Results of a search for new physics in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected in the period 2015-2018 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Compared to previous publications, in addition to an increase of almost a factor of four in the data size, the analysis implements a number of improvements in the signal selection and the background determination leading to enhanced sensitivity. Events are required to have at least one jet with transverse momentum above 150 GeV and no reconstructed leptons ($e$, $\mu$ or $\tau$) or photons. Several signal regions are considered with increasing requirements on the missing transverse momentum starting at 200 GeV. Overall agreement is observed between the number of events in data and the Standard Model predictions. Model-independent $95%$ confidence-level limits on visible cross sections for new processes are obtained in the range between 736 fb and 0.3 fb. Results are also translated into improved exclusion limits in models with pair-produced weakly interacting dark-matter candidates, large extra spatial dimensions, supersymmetric particles in several compressed scenarios, axion-like particles, and new scalar particles in dark-energy-inspired models. In addition, the data are translated into bounds on the invisible branching ratio of the Higgs boson.
A search for neutral long-lived particles (LLPs) decaying in the ATLAS hadronic calorimeter using 140 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV delivered by the LHC is presented. The analysis is composed of three channels. The first targets pair-produced LLPs, where at least one LLP is produced with sufficiently low boost that its decay products can be resolved as separate jets. The second and third channels target LLPs respectively produced in association with a $W$ or $Z$ boson that decays leptonically. In each channel, different search regions target different kinematic regimes, to cover a broad range of LLP mass hypotheses and models. No excesses of events relative to the background predictions are observed. Higgs boson branching fractions to pairs of hadronically decaying neutral LLPs larger than 1% are excluded at 95% confidence level for proper decay lengths in the range of 30 cm to 4.5 m depending on the LLP mass, a factor of three improvement on previous searches in the hadronic calorimeter. The production of long-lived dark photons in association with a $Z$ boson with cross-sections above 0.1 pb is excluded for dark photon mean proper decay lengths in the range of 20 cm to 50 m, improving previous ATLAS results by an order of magnitude. Finally, long-lived photo-phobic axion-like particle models are probed for the first time by ATLAS, with production cross-sections above 0.1 pb excluded in the 0.1 mm to 10 m range.
This paper presents results of searches for electroweak production of supersymmetric particles in models with compressed mass spectra. The searches use 139 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Events with missing transverse momentum and two same-flavor, oppositely charged, low transverse momentum leptons are selected, and are further categorized by the presence of hadronic activity from initial-state radiation or a topology compatible with vector-boson fusion processes. The data are found to be consistent with predictions from the Standard Model. The results are interpreted using simplified models of $R$-parity-conserving supersymmetry in which the lightest supersymmetric partner is a neutralino with a mass similar to the lightest chargino, the second-to-lightest neutralino or the slepton. Lower limits on the masses of charginos in different simplified models range from 193 GeV to 240 GeV for moderate mass splittings, and extend down to mass splittings of 1.5 GeV to 2.4 GeV at the LEP chargino bounds (92.4 GeV). Similar lower limits on degenerate light-flavor sleptons extend up to masses of 251 GeV and down to mass splittings of 550 MeV. Constraints on vector-boson fusion production of electroweak SUSY states are also presented.
A search for chargino$-$neutralino pair production in three-lepton final states with missing transverse momentum is presented. The study is based on a dataset of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV $pp$ collisions recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. No significant excess relative to the Standard Model predictions is found in data. The results are interpreted in simplified models of supersymmetry, and statistically combined with results from a previous ATLAS search for compressed spectra in two-lepton final states. Various scenarios for the production and decay of charginos ($\tilde\chi^\pm_1$) and neutralinos ($\tilde\chi^0_2$) are considered. For pure higgsino $\tilde\chi^\pm_1\tilde\chi^0_2$ pair-production scenarios, exclusion limits at 95% confidence level are set on $\tilde\chi^0_2$ masses up to 210 GeV. Limits are also set for pure wino $\tilde\chi^\pm_1\tilde\chi^0_2$ pair production, on $\tilde\chi^0_2$ masses up to 640 GeV for decays via on-shell $W$ and $Z$ bosons, up to 300 GeV for decays via off-shell $W$ and $Z$ bosons, and up to 190 GeV for decays via $W$ and Standard Model Higgs bosons.
