Dependence of the parameter $A$ on $(t_1, t_2)$.

Dependence of the parameter $R$ on $(t_1, t_2)$.

Dependence of the parameter $c$ on $(t_1, t_2)$.

Dependence of the parameter $R$ on the two scattered proton transverse momenta.

Correlation coefficients among values of best parameters for the two-channel model, in the case of the exponential parametrisation of the proton-pomeron form factor.

Correlation coefficients among values of best parameters for the two-channel model, in the case of the Orear-type parametrisation of the proton-pomeron form factor.

Correlation coefficients among values of best parameters for the two-channel model, in the case of the power-law parametrisation of the proton-pomeron form factor.

Comparison of the $m_{miss}$ shapes for the simulated signal events within the fiducial region and those outside it, after including the effect of PU protons as describe in the text, for a generated $m_{X}$ mass of 1000 GeV. The distributions are shown for single(+z)-single(−z) proton reconstruction categories.

Product of the acceptance times the combined reconstruction and identification efficiency, as a function of $m_{X}$ , for events generated inside the fiducial volume defined in Table 1. The curves shown panel display the different final states. The definition of the fiducial region and signal model used to estimate the acceptance is provided in the text.

Product of the acceptance times the combined reconstruction and identification efficiency, as a function of $m_{X}$ , for different proton reconstruction categories in the $Z \rightarrow \mu\mu $ analysis, and for events generated inside the fiducial volume defined in Table 1. The curves shown panel display the different final states. The definition of the fiducial region and signal model used to estimate the acceptance is provided in the text.

Distributions of the reconstructed proton $\xi$ in the negative arm from the proton mixing procedure with simulated MC events, are compared to data. The ee final states are shown.The ee events are displayed without the Z boson $p_T$ requirement.For illustration, the simulated signal distributions are superimposed for various choices of $m_{X}$ , normalised to a generated fiducial cross section of 100 pb.

Distributions of the reconstructed proton $\xi$ in the positive arm from the proton mixing procedure with simulated MC events, are compared to data. The ee final states are shown.The ee events are displayed without the Z boson $p_T$ requirement.For illustration, the simulated signal distributions are superimposed for various choices of $m_{X}$ , normalised to a generated fiducial cross section of 100 pb.

Distributions of the reconstructed di-proton rapidity from the proton mixing procedure with simulated MC events, are compared to data. The ee final states are shown.The ee events are displayed without the Z boson $p_T$ requirement.For illustration, the simulated signal distributions are superimposed for various choices of $m_{X}$ , normalised to a generated fiducial cross section of 100 pb.

Distributions of the reconstructed proton $\xi$ in the negative arm from the proton mixing procedure with simulated MC events, are compared to data. The $\mu\mu$ final states are shown.The $\mu\mu$ events are displayed without the Z boson $p_T$ requirement.For illustration, the simulated signal distributions are superimposed for various choices of $m_{X}$ , normalised to a generated fiducial cross section of 100 pb.

Distributions of the reconstructed proton $\xi$ in the positive arm from the proton mixing procedure with simulated MC events, are compared to data. The $\mu\mu$ final states are shown.The $\mu\mu$ events are displayed without the Z boson $p_T$ requirement.For illustration, the simulated signal distributions are superimposed for various choices of $m_{X}$ , normalised to a generated fiducial cross section of 100 pb.

Distributions of the reconstructed di-proton rapidity from the proton mixing procedure with simulated MC events, are compared to data. The $\mu\mu$ final states are shown.The $\mu\mu$ events are displayed without the Z boson $p_T$ requirement.For illustration, the simulated signal distributions are superimposed for various choices of $m_{X}$ , normalised to a generated fiducial cross section of 100 pb.

Distributions of the reconstructed proton $\xi$ in the negative arm from the proton mixing procedure with simulated MC events, are compared to data. The $\gamma$ final states are shown.For illustration, the simulated signal distributions are superimposed for various choices of $m_{X}$ , normalised to a generated fiducial cross section of 100 pb.

Distributions of the reconstructed proton $\xi$ in the positive arm from the proton mixing procedure with simulated MC events, are compared to data. The $\gamma$ final states are shown.For illustration, the simulated signal distributions are superimposed for various choices of $m_{X}$ , normalised to a generated fiducial cross section of 100 pb.

Distributions of the reconstructed di-proton rapidity from the proton mixing procedure with simulated MC events, are compared to data. The $\gamma$ final states are shown.For illustration, the simulated signal distributions are superimposed for various choices of $m_{X}$ , normalised to a generated fiducial cross section of 100 pb.

