A search for new long-lived particles decaying to leptons is presented using proton-proton collisions produced by the LHC at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV. Data used for the analysis were collected by the CMS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns. Events are selected with an electron and a muon that have transverse impact parameter values between 0.02 cm and 2 cm. The search has been designed to be sensitive to a wide range of models with nonprompt e-mu final states. Limits are set on the "displaced supersymmetry" model, with pair production of top squarks decaying into an e-mu final state via R-parity-violating interactions. The results are the most restrictive to date on this model, with the most stringent limit being obtained for a top squark lifetime corresponding to c tau = 2 cm, excluding masses below 790 GeV at 95% confidence level.
Numbers of expected and observed events in the three search regions (see the text for the definitions of these regions). Background and signal expectations are quoted as $N_{\text{exp}} \pm 1\sigma$ stat $\pm 1\sigma$ syst. If the estimated background is zero in a particular search region, the estimate is instead taken from the preceding region. Since this should always overestimate the background, we denote this by a preceding "<".
Expected and observed 95% CL cross section exclusion contours for top squark pair production in the plane of top squark lifetime ($c\tau$) and top squark mass. These limits assume a branching fraction of 100\% through the RPV vertex $\tilde{t}$ $\to$ b l, where the branching fraction to any lepton flavor is equal to 1/3. As indicated in the plot, the region to the left of the contours is excluded by this search.
Electron reconstruction efficiency as function of its tranverse impact parameter, $d_0$.
A search for an exotic decay of the Higgs boson to a Z boson and a light pseudoscalar particle (a), decaying to a pair of leptons and a pair of photons, respectively, is presented. The search is based on proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, collected with the CMS detector and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The analysis probes pseudoscalar masses $m_\mathrm{a}$ between 1 and 30 GeV, leading to two pairs of well-isolated leptons and photons. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the Higgs boson production cross section times its branching fraction to two leptons and two photons. The observed (expected) limits are in the range of 1.1-17.8 (1.7-17.9) fb within the probed $m_\mathrm{a}$ interval. An excess of data above the expected standard model background with a local (global) significance of 2.6 (1.3) standard deviations is observed for a mass hypothesis of $m_\mathrm{a}$ = 3 GeV. Limits on models involving axion-like particles, formulated as an effective field theory, are also reported.
Exclusion limits on the product of the production cross section and the branching fraction, as a function of the pseudoscalar mass hypothesis.
A search for Higgs boson pair (HH) production with one Higgs boson decaying to two bottom quarks and the other to two W bosons are presented. The search is done using proton-proton collisions data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$ recorded by the CMS detector at the LHC from 2016 to 2018. The final states considered include at least one leptonically decaying W boson. No evidence for the presence of a signal is observed and corresponding upper limits on the HH production cross section are derived. The limit on the inclusive cross section of the nonresonant HH production, assuming that the distributions of kinematic observables are as expected in the standard model (SM), is observed (expected) to be 14 (18) times the value predicted by the SM, at 95% confidence level. The limits on the cross section are also presented as functions of various Higgs boson coupling modifiers, and anomalous Higgs boson coupling scenarios. In addition, limits are set on the resonant HH production via spin-0 and spin-2 resonances within the mass range 250-900 GeV.
Observed and expected 95% CL upper limits on the production of new particles X of spin-2 and mass $m_X$ in the range 250 $\leq m_X \leq$ 900 GeV, which decay to Higgs boson pairs.
Observed and expected 95% CL upper limits on the production of new particles X of spin-0 and mass $m_X$ in the range 250 $\leq m_X \leq$ 900 GeV, which decay to Higgs boson pairs.
Observed and expected 95% CL upper limits on the inclusive nonresonant HH production cross section obtained for both single-lepton and dilepton channels, and from their combination
A search for ZZ and ZH production in the $\mathrm{b\bar{b}b\bar{b}}$ final state is presented, where H is the standard model (SM) Higgs boson. The search uses an event sample of proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 133 fb$^{-1}$ collected at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The analysis introduces several novel techniques for deriving and validating a multi-dimensional background model based on control samples in data. A multiclass multivariate classifier customized for the $\mathrm{b\bar{b}b\bar{b}}$ final state is developed to derive the background model and extract the signal. The data are found to be consistent, within uncertainties, with the SM predictions. The observed (expected) upper limits at 95% confidence level are found to be 3.8 (3.8) and 5.0 (2.9) times the SM prediction for the ZZ and ZH production cross sections, respectively.
Expected and observed ZZ and ZH signal strengths and their corresponding 95% CL upper limits. The upper limits are obtained from a fit to the SvB signal probabilities under the hypothesis of no ZZ->4b or ZH->4b signal.
