Measurements of the production cross section of a $Z$ boson in association with jets in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV are presented, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.16 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider in 2015. Inclusive and differential cross sections are measured for events containing a $Z$ boson decaying to electrons or muons and produced in association with up to seven jets with $p_T > 30$ GeV and $|y| <2.5$. Predictions from different Monte Carlo generators based on leading-order and next-to-leading-order matrix elements for up to two additional partons interfaced with parton shower and fixed-order predictions at next-to-leading order and next-to-next-to-leading order are compared with the measured cross sections. Good agreement within the uncertainties is observed for most of the modelled quantities, in particular with the generators which use next-to-leading-order matrix elements and the more recent next-to-next-to-leading-order fixed-order predictions.

The cross-section for the production of two jets in association with a leptonically decaying Z boson ($Zjj$) is measured in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, using data recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$. The electroweak $Zjj$ cross-section is extracted in a fiducial region chosen to enhance the electroweak contribution relative to the dominant Drell-Yan $Zjj$ process, which is constrained using a data-driven approach. The measured fiducial electroweak cross-section is $\sigma^{Zjj}_{EW}= 119\pm 16 (\mathrm{stat.}) \pm 20 (\mathrm{syst.})\pm 2 (\mathrm{lumi.})$ for dijet invariant mass greater than 250 GeV, and $34.2\pm 5.8 (\mathrm{stat.})\pm 5.5 (\mathrm{syst.})\pm 0.7 (\mathrm{lumi.})$ for dijet invariant mass greater than 1 TeV. Standard Model predictions are in agreement with the measurements. The inclusive $Zjj$ cross-section is also measured in six different fiducial regions with varying contributions from electroweak and Drell-Yan $Zjj$ production.

Measurements of differential cross-sections of top-quark pair production in fiducial phase-spaces are presented as a function of top-quark and $t\bar{t}$ system kinematic observables in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$=13 TeV. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of $3.2$ fb${}^{-1}$, recorded in 2015 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Events with exactly one electron or muon and at least two jets in the final state are used for the measurement. Two separate selections are applied that each focus on different top-quark momentum regions, referred to as resolved and boosted topologies of the $t\bar{t}$ final state. The measured spectra are corrected for detector effects and are compared to several Monte Carlo simulations by means of calculated $\chi^2$ and $p$-values.

Measurements of jet activity in top-quark pair events produced in proton--proton collisions are presented, using 3.2 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Events are chosen by requiring an opposite-charge $e\mu$ pair and two $b$-tagged jets in the final state. The normalised differential cross-sections of top-quark pair production are presented as functions of additional-jet multiplicity and transverse momentum, $p_{\mathrm T}$. The fraction of signal events that do not contain additional jet activity in a given rapidity region, the gap fraction, is measured as a function of the $p_{\mathrm T}$ threshold for additional jets, and is also presented for different invariant mass regions of the $e\mu b\bar{b}$ system. All measurements are corrected for detector effects and presented as particle-level distributions compared to predictions with different theoretical approaches for QCD radiation. While the kinematics of the jets from top-quark decays are described well, the generators show differing levels of agreement with the measurements of observables that depend on the production of additional jets.

The production of exclusive $\gamma \gamma \rightarrow \mu^+ \mu^-$ events in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$. The measurement is performed for a dimuon invariant mass of 12 GeV $<m_{\mu^+\mu^-}<$ 70 GeV. The integrated cross-section is determined within a fiducial acceptance region of the ATLAS detector and differential cross-sections are measured as a function of the dimuon invariant mass. The results are compared to theoretical predictions that include corrections for absorptive effects.

Inclusive jet and dijet cross-sections are measured in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The measurement uses a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$ recorded in 2015 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Jets are identified using the anti-${k_t}$ algorithm with a radius parameter value of $R=0.4$. The inclusive jet cross-sections are measured double-differentially as a function of the jet transverse momentum, covering the range from 100 GeV to 3.5 TeV, and the absolute jet rapidity up to $|y|=3$. The double-differential dijet production cross-sections are presented as a function of the dijet mass, covering the range from 300 GeV to 9 TeV, and the half absolute rapidity separation between the two leading jets within $|y|<3$, $y*$, up to $y*=3$. Next-to-leading-order, and next-to-next-to-leading-order for the inclusive jet measurement, perturbative QCD calculations corrected for non-perturbative and electroweak effects are compared to the measured cross-sections.