Validation of the background modelling method, using the $e\mu$ control sample. Selected $e\mu$ events are mixed with protons from $Z\rightarrow \mu \mu$ events with $p_{T}(Z)<10$ GeV to simulate the combinatorial background shape, while the data points are unaltered $e\mu$ events. The proton $\xi$ distribution for the positive CT-PPS arm is shown.

Validation of the background modelling method, using the $e\mu$ control sample. Selected $e\mu$ events are mixed with protons from $Z\rightarrow \mu \mu$ events with $p_{T}(Z)<10$ GeV to simulate the combinatorial background shape, while the data points are unaltered $e\mu$ events. The proton $\xi$ distribution for the negative CT-PPS arm is shown.

Validation of the background modelling method, using the $e\mu$ control sample. Selected $e\mu$ events are mixed with protons from $Z\rightarrow \mu \mu$ events with $p_{T}(Z)<10$ GeV to simulate the combinatorial background shape, while the data points are unaltered $e\mu$ events. The di-proton invariant mass is shown.

Validation of the background modelling method, using the $e\mu$ control sample. Selected $e\mu$ events are mixed with protons from $Z\rightarrow \mu \mu$ events with $p_{T}(Z)<10$ GeV to simulate the combinatorial background shape, while the data points are unaltered $e\mu$ events. The $m_{miss}$ is shown.

$m_{miss}$ distributions in the $pp\rightarrow ppZeeX$, with the protons reconstructed with the multi(+z)-multi(-z)method. The background distributions are shown after the fit. The expectations for a signal with $m_{X} = 1000$ GeV are superimposed, where the fiducial production cross section is normalised to 1 pb.

$m_{miss}$ distributions in the $pp\rightarrow ppZeeX$, with the protons reconstructed with the multi(+z)-single(-z)method. The background distributions are shown after the fit. The expectations for a signal with $m_{X} = 1000$ GeV are superimposed, where the fiducial production cross section is normalised to 1 pb.

$m_{miss}$ distributions in the $pp\rightarrow ppZeeX$, with the protons reconstructed with the single(+z)-multi(-z)method. The background distributions are shown after the fit. The expectations for a signal with $m_{X} = 1000$ GeV are superimposed, where the fiducial production cross section is normalised to 1 pb.

$m_{miss}$ distributions in the $pp\rightarrow ppZeeX$, with the protons reconstructed with the single(+z)-single(-z)method. The background distributions are shown after the fit. The expectations for a signal with $m_{X} = 1000$ GeV are superimposed, where the fiducial production cross section is normalised to 1 pb.

$m_{miss}$ distributions in the $pp\rightarrow ppZ\mu\mu X$, with the protons reconstructed with the multi(+z)-multi(-z)method. The background distributions are shown after the fit. The expectations for a signal with $m_{X} = 1000$ GeV are superimposed, where the fiducial production cross section is normalised to 1 pb.

$m_{miss}$ distributions in the $pp\rightarrow ppZ\mu\mu X$, with the protons reconstructed with the multi(+z)-single(-z)method. The background distributions are shown after the fit. The expectations for a signal with $m_{X} = 1000$ GeV are superimposed, where the fiducial production cross section is normalised to 1 pb.

$m_{miss}$ distributions in the $pp\rightarrow ppZ\mu\mu X$, with the protons reconstructed with the single(+z)-multi(-z)method. The background distributions are shown after the fit. The expectations for a signal with $m_{X} = 1000$ GeV are superimposed, where the fiducial production cross section is normalised to 1 pb.

$m_{miss}$ distributions in the $pp\rightarrow ppZ\mu\mu X$, with the protons reconstructed with the single(+z)-single(-z)method. The background distributions are shown after the fit. The expectations for a signal with $m_{X} = 1000$ GeV are superimposed, where the fiducial production cross section is normalised to 1 pb.

$m_{miss}$ distributions in the $pp\rightarrow pp\gamma X$, with the protons reconstructed with the multi(+z)-multi(-z)method. The background distributions are shown after the fit. The expectations for a signal with $m_{X} = 1000$ GeV are superimposed, where the fiducial production cross section is normalised to 10 pb.

$m_{miss}$ distributions in the $pp\rightarrow pp\gamma X$, with the protons reconstructed with the multi(+z)-single(-z)method. The background distributions are shown after the fit. The expectations for a signal with $m_{X} = 1000$ GeV are superimposed, where the fiducial production cross section is normalised to 10 pb.

$m_{miss}$ distributions in the $pp\rightarrow pp\gamma X$, with the protons reconstructed with the single(+z)-multi(-z)method. The background distributions are shown after the fit. The expectations for a signal with $m_{X} = 1000$ GeV are superimposed, where the fiducial production cross section is normalised to 10 pb.

