Multihadronic e+e− annihilation events at a center-of-mass energy of 29 GeV have been studied with both the original (PEP 5) Mark II and the upgraded Mark II detectors. Detector-corrected distributions from global shape analyses such as aplanarity, Q2-Q1, sphericity, thrust, minor value, oblateness, and jet masses, and inclusive charged-particle distributions including x, rapidity, p⊥, and particle flow are presented. These distributions are compared with predictions from various multihadron event models which use leading-logarithmic shower evolution or QCD matrix elements at the parton level and string or cluster fragmentation for hadronization. The new generation of parton-shower models gives, on the average, a better description of the data than the previous parton-shower models. The energy behavior of these models is compared to existing e+e− data. The predictions of the models at a center-of-mass energy of 93 GeV, roughly the expected mass of the Z0, are also presented.

We have studied hadronic events produced at LEP at centre-of-mass energies of 130 and 136 GeV. Distributions of event shape observables, jet rates, momentum spectra and multiplicities are presented and compared to the predictions of several Monte Carlo models and analytic QCD calculations. From fits of event shape and jet rate distributions to\({\mathcal{O}}(\alpha _s^2 ) + NLLA\) QCD calculations, we determineαs(133 GeV)=0.110±0.005(stat.)±0.009(syst.). We measure the mean charged particle multiplicity 〈nch〉=23.40±0.45(stat.) ±0.47(syst.) and the position ζ0 of the peak in the ζp = ln(1/xp) distribution ζ0=3.94±0.05(stat.)±0.11(syst.). These results are compared to lower energy data and to analytic QCD or Monte Carlo predictions for their energy evolution.

We have studied hadronic events produced at LEP at a centre-of-mass energy of 161 GeV. We present distributions of event shape variables, jet rates, charged particle momentum spectra and multiplicities. We determine the strong coupling strength to be αs(161 GeV) = 0.101±0.005(stat.)±0.007(syst.), the mean charged particle multiplicity to be 〈nch〉(161 GeV) = 24.46 ± 0.45(stat.) ± 0.44(syst.) and the position of the peak in the ξp = ln(1/xp) distribution to be ξ0(161 GeV) = 4.00 ±0.03(stat.)±0.04(syst.). These results are compared to data taken at lower centre-of-mass energies and to analytic QCD or Monte Carlo predictions. Our measured value of αs(161 GeV) is consistent with other measurements of αs. Within the current statistical and systematic uncertainties, the PYTHIA, HERWIG and ARIADNE QCD Monte Carlo models and analytic calculations are in overall agreement with our measurements. The COJETS QCD Monte Carlo is in general agreement with the data for momentum weighted distributions like Thrust, but predicts a significantly larger charged particle multiplicity than is observed experimentally.

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.

Measurements of differential production cross-sections of a $Z$ boson in association with $b$-jets in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV are reported. The data analysed correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb$^{-1}$ recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Particle-level cross-sections are determined for events with a $Z$ boson decaying into an electron or muon pair, and containing $b$-jets. For events with at least one $b$-jet, the cross-section is presented as a function of the $Z$ boson transverse momentum and rapidity, together with the inclusive $b$-jet cross-section as a function of $b$-jet transverse momentum, rapidity and angular separations between the $b$-jet and the $Z$ boson. For events with at least two $b$-jets, the cross-section is determined as a function of the invariant mass and angular separation of the two highest transverse momentum $b$-jets, and as a function of the $Z$ boson transverse momentum and rapidity. Results are compared to leading-order and next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations.

Differential cross sections for the production of at least four jets have been measured in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider using the ATLAS detector. Events are selected if the four anti-$k_{t}$ R=0.4 jets with the largest transverse momentum ($p_{T}$) within the rapidity range $|y|<2.8$ are well separated ($dR^{\rm min}_{4j}>0.65$), all have $p_{T}>64$ GeV, and include at least one jet with $p_{T} >100$ GeV. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 $fb^{-1}$. The cross sections, corrected for detector effects, are compared to leading-order and next-to-leading-order calculations as a function of the jet momenta, invariant masses, minimum and maximum opening angles and other kinematic variables.

