ($\tilde\chi^0_1$) is reported. It exploits LHC proton$-$proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ collected with the ATLAS detector from 2015 to 2018. The search uses events containing large missing transverse momentum, up to one electron or muon, and several energetic jets, at least three of which must be identified as containing $b$-hadrons. Both a simple kinematic event selection and an event selection based upon a deep neural-network are used. No significant excess above the predicted background is found. In simplified models involving the pair production of gluinos that decay via off-shell top (bottom) squarks, gluino masses less than 2.44 TeV (2.35 TeV) are excluded at 95% CL for a massless $\tilde\chi^0_1$. Limits are also set on the gluino mass in models with variable branching ratios for gluino decays to $b\bar{b}\tilde\chi^0_1$, $t\bar{t}\tilde\chi^0_1$ and $t\bar{b}\tilde\chi^-_1$ / $\bar{t}b\tilde\chi^+_1$.
A summary of the uncertainties in the background estimates for SR-Gtt-0L-B. The individual experimental and theoretical uncertainties are assumed to be uncorrelated and are combined by adding in quadrature.
A summary of the uncertainties in the background estimates for SR-Gtt-0L-M1. The individual experimental and theoretical uncertainties are assumed to be uncorrelated and are combined by adding in quadrature.
A summary of the uncertainties in the background estimates for SR-Gtt-0L-M2. The individual experimental and theoretical uncertainties are assumed to be uncorrelated and are combined by adding in quadrature.
A search for pair production of doubly charged Higgs bosons ($H^{\pm \pm}$), each decaying into a pair of prompt, isolated, highly energetic leptons with the same electric charge, is presented. The search uses a proton-proton collision data sample at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ recorded by the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider. This analysis focuses on same-charge leptonic decays, $H^{\pm \pm} \rightarrow \ell^{\pm} \ell^{\prime \pm}$ where $\ell, \ell^\prime=e, \mu, \tau$, in two-, three-, and four-lepton channels, but only considers final states which include electrons or muons. No evidence of a signal is observed. Corresponding limits on the production cross-section and consequently a lower limit on $m(H^{\pm \pm})$ are derived at 95% confidence level. Assuming that the branching ratios to each of the possible leptonic final states are equal, $\mathcal{B}(H^{\pm \pm} \rightarrow e^\pm e^\pm) = \mathcal{B}(H^{\pm \pm} \rightarrow e^\pm \mu^\pm) = \mathcal{B}(H^{\pm \pm} \rightarrow \mu^\pm \mu^\pm) = \mathcal{B}(H^{\pm \pm} \rightarrow e^\pm \tau^\pm) = \mathcal{B}(H^{\pm \pm} \rightarrow \mu^\pm \tau^\pm) = \mathcal{B}(H^{\pm \pm} \rightarrow \tau^\pm \tau^\pm) = 1/6$, the observed lower limit on the mass of a doubly charged Higgs boson is 1080 GeV within the left-right symmetric type-II seesaw model, which is an improvement over previous limits. Additionally, a lower limit of $m(H^{\pm \pm})$ = 900 GeV is obtained in the context of the Zee-Babu neutrino mass model.
LO, NLO cross-sections and K-factors for the pair-production of doubly charged Higgs bosons in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV. The K-factors (K=$\sigma_{NLO}/\sigma_{LO}$) are identical for $H^{\pm\pm}_L$, $H^{\pm\pm}_R$, and $k^{\pm\pm}$. The values are calculated using the NNPDF3.1NLO and NNPDF2.3LO PDF sets.
Observed (solid line) and expected (dashed line) 95% CL upper limits on the $H^{\pm\pm}$ pair production cross-section as a function of $m(H^{\pm\pm})$ resulting from the combination of all analysis channels, assuming $\sum_{\ell \ell^\prime} \mathcal{B}(H^{\pm\pm} \rightarrow \ell^{\pm} \ell^{\prime \pm})=100%$, where $\ell, \ell^\prime = e, \mu, \tau$.
Distribution of $m(e^{\pm},e^{\pm})_{\mathrm{lead}}$ in the electron-electron signal region after the background-only fit.
