A measurement of inclusive ZZ production cross section and constraints on anomalous triple gauge couplings in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV are presented. A data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.6 inverse femtobarns was collected with the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measurements are performed in the leptonic decay modes ZZ to lll'l', where l = e, mu and l' = e, mu, tau. The measured total cross section, sigma(pp to ZZ) = 7.7 +/- 0.5 (stat.) +0.5-0.4 (syst.) +/- 0.4 (theo.) +/- 0.2 (lum.) pb for both Z bosons produced in the mass range 60 < m[Z] < 120 GeV, is consistent with standard model predictions. Differential cross sections are measured and well described by the theoretical predictions. The invariant mass distribution of the four-lepton system is used to set limits on anomalous ZZZ and ZZ gamma couplings at the 95% confidence level: -0.004 < f[4,Z] < 0.004, -0.004 < f[5,Z] < 0.004, -0.005 < f[4,gamma] < 0.005, and -0.005 < f[5,gamma] < 0.005.

Measurements of differential cross sections d$\sigma$/d$\phi^*$ and double-differential cross sections d$^2\sigma$/d$\phi^*\,$d$|y|$ for inclusive Z boson production are presented using the dielectron and dimuon final states. The kinematic observable $\phi^*$ correlates with the dilepton transverse momentum but has better resolution, and $y$ is the dilepton rapidity. The analysis is based on data collected with the CMS experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb$^{-1}$. The normalised cross section (1/$\sigma$)$\,$d$\sigma$/d$\phi^*$, within the fiducial kinematic region, is measured with a precision of better than 0.5% for $\phi^*$ < 1. The measurements are compared to theoretical predictions and they agree, typically, within few percent.

Cross sections for the production of a Z boson in association with jets in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 8 TeV are measured using a data sample collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC corresponding to 19.6 inverse femtobarns. Differential cross sections are presented as functions of up to three observables that describe the jet kinematics and the jet activity. Correlations between the azimuthal directions and the rapidities of the jets and the Z boson are studied in detail. The predictions of a number of multileg generators with leading or next-to-leading order accuracy are compared with the measurements. The comparison shows the importance of including multi-parton contributions in the matrix elements and the improvement in the predictions when next-to-leading order terms are included.

Distributions of transverse momentum $p_T^{ll}$ and the angular variable $\phi^*_\eta$ of Drell--Yan lepton pairs are measured in 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of proton--proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Measurements in electron-pair and muon-pair final states are corrected for detector effects and combined. Compared to previous measurements in proton--proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV, these new measurements benefit from a larger data sample and improved control of systematic uncertainties. Measurements are performed in bins of lepton-pair mass above, around and below the Z-boson mass peak. The data are compared to predictions from perturbative and resummed QCD calculations. For values of $\phi^*_\eta < 1$ the predictions from the Monte Carlo generator ResBos are generally consistent with the data within the theoretical uncertainties. However, at larger values of $\phi^*_\eta$ this is not generally the case. Monte Carlo generators based on the parton-shower approach are unable to describe the data over the full range of $p_T^{ll}$ and the fixed-order prediction of DYNNLO falls below the data at high values of $p_T^{ll}$. ResBos and the parton-shower Monte Carlo generators provide a much better description of the evolution of the $\phi^*_\eta$ and $p_T^{ll}$ distributions as a function of lepton-pair mass and rapidity.

Measurements of fiducial cross sections for the electroweak production of two jets in association with a Z-boson are presented. The measurements are performed using 20.3 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data collected at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s)=8 TeV by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The electroweak component is extracted by a fit to the dijet invariant mass distribution in a fiducial region chosen to enhance the electroweak contribution over the dominant background in which the jets are produced via the strong interaction. The electroweak cross sections measured in two fiducial regions are in good agreement with the Standard Model expectations and the background-only hypothesis is rejected with significance above the 5 sigma level. The electroweak process includes the vector boson fusion production of a Z-boson and the data are used to place limits on anomalous triple gauge boson couplings. In addition, measurements of cross sections and differential distributions for inclusive Z-boson-plus-dijet production are performed in five fiducial regions, each with different sensitivity to the electroweak contribution. The results are corrected for detector effects and compared to predictions from the SHERPA and POWHEG event generators.

This paper presents measurements of $W^\pm Z$ production in $pp$ collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The gauge bosons are reconstructed using their leptonic decay modes into electrons and muons. The data were collected in 2012 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$. The measured inclusive cross section in the detector fiducial region is $\sigma_{W^\pm Z \rightarrow \ell^{'} \nu\ \ell \ell} = 35.1 \pm$ 0.9 (stat.) $\pm 0.8$ (sys.) $\pm 0.8$ (lumi.) fb, for one leptonic decay channel. In comparison, the next-to-leading-order Standard Model expectation is 30.0 $\pm$ 2.1 fb. Cross sections for $W^+Z$ and $W^-Z$ production and their ratio are presented as well as differential cross sections for several kinematic observables. Limits on anomalous triple gauge boson couplings are derived from the transverse mass spectrum of the $W^\pm Z$ system. From the analysis of events with a $W$ and a $Z$ boson associated with two or more forward jets an upper limit at 95% confidence level on the $W^\pm Z$ scattering cross section of 0.63 fb, for each leptonic decay channel, is established, while the Standard Model prediction at next-to-leading order is 0.13 fb. Limits on anomalous quartic gauge boson couplings are also extracted.