Measurements of $ZZ$ production in the $\ell^{+}\ell^{-}\ell^{\prime +}\ell^{\prime -}$ channel in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV center-of-mass energy at the Large Hadron Collider are presented. The data correspond to 36.1 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of collisions collected by the ATLAS experiment in 2015 and 2016. Here $\ell$ and $\ell'$ stand for electrons or muons. Integrated and differential $ZZ \to \ell^{+}\ell^{-}\ell^{\prime +}\ell^{\prime -}$ cross sections with $Z \to \ell^+\ell^-$ candidate masses in the range of 66 GeV to 116 GeV are measured in a fiducial phase space corresponding to the detector acceptance and corrected for detector effects. The differential cross sections are presented in bins of twenty observables, including several that describe the jet activity. The integrated cross section is also extrapolated to a total phase space and to all Standard-Model decays of $Z$ bosons with mass between 66 GeV and 116 GeV, resulting in a value of $17.3 \pm 0.9$ [$\pm 0.6$ (stat.) $\pm 0.5$ (syst.) $\pm 0.6$ (lumi.)] pb. The measurements are found to be in good agreement with the Standard-Model predictions. A search for neutral triple gauge couplings is performed using the transverse momentum distribution of the leading $Z$-boson candidate. No evidence for such couplings is found and exclusion limits are set on their parameters.

The dynamics of isolated-photon production in association with a jet in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV are studied with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$. Photons are required to have transverse energies above 125 GeV. Jets are identified using the anti-$k_t$ algorithm with radius parameter $R=0.4$ and required to have transverse momenta above 100 GeV. Measurements of isolated-photon plus jet cross sections are presented as functions of the leading-photon transverse energy, the leading-jet transverse momentum, the azimuthal angular separation between the photon and the jet, the photon-jet invariant mass and the scattering angle in the photon-jet centre-of-mass system. Tree-level plus parton-shower predictions from SHERPA and PYTHIA as well as next-to-leading-order QCD predictions from JETPHOX and SHERPA are compared to the measurements.

Measurements are made of differential cross-sections of highly boosted pair-produced top quarks as a function of top-quark and $t\bar{t}$ system kinematic observables using proton--proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of $36.1$ fb$^{-1}$, recorded in 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Events with two large-radius jets in the final state, one with transverse momentum $p_{\rm T} > 500$ GeV and a second with $p_{\rm T}>350$ GeV, are used for the measurement. The top-quark candidates are separated from the multijet background using jet substructure information and association with a $b$-tagged jet. The measured spectra are corrected for detector effects to a particle-level fiducial phase space and a parton-level limited phase space, and are compared to several Monte Carlo simulations by means of calculated $\chi^2$ values. The cross-section for $t\bar{t}$ production in the fiducial phase-space region is $292 \pm 7 \ \rm{(stat)} \pm 76 \rm{(syst)}$ fb, to be compared to the theoretical prediction of $384 \pm 36$ fb.

Jet substructure observables have significantly extended the search program for physics beyond the Standard Model at the Large Hadron Collider. The state-of-the-art tools have been motivated by theoretical calculations, but there has never been a direct comparison between data and calculations of jet substructure observables that are accurate beyond leading-logarithm approximation. Such observables are significant not only for probing the collinear regime of QCD that is largely unexplored at a hadron collider, but also for improving the understanding of jet substructure properties that are used in many studies at the Large Hadron Collider. This Letter documents a measurement of the first jet substructure quantity at a hadron collider to be calculated at next-to-next-to-leading-logarithm accuracy. The normalized, differential cross-section is measured as a function of log$_{10}\rho^2$, where $\rho$ is the ratio of the soft-drop mass to the ungroomed jet transverse momentum. This quantity is measured in dijet events from 32.9 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV proton-proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector. The data are unfolded to correct for detector effects and compared to precise QCD calculations and leading-logarithm particle-level Monte Carlo simulations.