This paper presents a statistical combination of searches targeting final states with two top quarks and invisible particles, characterised by the presence of zero, one or two leptons, at least one jet originating from a $b$-quark and missing transverse momentum. The analyses are searches for phenomena beyond the Standard Model consistent with the direct production of dark matter in $pp$ collisions at the LHC, using 139 fb$^{-\text{1}}$ of data collected with the ATLAS detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The results are interpreted in terms of simplified dark matter models with a spin-0 scalar or pseudoscalar mediator particle. In addition, the results are interpreted in terms of upper limits on the Higgs boson invisible branching ratio, where the Higgs boson is produced according to the Standard Model in association with a pair of top quarks. For scalar (pseudoscalar) dark matter models, with all couplings set to unity, the statistical combination extends the mass range excluded by the best of the individual channels by 50 (25) GeV, excluding mediator masses up to 370 GeV. In addition, the statistical combination improves the expected coupling exclusion reach by 14% (24%), assuming a scalar (pseudoscalar) mediator mass of 10 GeV. An upper limit on the Higgs boson invisible branching ratio of 0.38 (0.30$^{+\text{0.13}}_{-\text{0.09}}$) is observed (expected) at 95% confidence level.
Post-fit signal region yields for the tt0L-high and the tt0L-low analyses. The bottom panel shows the statistical significance of the difference between the SM prediction and the observed data in each region. '$t\bar{t}$ (other)' represents $t\bar{t}$ events without extra jets or events with extra light-flavour jets. 'Other' includes contributions from $t\bar{t}W$, $tZ$ and $tWZ$ processes. The total uncertainty in the SM expectation is represented with hatched bands and the expected distributions for selected signal models are shown as dashed lines.
Representative fit distribution in the signal region for the tt1L analysis: each bin of such distribution corresponds to a single SR included in the fit. 'Other' includes contributions from $t\bar{t}W$, $tZ$, $tWZ$ and $t\bar{t}$ (semileptonic) processes. The total uncertainty in the SM expectation is represented with hatched bands and the expected distributions for selected signal models are shown as dashed lines.
Representative fit distribution in the same flavour leptons signal region for the tt2L analysis: each bin of such distribution, starting from the red arrow, corresponds to a single SR included in the fit. 'FNP' includes the contribution from fake/non-prompt lepton background arising from jets (mainly $\pi/K$, heavy-flavour hadron decays and photon conversion) misidentified as leptons, estimated in a purely data-driven way. 'Other' includes contributions from $t\bar{t}W$, $tZ$ and $tWZ$ processes. The total uncertainty in the SM expectation is represented with hatched bands and the expected distributions for selected signal models are shown as dashed lines.
This paper reports a search for Higgs boson pair ($hh$) production in association with a vector boson ($W$ or $Z$) using 139 $fb^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The search is performed in final states in which the vector boson decays leptonically ($W\to\ell\nu, Z\to\ell\ell,\nu\nu$ with $\ell=e, \mu$) and the Higgs bosons each decay into a pair of $b$-quarks. It targets $Vhh$ signals from both non-resonant $hh$ production, present in the Standard Model (SM), and resonant $hh$ production, as predicted in some SM extensions. A 95% confidence-level upper limit of 183 (87) times the SM cross-section is observed (expected) for non-resonant $Vhh$ production when assuming the kinematics are as expected in the SM. Constraints are also placed on Higgs boson coupling modifiers. For the resonant search, upper limits on the production cross-sections are derived for two specific models: one is the production of a vector boson along with a neutral heavy scalar resonance $H$, in the mass range 260-1000 GeV, that decays into $hh$, and the other is the production of a heavier neutral pseudoscalar resonance $A$ that decays into a $Z$ boson and $H$ boson, where the $A$ boson mass is 360-800 GeV and the $H$ boson mass is 260-400 GeV. Constraints are also derived in the parameter space of two-Higgs-doublet models.
Acceptance times efficiency as a function of resonant mass for each event selection step in the search for a neutral heavy scalar resonance produced in association with a Z boson decaying to neutrinos.
Acceptance times efficiency as a function of resonant mass for each event selection step in the search for a neutral heavy scalar resonance produced in association with a W boson decaying to a charged lepton and a neutrino.
Acceptance times efficiency as a function of resonant mass for each event selection step in the search for a neutral heavy scalar resonance produced in association with a Z boson decaying to charged leptons.
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