The four-lepton ($4\ell$, $\ell = e, \mu$) production cross section is measured in the mass range from 80 to 1000 GeV using 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of data in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The $4\ell$ events are produced in the decays of resonant $Z$ and Higgs bosons and the non-resonant $ZZ$ continuum originating from $q\bar q$, $gg$, and $qg$ initial states. A total of 476 signal candidate events are observed with a background expectation of $26.2 \pm 3.6$ events, enabling the measurement of the integrated cross section and the differential cross section as a function of the invariant mass and transverse momentum of the four-lepton system. In the mass range above $180$ GeV, assuming the theoretical constraint on the $q\bar q$ production cross section calculated with perturbative NNLO QCD and NLO electroweak corrections, the signal strength of the gluon-fusion component relative to its leading-order prediction is determined to be $\mu_{gg}=2.4 \pm 1.0 (stat.) \pm 0.5 (syst.)\pm 0.8 (theory)$.

Measurements of the total and differential cross sections of Higgs boson production are performed using 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions produced by the Large Hadron Collider at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Cross sections are obtained from measured $H \rightarrow \gamma \gamma$ and $H \rightarrow ZZ ^{*}\rightarrow 4\ell$ event yields, which are combined accounting for detector efficiencies, fiducial acceptances and branching fractions. Differential cross sections are reported as a function of Higgs boson transverse momentum, Higgs boson rapidity, number of jets in the event, and transverse momentum of the leading jet. The total production cross section is determined to be $\sigma_{pp \to H} = 33.0 \pm 5.3 \, ({\rm stat}) \pm 1.6 \, ({\rm sys}) \mathrm{pb}$. The measurements are compared to state-of-the-art predictions.

The production of $Z$ bosons with one or two isolated high-energy photons is studied using $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV. The analyses use a data sample with an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS detector during the 2012 LHC data taking. The $Z\gamma$ and $Z\gamma\gamma$ production cross sections are measured with leptonic ($e^{+}e^{-}$, $\mu^{+}\mu^{-}$, $\nu\bar{\nu}$) decays of the $Z$ boson, in extended fiducial regions defined in terms of the lepton and photon acceptance. They are then compared to cross-section predictions from the Standard Model, where the sources of the photons are radiation off initial-state quarks and radiative $Z$-boson decay to charged leptons, and from fragmentation of final-state quarks and gluons into photons. The yields of events with photon transverse energy $E_T >$ 250 GeV from $\ell^{+}\ell^{-}\gamma$ events and with $E_T >$ 400 GeV from $\nu\bar{\nu}\gamma$ events are used to search for anomalous triple gauge-boson couplings $ZZ\gamma$ and $Z\gamma\gamma$. The yields of events with diphoton invariant mass $m_{\gamma\gamma} >$ 200 GeV from $\ell^{+}\ell^{-}\gamma\gamma$ events and with $m_{\gamma\gamma} > $ 300 GeV from $\nu\bar{\nu}\gamma\gamma$ events are used to search for anomalous quartic gauge-boson couplings $ZZ\gamma\gamma$ and $Z\gamma\gamma\gamma$. No deviations from Standard Model predictions are observed and limits are placed on parameters used to describe anomalous triple and quartic gauge-boson couplings.

A measurement of the $ZZ$ production in the $\ell^{-}\ell^{+}\ell^{\prime -}\ell^{\prime +}$ and $\ell^{-}\ell^{+}\nu\bar{\nu}$ channels $(\ell = e, \mu)$ in proton--proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS experiment in 2012 is presented. The fiducial cross sections for $ZZ\to\ell^{-}\ell^{+}\ell^{\prime -}\ell^{\prime +}$ and $ZZ\to \ell^{-}\ell^{+}\nu\bar{\nu}$ are measured in selected phase-space regions. The total cross section for $ZZ$ events produced with both $Z$ bosons in the mass range 66 to 116 GeV is measured from the combination of the two channels to be $7.3\pm0.4\textrm{(stat)}\pm0.3\textrm{(syst)}\pm0.2\textrm{(lumi)}$ pb, which is consistent with the Standard Model prediction of $6.6^{+0.7}_{-0.6}$ pb. The differential cross sections in bins of various kinematic variables are presented. The differential event yield as a function of the transverse momentum of the leading $Z$ boson is used to set limits on anomalous neutral triple gauge boson couplings in $ZZ$ production.