A search is presented for long-lived charged particles that decay within the volume of the silicon tracker of the CMS experiment. Such particles can produce events with an isolated track that is missing hits in the outermost layers of the silicon tracker, and is also associated with little energy deposited in the calorimeters and no hits in the muon detectors. The search for events with this "disappearing track" signature is performed in a sample of proton-proton collisions recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC with a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb$^{-1}$ recorded in 2017 and 2018. The observation of 48 events is consistent with the estimated background of 47.8 $_{-2.3}^{+2.7}$ (stat) $\pm$ 8.1 (syst) events. Upper limits are set on chargino production in the context of an anomaly-mediated supersymmetry breaking model for purely wino and higgsino neutralino scenarios. At 95% confidence level, the first constraint is placed on chargino masses in the higgsino case, excluding below 750 (175) GeV for a lifetime of 3 (0.05) ns. In the wino case, the results of this search are combined with a previous CMS search to produce a result representing the complete LHC data set recorded in 2015-2018, the most stringent constraints to date. At 95% confidence level, chargino masses in the wino case are excluded below 884 (474) GeV for a lifetime of 3 (0.2) ns.
The results of a search for electroweakino pair production $pp \rightarrow \tilde\chi^\pm_1 \tilde\chi^0_2$ in which the chargino ($\tilde\chi^\pm_1$) decays into a $W$ boson and the lightest neutralino ($\tilde\chi^0_1$), while the heavier neutralino ($\tilde\chi^0_2$) decays into the Standard Model 125 GeV Higgs boson and a second $\tilde\chi^0_1$ are presented. The signal selection requires a pair of $b$-tagged jets consistent with those from a Higgs boson decay, and either an electron or a muon from the $W$ boson decay, together with missing transverse momentum from the corresponding neutrino and the stable neutralinos. The analysis is based on data corresponding to 139 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV $pp$ collisions provided by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded by the ATLAS detector. No statistically significant evidence of an excess of events above the Standard Model expectation is found. Limits are set on the direct production of the electroweakinos in simplified models, assuming pure wino cross-sections. Masses of $\tilde{\chi}^{\pm}_{1}/\tilde{\chi}^{0}_{2}$ up to 740 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level for a massless $\tilde{\chi}^{0}_{1}$.
A search for heavy charged long-lived particles is performed using a data sample of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The search is based on observables related to ionization energy loss and time of flight, which are sensitive to the velocity of heavy charged particles traveling significantly slower than the speed of light. Multiple search strategies for a wide range of lifetimes, corresponding to path lengths of a few meters, are defined as model-independently as possible, by referencing several representative physics cases that yield long-lived particles within supersymmetric models, such as gluinos/squarks ($R$-hadrons), charginos and staus. No significant deviations from the expected Standard Model background are observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are provided on the production cross sections of long-lived $R$-hadrons as well as directly pair-produced staus and charginos. These results translate into lower limits on the masses of long-lived gluino, sbottom and stop $R$-hadrons, as well as staus and charginos of 2000 GeV, 1250 GeV, 1340 GeV, 430 GeV and 1090 GeV, respectively.
A search for long-lived particles decaying into an oppositely charged lepton pair, $\mu\mu$, $ee$, or $e\mu$, is presented using 32.8 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data collected at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Candidate leptons are required to form a vertex, within the inner tracking volume of ATLAS, displaced from the primary $pp$ interaction region. No lepton pairs with an invariant mass greater than 12 GeV are observed, consistent with the background expectations derived from data. The detection efficiencies for generic resonances with lifetimes ($c\tau$) of 100-1000 mm decaying into a dilepton pair with masses between 0.1-1.0 TeV are presented as a function of $p_T$ and decay radius of the resonances to allow the extraction of upper limits on the cross sections for theoretical models. The result is also interpreted in a supersymmetric model in which the lightest neutralino, produced via squark-antisquark production, decays into $\ell^{+}\ell^{'-}\nu$ ($\ell, \ell^{'} = e$, $\mu$) with a finite lifetime due to the presence of R-parity violating couplings. Cross-section limits are presented for specific squark and neutralino masses. For a 700 GeV squark, neutralinos with masses of 50-500 GeV and mean proper lifetimes corresponding to $c\tau$ values between 1 mm to 6 m are excluded. For a 1.6 TeV squark, $c\tau$ values between 3 mm to 1 m are excluded for 1.3 TeV neutralinos.
A search is presented for long-lived charged particles that decay within the CMS detector and produce the signature of a disappearing track. A disappearing track is an isolated track with missing hits in the outer layers of the silicon tracker, little or no energy in associated calorimeter deposits, and no associated hits in the muon detectors. This search uses data collected with the CMS detector in 2015 and 2016 from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38.4 fb$^{-1}$. The results of the search are interpreted in the context of the anomaly-mediated supersymmetry breaking model. The data are consistent with the background-only hypothesis. Limits are set on the product of the cross section for direct production of charginos and their branching fraction to a neutralino and a pion, as a function of the chargino mass and lifetime. At 95% confidence level, charginos with masses below 715 (695) GeV are excluded for a lifetime of 3 (7) ns, as are charginos with lifetimes from 0.5 to 60 ns for a mass of 505 GeV. These are the most stringent limits using a disappearing track signature on this signal model for chargino lifetimes above $\approx$ 0.7 ns.
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