Results are presented on the production of jets of particles in association with a Z/gamma* boson, in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector. The analysis includes the full 2010 data set, collected with a low rate of multiple proton-proton collisions in the accelerator, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 pb^-1. Inclusive jet cross sections in Z/gamma* events, with Z/gamma* decaying into electron or muon pairs, are measured for jets with transverse momentum pT > 30 GeV and jet rapidity |y| < 4.4. The measurements are compared to next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations, and to predictions from different Monte Carlo generators implementing leading-order matrix elements supplemented by parton showers.

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections are presented for Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV. The analysis is performed in the $H \rightarrow \gamma\gamma$ decay channel using 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The signal is extracted using a fit to the diphoton invariant mass spectrum assuming that the width of the resonance is much smaller than the experimental resolution. The signal yields are corrected for the effects of detector inefficiency and resolution. The $pp\rightarrow H \rightarrow \gamma\gamma$ fiducial cross section is measured to be $43.2 \pm 9.4 (stat) {}^{+3.2}_{-2.9} (syst) \pm 1.2 (lumi)$ fb for a Higgs boson of mass 125.4 GeV decaying to two isolated photons that have transverse momentum greater than 35% and 25% of the diphoton invariant mass and each with absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.37. Four additional fiducial cross sections and two cross-section limits are presented in phase space regions that test the theoretical modelling of different Higgs boson production mechanisms, or are sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. Differential cross sections are also presented, as a function of variables related to the diphoton kinematics and the jet activity produced in the Higgs boson events. The observed spectra are statistically limited but broadly in line with the theoretical expectations.

This article presents measurements of the $t$-channel single top-quark ($t$) and top-antiquark ($\bar{t}$) total production cross sections $\sigma(tq)$ and $\sigma(\bar{t}q)$, their ratio $R_{t}=\sigma(tq)/\sigma(\bar{t}q)$, and a measurement of the inclusive production cross section $\sigma(tq + \bar{t}q)$ in proton--proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV at the LHC. Differential cross sections for the $tq$ and $\bar{t}q$ processes are measured as a function of the transverse momentum and the absolute value of the rapidity of $t$ and $\bar{t}$, respectively. The analyzed data set was recorded with the ATLAS detector and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.59 fb$^{-1}$. Selected events contain one charged lepton, large missing transverse momentum, and two or three jets. The cross sections are measured by performing a binned maximum-likelihood fit to the output distributions of neural networks. The resulting measurements are $\sigma(tq)= 46\pm 6\; \mathrm{pb}$, $\sigma(\bar{t}q)= 23 \pm 4\; \mathrm{pb}$, $R_{t}=2.04\pm 0.18$, and $\sigma(tq + \bar{t}q)= 68 \pm 8\; \mathrm{pb}$, consistent with the Standard Model expectation. The uncertainty on the measured cross sections is dominated by systematic uncertainties, while the uncertainty on $R_{t}$ is mainly statistical. Using the ratio of $\sigma(tq + \bar{t}q)$ to its theoretical prediction, and assuming that the top-quark-related CKM matrix elements obey the relation $|V_{tb}|\gg |V_{ts}|, |V_{td}|$, we determine $|V_{tb}|=1.02 \pm 0.07$.

Detailed measurements of $t$-channel single top-quark production are presented. They use 20.2 fb$^{-1}$ of data collected by the ATLAS experiment in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV at the LHC. Total, fiducial and differential cross-sections are measured for both top-quark and top-antiquark production. The fiducial cross-section is measured with a precision of 5.8 % (top quark) and 7.8 % (top antiquark), respectively. The total cross-sections are measured to be $\sigma_{\mathrm{tot}}(tq) = 56.7^{+4.3}_{-3.8}\;$pb for top-quark production and $\sigma_{\mathrm{tot}}(\bar{t}q) = 32.9^{+3.0}_{-2.7}\;$pb for top-antiquark production, in agreement with the Standard Model prediction. In addition, the ratio of top-quark to top-antiquark production cross-sections is determined to be $R_t=1.72 \pm 0.09$, with an improved relative precision of 4.9 % since several systematic uncertainties cancel in the ratio. The differential cross-sections as a function of the transverse momentum and rapidity of both the top quark and the top antiquark are measured at both the parton and particle levels. The transverse momentum and rapidity differential cross-sections of the accompanying jet from the $t$-channel scattering are measured at particle level. All measurements are compared to various Monte Carlo predictions as well as to fixed-order QCD calculations where available.