Two searches for new phenomena in final states containing a same-flavour opposite-lepton (electron or muon) pair, jets, and large missing transverse momentum are presented. These searches make use of proton--proton collision data, collected during 2015 and 2016 at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider, which correspond to an integrated luminosity of 14.7 fb$^{-1}$. Both searches target the pair production of supersymmetric particles, squarks or gluinos, which decay to final states containing a same-flavour opposite-sign lepton pair via one of two mechanisms: a leptonically decaying Z boson in the final state, leading to a peak in the dilepton invariant-mass distribution around the Z boson mass; and decays of neutralinos (e.g. $\tilde{\chi}_2^0 \rightarrow \ell^+\ell^- \tilde{\chi}_1^0$), yielding a kinematic endpoint in the dilepton invariant-mass spectrum. The data are found to be consistent with the Standard Model expectation. Results are interpreted in simplified models of gluino-pair (squark-pair) production, and provide sensitivity to gluinos (squarks) with masses as large as 1.70 TeV (980 GeV).

The angular distributions of Drell-Yan charged lepton pairs around the $Z$-boson mass peak probe the underlying QCD dynamics of $Z$-boson production. This paper presents a measurement of the complete set of angular coefficients $A_{0-7}$ describing these distributions in the $Z$-boson Collins-Soper frame. The data analysed correspond to 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV, collected by the ATLAS detector at the CERN LHC. The measurements are compared to the most precise fixed-order calculations currently available ($\mathcal{O}(\alpha^{2}_{s})$) and with theoretical predictions embedded in Monte Carlo generators. The measurements are precise enough to probe QCD corrections beyond the formal accuracy of these calculations and to provide discrimination between different parton-shower models. A significant deviation from the $\mathcal{O}(\alpha^{2}_{s})$ predictions is observed for $A_{0}-A_{2}$. Evidence is found for non-zero $A_{5,6,7}$, consistent with expectations.

The production of $W$ boson pairs in association with one jet in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV is studied using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS detector during 2012 at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The cross section is measured in a fiducial phase-space region defined by the presence of exactly one electron and one muon, missing transverse momentum and exactly one jet with a transverse momentum above 25 GeV and a pseudorapidity of $|\eta|<4.5$. The leptons are required to have opposite electric charge and to pass transverse momentum and pseudorapidity requirements. The fiducial cross section is found to be $\sigma^{\mathrm{fid,1\textrm{-}jet}}_{WW}=136\pm6($stat$)\pm14($syst$)\pm3($lumi$)$ fb. In combination with a previous measurement restricted to leptonic final states with no associated jets, the fiducial cross section of $WW$ production with zero or one jet is measured to be $\sigma^{\mathrm{fid,}\leq\mathrm{1\textrm{-}jet}}_{WW}=511\pm9($stat$)\pm26($syst$)\pm10($lumi$)$ fb. The ratio of fiducial cross sections in final states with one and zero jets is determined to be $0.36\pm0.05$. Finally, a total cross section extrapolated from the fiducial measurement of $WW$ production with zero or one associated jet is reported. The measurements are compared to theoretical predictions and found in good agreement.

Inclusive isolated-photon production in $pp$ collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is studied with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using a data set with an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$. The cross section is measured as a function of the photon transverse energy above 125 GeV in different regions of photon pseudorapidity. Next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD and Monte Carlo event-generator predictions are compared to the cross-section measurements and provide an adequate description of the data.

This paper reports searches for heavy resonances decaying into $ZZ$ or $ZW$ using data from proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$, were recorded with the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016 at the Large Hadron Collider. The searches are performed in final states in which one $Z$ boson decays into either a pair of light charged leptons (electrons and muons) or a pair of neutrinos, and the associated $W$ boson or the other $Z$ boson decays hadronically. No evidence of the production of heavy resonances is observed. Upper bounds on the production cross sections of heavy resonances times their decay branching ratios to $ZZ$ or $ZW$ are derived in the mass range 300--5000 GeV within the context of Standard Model extensions with additional Higgs bosons, a heavy vector triplet or warped extra dimensions. Production through gluon--gluon fusion, Drell--Yan or vector-boson fusion are considered, depending on the assumed model.

An inclusive search for a new-physics signature of lepton-jet resonances has been performed by the ATLAS experiment. Scalar leptoquarks, pair-produced in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider, have been considered. An integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$, corresponding to the full 2015 dataset was used. First (second) generation leptoquarks were sought in events with two electrons (muons) and two or more jets. The observed event yield in each channel is consistent with Standard Model background expectations. The observed (expected) lower limits on the leptoquark mass at 95% confidence level are 1100 GeV and 1050 GeV (1160 GeV and 1040 GeV) for first and second generation leptoquarks, respectively, assuming a branching ratio into a charged lepton and a quark of 100%. Upper limits on the aforementioned branching ratio are also given as a function of leptoquark mass. Compared with the results of earlier ATLAS searches, the sensitivity is increased for leptoquark masses above 860 GeV, and the observed exclusion limits confirm and extend the published results.

