We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a significant distance from their production point into a final state containing charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.
A search for events with large missing transverse momentum, jets, and at least two tau leptons has been performed using 2 fb^-1 of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. No excess above the Standard Model background expectation is observed and a 95% CL visible cross section upper limit for new phenomena is set. A 95% CL lower limit of 32 TeV is set on the GMSB breaking scale Lambda independent of tan(beta). These limits provide the most stringent tests to date in a large part of the considered parameter space.
The results of a search for supersymmetry in events with large missing transverse momentum and heavy flavour jets using an integrated luminosity corresponding to 2.05 fb^-1 of pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. No significant excess is observed with respect to the prediction for Standard Model processes. Results are interpreted in a variety of R-parity conserving models in which scalar bottoms and tops are the only scalar quarks to appear in the gluino decay cascade, and in an SO(10) model framework. Gluino masses up to 600-900 GeV are excluded, depending on the model considered.
A search is presented for gluinos decaying via the supersymmetric partner of the top quark using events with two same-sign leptons, jets and missing transverse momentum. The analysis is performed with 2.05 fb^-1 of integrated luminosity from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. No excess beyond the Standard Model expectation is observed and exclusion limits are derived for simplified models where the gluino decays via the supersymmetric partner of the top quark and in the MSUGRA/CMSSM framework. In those scenarios, gluino masses below 550 GeV are excluded at 95% CL within the parameter space considered, significantly extending the coverage with respect to existing limits. Depending on the model parameters, gluino masses up to 750 GeV can also be excluded at 95% CL.
A search for a heavy resonance decaying into $WZ$ in the fully leptonic channel (electrons and muons) is performed. It is based on proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$. No significant excess is observed over the Standard Model predictions and limits are set on the production cross section times branching ratio of a heavy vector particle produced either in quark-antiquark fusion or through vector-boson fusion. Constraints are also obtained on the mass and couplings of a singly charged Higgs boson, in the Georgi-Machacek model, produced through vector-boson fusion.
A search for $W'$-boson production in the $W' \rightarrow t\bar{b} \rightarrow q\bar{q}' b\bar{b}$ decay channel is presented using 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of 13 TeV proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 and 2016. The search is interpreted in terms of both a left-handed and a right-handed chiral $W'$ boson within the mass range 1-5 TeV. Identification of the hadronically decaying top quark is performed using jet substructure tagging techniques based on a shower deconstruction algorithm. No significant deviation from the Standard Model prediction is observed and the results are expressed as upper limits on the $W' \rightarrow t\bar{b}$ production cross-section times branching ratio as a function of the $W'$-boson mass. These limits exclude $W'$ bosons with right-handed couplings with masses below 3.0 TeV and $W'$ bosons with left-handed couplings with masses below 2.9 TeV, at the 95% confidence level.
A search for high-mass resonances decaying to $\tau\nu$ using proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV produced by the Large Hadron Collider is presented. Only $\tau$-lepton decays with hadrons in the final state are considered. The data were recorded with the ATLAS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$. No statistically significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed; model-independent upper limits are set on the visible $\tau\nu$ production cross section. Heavy $W^{\prime}$ bosons with masses less than 3.7 TeV in the Sequential Standard Model and masses less than 2.2-3.8 TeV depending on the coupling in the non-universal G(221) model are excluded at the 95% credibility level.
Many extensions of the Standard Model predict new resonances decaying to a $Z$, $W$, or Higgs boson and a photon. This paper presents a search for such resonances produced in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ $\mathrm{TeV}$ using a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The $Z/W/H$ bosons are identified through their decays to hadrons. The data are found to be consistent with the Standard Model expectation in the entire investigated mass range. Upper limits are set on the production cross section times branching fraction for resonance decays to $Z/W+\gamma$ in the mass range from 1.0 to 6.8 $\mathrm{TeV}$, and for the first time into $H+\gamma$ in the mass range from 1.0 to 3.0 $\mathrm{TeV}$.
A search for a heavy neutral Higgs boson, $A$, decaying into a $Z$ boson and another heavy Higgs boson, $H$, is performed using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ from proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV recorded in 2015 and 2016 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The search considers the $Z$ boson decaying to electrons or muons and the $H$ boson into a pair of $b$-quarks. No evidence for the production of an $A$ boson is found. Considering each production process separately, the 95% confidence-level upper limits on the $pp\rightarrow A\rightarrow ZH$ production cross-section times the branching ratio $H\rightarrow bb$ are in the range of 14-830 fb for the gluon-gluon fusion process and 26-570 fb for the $b$-associated process for the mass ranges 130-700 GeV of the $H$ boson and process for the mass ranges 130-700 GeV of the $H$ boson and 230-800 GeV of the $A$ boson. The results are interpreted in the context of the two-Higgs-doublet model.
A search for Higgs boson pair production in the $b\bar{b}b\bar{b}$ final state is carried out with up to 36.1 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of LHC proton--proton collision data collected at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016. Three benchmark signals are studied: a spin-2 graviton decaying into a Higgs boson pair, a scalar resonance decaying into a Higgs boson pair, and Standard Model non-resonant Higgs boson pair production. Two analyses are carried out, each implementing a particular technique for the event reconstruction that targets Higgs bosons reconstructed as pairs of jets or single boosted jets. The resonance mass range covered is 260--3000 GeV. The analyses are statistically combined and upper limits on the production cross section of Higgs boson pairs times branching ratio to $b\bar{b}b\bar{b}$ are set in each model. No significant excess is observed; the largest deviation of data over prediction is found at a mass of 280 GeV, corresponding to 2.3 standard deviations globally. The observed 95% confidence level upper limit on the non-resonant production is 13 times the Standard Model prediction.