This paper presents a study of $WW\gamma$ and $WZ\gamma$ triboson production using events from proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb$^{-1}$. The $WW\gamma$ production cross-section is determined using a final state containing an electron, a muon, a photon, and neutrinos ($e\nu\mu\nu\gamma$). Upper limits on the production cross-section of the $e\nu\mu\nu\gamma$ final state and the $WW\gamma$ and $WZ\gamma$ final states containing an electron or a muon, two jets, a photon, and a neutrino ($e\nu jj\gamma$ or $\mu\nu jj\gamma$) are also derived. The results are compared to the cross-sections predicted by the Standard Model at next-to-leading order in the strong-coupling constant. In addition, upper limits on the production cross-sections are derived in a fiducial region optimised for a search for new physics beyond the Standard Model. The results are interpreted in the context of anomalous quartic gauge couplings using an effective field theory. Confidence intervals at 95% confidence level are derived for the 14 coupling coefficients to which $WW\gamma$ and $WZ\gamma$ production are sensitive.
Computed fiducial cross section in the $e\nu\mu\nu\gamma$ channel. The first uncertainty shown is the statistical uncertainty and the second one is the total systematic uncertainty including the uncertainty due to the luminosity. The theoretical prediction is determined with the VBFNLO generator and its uncertainty does not account for an uncertainty related to the scale introduced by restricting the jet multiplicity in the fully leptonic channel.
Observed and expected cross-section upper limits at 95\% CL for the different final states using the CL$_{\text{s}}$ method. The expected cross-section limits are computed assuming no signal is present. The last column shows the theory prediction for the signal cross-section ($\sigma_{\text{theo}}$) computed with the VBFNLO generator and corrected to particle level. The $\ell \nu jj \gamma$ cross-section corresponds to the average cross-section per lepton flavour in the semileptonic analysis and all events of the $e \nu jj \gamma$ and $\mu\nu jj \gamma$ final states are employed for the determination of this limit.
Observed and expected cross-section upper limits at 95\% CL using the CL$_{\text{s}}$ method for the different final states with the photon \et threshold optimised for maximal aQGC sensitivity. The expected cross-section limits are computed assuming the absence of $WV\gamma$ production. The last column shows the theory prediction for the SM signal cross-section computed with the VBFNLO generator and corrected to particle level. The $\ell \nu jj \gamma$ cross-section corresponds to the average cross-section per lepton flavour in the semileptonic analysis and all events of the $e \nu jj \gamma$ and $\mu\nu jj \gamma$ final states are employed for the determination of this limit.
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