This paper presents a search for massive charged long-lived particles produced in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV at the LHC using the ATLAS experiment. The dataset used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$. Many extensions of the Standard Model predict the existence of massive charged long-lived particles, such as $R$-hadrons. These massive particles are expected to be produced with a velocity significantly below the speed of light, and therefore to have a specific ionization higher than any Standard Model particle of unit charge at high momenta. The Pixel subsystem of the ATLAS detector is used to measure the ionization energy loss of reconstructed charged particles and to search for such highly ionizing particles. The search presented here has much greater sensitivity than a similar search performed using the ATLAS detector in the $\sqrt{s}=$ 8 TeV dataset, thanks to the increase in expected signal cross-section due to the higher center-of-mass energy of collisions, to an upgraded detector with a new silicon layer close to the interaction point, and to analysis improvements. No significant deviation from Standard Model background expectations is observed, and lifetime-dependent upper limits on $R$-hadron production cross-sections and masses are set. Gluino $R$-hadrons with lifetimes above 0.4 ns and decaying to $q\bar{q}$ plus a 100 GeV neutralino are excluded at the 95% confidence level, with lower mass limit ranging between 740 GeV and 1590 GeV. In the case of stable $R$-hadrons the lower mass limit at the 95% confidence level is 1570 GeV.

A search for heavy long-lived charged $R$-hadrons is reported using a data sample corresponding to 3.2$^{-1}$ of proton--proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. The search is based on observables related to large ionisation losses and slow propagation velocities, which are signatures of heavy charged particles travelling significantly slower than the speed of light. No significant deviations from the expected background are observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are provided on the production cross section of long-lived $R$-hadrons in the mass range from 600 GeV to 2000 GeV and gluino, bottom and top squark masses are excluded up to 1580 GeV, 805 GeV and 890 GeV, respectively.

Differential cross sections are presented for the prompt and non-prompt production of the hidden-charm states $X(3872)$ and $\psi(2S)$, in the decay mode $J/\psi \pi^+\pi^-$, measured using 11.4 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The ratio of cross-sections $X(3872)/\psi(2S)$ is also given, separately for prompt and non-prompt components, as well as the non-prompt fractions of $X(3872)$ and $\psi(2S)$. Assuming independent single effective lifetimes for non-prompt $X(3872)$ and $\psi(2S)$ production gives $R_B = \frac{\mathcal{B}(B \rightarrow X(3872)\textrm{ + any}) \mathcal{B}(X(3872 \rightarrow J/\psi\pi^+\pi^-)}{\mathcal{B}(B \rightarrow \psi(2S)\textrm{ + any}) \mathcal{B}(\psi(2S) \rightarrow J/\psi\pi^+\pi^-)} = (3.95 \pm 0.32 \mathrm{(stat)} \pm 0.08\mathrm{(sys)}) \times 10^{-2}$, while separating short- and long-lived contributions, assuming that the short-lived component is due to $B_c$ decays, gives $R_B = (3.57 \pm 0.33\mathrm{(stat)} \pm 0.11\mathrm{(sys)}) \times 10^{-2}$, with the fraction of non-prompt $X(3872)$ produced via $B_c$ decays for $p_\mathrm{T}(X(3872)) > 10$ GeV being $(25 \pm 13\mathrm{(stat)} \pm 2\mathrm{(sys)} \pm 5\mathrm{(spin)})\%$. The distributions of the dipion invariant mass in the $X(3872)$ and $\psi(2S)$ decays are also measured and compared to theoretical predictions.

A measurement of the total $pp$ cross section at the LHC at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV is presented. An integrated luminosity of $500$ $\mu$b$^{-1}$ was accumulated in a special run with high-$\beta^{\star}$ beam optics to measure the differential elastic cross section as a function of the Mandelstam momentum transfer variable $t$. The measurement is performed with the ALFA sub-detector of ATLAS. Using a fit to the differential elastic cross section in the $-t$ range from $0.014$ GeV$^2$ to $0.1$ GeV$^2$ to extrapolate $t\rightarrow 0$, the total cross section, $\sigma_{\mathrm{tot}}(pp\rightarrow X)$, is measured via the optical theorem to be: $\sigma_{\mathrm{tot}}(pp\rightarrow X) = {96.07} \; \pm 0.18 \; ({{stat.}}) \pm 0.85 \; ({{exp.}}) \pm 0.31 \; ({extr.}) \; {mb} \;,$ where the first error is statistical, the second accounts for all experimental systematic uncertainties and the last is related to uncertainties in the extrapolation $t\rightarrow 0$. In addition, the slope of the exponential function describing the elastic cross section at small $t$ is determined to be $B = 19.74 \pm 0.05 \; ({{stat.}}) \pm 0.23 \; ({{syst.}}) \; {GeV}^{-2}$.