$m_{miss}$ distributions in the $pp\rightarrow pp\gamma X$, with the protons reconstructed with the single(+z)-single(-z)method. The background distributions are shown after the fit. The expectations for a signal with $m_{X} = 1000$ GeV are superimposed, where the fiducial production cross section is normalised to 10 pb.

Upper limits on the $pp\rightarrow ppZ/\gamma X$ cross section at 95% CL, as a function of $m_X$. The 68 and 95% central intervals of the expected limits are represented by the green and yellow bands, respectively, while the observed limit is superimposed as a curve. The plot corresponds to the $Z\rightarrow ee$ analysis.

Upper limits on the $pp\rightarrow ppZ/\gamma X$ cross section at 95% CL, as a function of $m_X$. The 68 and 95% central intervals of the expected limits are represented by the green and yellow bands, respectively, while the observed limit is superimposed as a curve. The plot corresponds to the $Z\rightarrow \mu\mu$ analysis.

Upper limits on the $pp\rightarrow ppZ/\gamma X$ cross section at 95% CL, as a function of $m_X$. The 68 and 95% central intervals of the expected limits are represented by the green and yellow bands, respectively, while the observed limit is superimposed as a curve. The plot corresponds to the $Z$ analysis.

Upper limits on the $pp\rightarrow ppZ/\gamma X$ cross section at 95% CL, as a function of $m_X$. The 68 and 95% central intervals of the expected limits are represented by the green and yellow bands, respectively, while the observed limit is superimposed as a curve. The plot corresponds to the $\gamma$ analysis.

Bayesian upper exclusion limits on the ratio $g_{W'}/g_{W}$ for an SSM-like W$\prime$ boson are shown. The unity coupling ratio (blue dotted curve) corresponds to the SSM common benchmark. The 68 and 95% quantiles of the limits are represented by the green and yellow bands, respectively.

Bayesian lower exclusion limits on the NUGIM G(221) mixing angle $\cot(\theta_{E})$ are shown as a function of the W$\prime$ boson mass. The theoretically excluded region is shaded in grey. The 68 and 95% quantiles of the limits are represented by the green and yellow bands, respectively.

Bayesian upper exclusion limits at 95% CL on the product of the production cross section and branching fraction of a QBH in an associated $ au$ lepton and neutrino final state. Minimum threshold masses $m_{th}$ of up to 6.6 TeV are excluded at 95% CL. The observed limit (solid line) is obtained from the intersection with the LO QBH cross section (blue dotted curve). The 68 and 95% quantiles of the limits are represented by the green and yellow bands, respectively.

Bayesian upper limits at 95% CL on the cross section of the process $pp\rightarrow\tau\nu$ mediated via LQ exchange in the t-channel. The inner (green) band and the outer (yellow) band indicate the regions containing 68 and 95%, respectively, of the distribution of limits expected under the background-only hypothesis. The predicted LQ cross section at LO in the three coupling benchmark scenarios is depicted in different colors for $g_{U}=1$. The uncertainty bandy correspond to the sum in quadrature of PDF and scale variations. The first benchmark scenario considers only couplings to left-handed SM fermions (i.e. $\beta_{\text{R}}^{ij}=0$) and is referred to as "best fit LH". The second benchmark, referred to as "best fit LH+RH", considers $|\beta_{\text{R}}^{\text{b}\tau}|=1$ and all other $\beta_{\text{R}}^{ij}=0$. In the third "democratic" benchmark, equal couplings only to LH fermions are assumed, i.e. $\beta_{\text{L}}^{ij}=1$ and $\beta_{\text{R}}^{ij}=0$ for all $i$ and $j$.

Expected and observed lower limits of the LQ mass as a function of the coupling $g_{U}$ in the LH scenario. The blue band shows the 68% and 95% regions of $g_{U}$ preferred by the fit to the b anomalies data.

Expected and observed lower limits of the LQ mass as a function of the coupling $g_{U}$ in the LH+RH scenario. The blue band shows the 68% and 95% regions of $g_{U}$ preferred by the fit to the b anomalies data.

Expected and observed lower limits of the LQ mass as a function of the coupling $g_{U}$ in the democratic scenario. The blue band shows the 68% and 95% regions of $g_{U}$ preferred by the fit to the b anomalies data.

Bayesian upper exclusion limits at 95% CL on each of the Wilson coefficients described by the EFT model based on 2016-2018 data. The three different coupling types represent a left-handed vector coupling ($\epsilon^{cb}_{L}$), tensor-like coupling ($\epsilon^{cb}_{T}$), and scalar-tensor-like coupling ($\epsilon^{cb}_{S_{L}}$). The 68 and 95% quantiles of the limits are represented by the green and yellow bands, respectively.

Summary of exclusion limits (expected and observed) calculated at 95% CL for full Run-2 CMS data.