In July 2012, the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations at the CERN Large Hadron Collider announced the observation of a Higgs boson at a mass of around 125 GeV. Ten years later, and with the data corresponding to the production of 30 times larger number of Higgs bosons, we have learnt much more about the properties of the Higgs boson. The CMS experiment has observed the Higgs boson in numerous fermionic and bosonic decay channels, established its spin-parity quantum numbers, determined its mass and measured its production cross sections in various modes. Here the CMS Collaboration reports the most up-to-date combination of results on the properties of the Higgs boson, including the most stringent limit on the cross section for the production of a pair of Higgs bosons, on the basis of data from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Within the uncertainties, all these observations are compatible with the predictions of the standard model of elementary particle physics. Much evidence points to the fact that the standard model is a low-energy approximation of a more comprehensive theory. Several of the standard model issues originate in the sector of Higgs boson physics. An order of magnitude larger number of Higgs bosons, expected to be examined over the next fifteen years, will help deepen our understanding of this crucial sector.
Signal strength modifiers per production mode $\mu_i$.
Signal strength modifiers per decay mode $\mu^f$.
Simultaneous coupling measurement $\kappa_V/\kappa_f$
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 $B = 19.74 \pm 0.05 \; ({{stat.}}) \pm 0.23 \; ({{syst.}}) \; {GeV}^{-2}$.
The measured differential elastic cross section. In addition to the statistical and total systematic uncertainties, the following 22 systematic shifts are given, which are included in the profile fit with their signs: -- Constraints: Beam optics uncertainty obtained by varying the ALFA constraints in the optics fit -- QScan: Variation by +/- 0.1 % of the quadrupole strength -- Q2: Fit of the strength of Q2 using the best value for the strength of Q1 and Q3 -- Q5Q6: Variation of the strength of Q5 and Q6 by -0.2% as indicated by machine constraints -- MadX: Uncertainty related to the beam transport replacing matrix transport by MadX PTC tracking -- Qmisal: Uncertainty due to the mis-alignment of the quadrupoles in the beam line -- Q1Q3: Propagation of the optics fit uncertainty in the strenght of Q1 and Q3 on the differential elastic cross section -- Aopt: Alignment uncertainty from the optimization procedure -- Offv: Alignment uncertainty related to the vertical beam center offset -- Offh: Alignment uncertainty related to the horizontal beam center offset -- Ang: Alignment uncertainty related to the detector rotation in the x-y plane -- BGn: Uncertainty from the background normalization -- BGs: Uncertainty from the background shape -- MCres: Error from modelling of the detector response -- Slope: Residual dependence on the physics model estimated by varying the nuclear slope in the simulation by +/- 1 GeV^-2 -- Emit: Uncertainty from the emittance used to calculate beam divergence in the simulation -- Unf: Unfolding uncertainty from the data-driven closure test -- Trac: Uncertainty from the variation of the track reconstruction selection cuts -- Xing: Uncertainty from residual crossing angle in the horizontal plane -- Eff: Uncertainty from the reconstruction efficiency -- Lumi: Luminosity uncertainty (+/- 1.5%) -- Ebeam: Uncertainty from the nominal beam energy (+/- 0.65%) Small differences in the values given here compared to the published version are related to insignificant rounding issues.
Searches for heavy long-lived charged particles are performed using a data sample of 19.8 fb$^{-1}$ from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. No excess is observed above the estimated background and limits are placed on the mass of long-lived particles in various supersymmetric models. Long-lived tau sleptons in models with gauge-mediated symmetry breaking are excluded up to masses between 440 and 385 GeV for $\tan\beta$ between 10 and 50, with a 290 GeV limit in the case where only direct tau slepton production is considered. In the context of simplified LeptoSUSY models, where sleptons are stable and have a mass of 300 GeV, squark and gluino masses are excluded up to a mass of 1500 and 1360 GeV, respectively. Directly produced charginos, in simplified models where they are nearly degenerate to the lightest neutralino, are excluded up to a mass of 620 GeV. $R$-hadrons, composites containing a gluino, bottom squark or top squark, are excluded up to a mass of 1270, 845 and 900 GeV, respectively, using the full detector; and up to a mass of 1260, 835 and 870 GeV using an approach disregarding information from the muon spectrometer.
Cross-section upper limits as a function of the $\tilde{\tau}_1$ mass for direct $\tilde{\tau}_1$ production and three values of $\tan\beta$. Expected limits for $\tan\beta=10$ with $\pm 1\sigma$ and $\pm 2\sigma$ uncertainties observed limits for three values of $\tan\beta$ and theoretical cross-section prediction for $\tan\beta=10$ with $\pm 1\sigma$ band.
Cross-section upper limits as a function of the $\tilde{\chi}_1$ mass for $\tilde{\tau}_1$ sleptons resulting from the decay of directly produced charginos and neutralinos in GMSB. Observed limits, expected limits for $\tan\beta=10$ with $\pm 1\sigma$ and $\pm 2\sigma$ uncertainties and theoretical cross-section prediction (dominated by $\tilde{\chi}^0_1 \tilde{\chi}^+_1$ production) with $\pm 1\sigma$ uncertainty. Depending on the hypothesis and to a small extent on $\tan\beta$, in these models, the chargino mass is 210 to 260 GeV higher than the neutralino mass.
Cross-section upper limits for various chargino masses in stable-chargino models. Expected limit with $\pm 1\sigma$ and $\pm 2\sigma$ uncertainties, observed limit and theoretical cross-section prediction with $\pm 1\sigma$ uncertainties.
The production of a $W$ boson decaying to $e\nu$ or $\mu\nu$ in association with a $W$ or $Z$ boson decaying to two jets is studied using $4.6 \mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of proton--proton collision data at $\sqrt{\rm{s}} = 7$ TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The combined $WW+WZ$ cross section is measured with a significance of 3.4$\sigma$ and is found to be $68 \pm 7 \ \mathrm{(stat.)} \pm 19 \ \mathrm{(syst.)} \ pb$, in agreement with the Standard Model expectation of $61.1 \pm 2.2 \ \mathrm{pb}$. The distribution of the transverse momentum of the dijet system is used to set limits on anomalous contributions to the triple gauge coupling vertices and on parameters of an effective-field-theory model.
The total and fiducial cross sections for the production of W(LEPTON NU) W(JET JET) or W(LEPTON NU) Z(JET JET). The cross sections are the sum of the WW and WZ processes.
Several models of physics beyond the Standard Model predict neutral particles that decay into final states consisting of collimated jets of light leptons and hadrons (so-called "lepton jets"). These particles can also be long-lived with decay length comparable to, or even larger than, the LHC detectors' linear dimensions. This paper presents the results of a search for lepton jets in proton--proton collisions at the centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV in a sample of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ collected during 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Limits on models predicting Higgs boson decays to neutral long-lived lepton jets are derived as a function of the particle's proper decay length.
Reconstruction efficiency of TYPE2 LJs as a function of the $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ of the $s_{d_{1}}$ for LJs with two $\gamma_{d}$'s for an \scalar mass of 2 GeV. For the $\gamma_{d}$, the kinematically allowed mass of 0.15 GeV is considered. The distributions for the other $s_{d_{1}}$ masses are very similar. The uncertainties are statistical only.
A search for flavour-changing neutral current (FCNC) events via the coupling of a top quark, a photon, and an up or charm quark is presented using 81 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data taken at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events with a photon, an electron or muon, a $b$-tagged jet, and missing transverse momentum are selected. A neural network based on kinematic variables differentiates between events from signal and background processes. The data are consistent with the background-only hypothesis, and limits are set on the strength of the $tq\gamma$ coupling in an effective field theory. These are also interpreted as 95% CL upper limits on the cross section for FCNC $t\gamma$ production via a left-handed (right-handed) $tu\gamma$ coupling of 36 fb (78 fb) and on the branching ratio for $t\rightarrow \gamma u$ of $2.8\times 10^{-5}$ ($6.1\times 10^{-5}$). In addition, they are interpreted as 95% CL upper limits on the cross section for FCNC $t\gamma$ production via a left-handed (right-handed) $tc\gamma$ coupling of 40 fb (33 fb) and on the branching ratio for $t\rightarrow \gamma c$ of $22\times 10^{-5}$ ($18\times 10^{-5}$).
Post-fit distributions of a background-only fit to the signal region (SR) and the control regions (CRs) of the NN output in the SR. In addition, the expected signal is overlaid for an effective coupling strength corresponding to the observed limit multiplied by a factor of ten.
Observed (expected) 95 % CL limits on the effective coupling strengths for different vertices and couplings, the production cross section, and the branching ratio. For the former, the energy scale is assumed to be $\Lambda$ = 1 TeV.
Post-fit distributions of a background-only fit to the SR and the CRs of the NN output in the SR for the $tu\gamma$ right-handed coupling. In addition, the expected signal is overlaid for an effective coupling strength corresponding to the observed limit multiplied by a factor of ten.
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