Background prediction and observed data yields in the signal region bins. The background yields are obtained from the background-only fit and serve as input to the simplified likelihood reinterpretation scheme. The naming of the bins is "year_binnumber", following the binning from Figure 4.

Matrix of covariance coefficients between signal region bins. The coefficients are obtained from the background-only fit and serve as input to the simplified likelihood reinterpretation scheme. The naming of the bins is "year_binnumber", following the binning used in Figure 4.

Predicted signal yields for the 2017 data-taking period, corresponding to 41.3 fb$^{-1}$, after the application of each search requirement (cumulative) for various signal hypothesis. The requirements listed are presented as total efficiencies w.r.t. the previous selection step.

Expected and observed upper limits on the AQGC operators $a^Z_C/\Lambda^2$, with no unitarization. The $y$ axis shows the limit on the ratio of the observed cross section to the cross section predicted for each anomalous coupling value ($\sigma_\mathrm{AQGC}$).

Limits on LEP-like dimension-6 anomalous quartic gauge coupling parameters, with and without unitarization via a clipping procedure.

Conversion of limits on $a^W_0$ to dimension-8 $f_{M,i}$ operators, using the assumption of vanishing $WWZ\gamma$ couplings to eliminate some parameters. When quoting limits on one of the operators, the other is fixed to zero. The results for $|f_{M,0}/\Lambda^{4}|$ and $|f_{M,4}/\Lambda^{4}|$ are shown with and without clipping of the signal model at 1.4 TeV, when the other parameter is fixed to the SM value of zero.

Conversion of limits on $a^W_0$ and $a^W_C$ to dimension-8 $f_{M,i}$ operators, using the assumption that all $f_{M,i}$ except one are equal to zero. The results are shown with and without clipping of the signal model at 1.4 TeV.

{Expected and observed limits in the two-dimensional plane of $a^W_0/\Lambda^2$ vs. $a^W_C/\Lambda^2$. The limits are described by analytical ellipses of equation $(x-x0)^2/a^2 + (y-y0)^2/b^2 = 1$ and rotated counter-clockwise by $\theta$ degrees, where $x$ and $y$ in the equation correspond to the $a_0^W$ and $a_C^W$ couplings, respectively.

{Expected and observed limits in the two-dimensional plane of $a^W_0/\Lambda^2$ vs. $a^W_C/\Lambda^2$ with unitarization imposed by clipping the signal model at 1.4 TeV. The limits are described by analytical ellipses of equation $(x-x0)^2/a^2 + (y-y0)^2/b^2 = 1$ and rotated counter-clockwise by $\theta$ degrees, where $x$ and $y$ in the equation correspond to the $a_0^W$ and $a_C^W$ couplings, respectively.

{Expected and observed limits in the two-dimensional plane of $a^Z_0/\Lambda^2$ vs. $a^Z_C/\Lambda^2$. The limits are described by analytical ellipses of equation $(x-x0)^2/a^2 + (y-y0)^2/b^2 = 1$ and rotated counter-clockwise by $\theta$ degrees, where $x$ and $y$ in the equation correspond to the $a_0^Z$ and $a_C^Z$ couplings, respectively.

Upper limits on the production cross section times branching fraction of the b* RH hypothesis at a 95% CL. Dashed colored lines show the expected limits from the l+jets and all-hadronic channels, where the latter start at resonance masses of 1.4 TeV. The observed and expected limits from the combination are shown as solid and dashed black lines, respectively. The green and yellow bands show the 68 and 95% confidence intervals on the combined expected limits.

Upper limits on the production cross section times branching fraction of the b* VL hypothesis at a 95% CL. Dashed colored lines show the expected limits from the l+jets and all-hadronic channels, where the latter start at resonance masses of 1.4 TeV. The observed and expected limits from the combination are shown as solid and dashed black lines, respectively. The green and yellow bands show the 68 and 95% confidence intervals on the combined expected limits.

Upper limits on the production cross section times branching fraction of the B+b hypothesis at a 95% CL. Dashed colored lines show the expected limits from the l+jets and all-hadronic channels, where the latter start at resonance masses of 1.4 TeV. The observed and expected limits from the combination are shown as solid and dashed black lines, respectively. The green and yellow bands show the 68 and 95% confidence intervals on the combined expected limits.

Upper limits on the production cross section times branching fraction of the B+t hypothesis at a 95% CL. Dashed colored lines show the expected limits from the l+jets and all-hadronic channels, where the latter start at resonance masses of 1.4 TeV. The observed and expected limits from the combination are shown as solid and dashed black lines, respectively. The green and yellow bands show the 68 and 95% confidence intervals on the combined expected limits.