A measurement is presented of the associated production of a single top quark and a Z boson. The study uses data from proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV recorded by the CMS experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. Using final states with three leptons (electrons or muons), the tZq production cross section is measured to be $\sigma$(pp$\to$tZq$\to$Wb$\ell^+\ell^-$q) = $123 ^{+33}_{-31}$ (stat) $^{+29}_{-23}$ (syst) fb, where $\ell$ stands for electrons, muons, or $\tau$ leptons, with observed and expected significances of 3.7 and 3.1 standard deviations, respectively.
Results are reported from a search for physics beyond the standard model in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV. The search uses a signature of a single lepton, large jet and bottom quark jet multiplicities, and high sum of large-radius jet masses, without any requirement on the missing transverse momentum in an event. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$ recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC. No significant excess beyond the prediction from standard model processes is observed. The results are interpreted in terms of upper limits on the production cross section for $R$-parity violating supersymmetric extensions of the standard model using a benchmark model of gluino pair production, in which each gluino decays promptly via $ {\mathrm{\widetilde{g}}} \rightarrow \mathrm{t} \mathrm{b} \mathrm{s} $. Gluinos with a mass below 1610 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level.
A measurement of the decorrelation of azimuthal angles between the two jets with the largest transverse momenta is presented for seven regions of leading jet transverse momentum up to 2.2 TeV. The analysis is based on the proton-proton collision data collected with the CMS experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns. The dijet azimuthal decorrelation is caused by the radiation of additional jets and probes the dynamics of multijet production. The results are compared to fixed-order predictions of perturbative quantum chromodynamics (QCD), and to simulations using Monte Carlo event generators that include parton showers, hadronization, and multiparton interactions. Event generators with only two outgoing high transverse momentum partons fail to describe the measurement, even when supplemented with next-to-leading-order QCD corrections and parton showers. Much better agreement is achieved when at least three outgoing partons are complemented through either next-to-leading-order predictions or parton showers. This observation emphasizes the need to improve predictions for multijet production.
The double-differential inclusive jet cross section is measured as a function of jet transverse momentum pT and absolute rapidity y, using proton-proton collision data collected with the CMS experiment at the LHC, at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.43 inverse picoboarns. Jets are reconstructed within the pT range of 74 to 592 GeV and the rapidity range |y| < 3.0. The reconstructed jet spectrum is corrected for detector resolution. The measurements are compared to the theoretical prediction at next-to-leading-order QCD using different sets of parton distribution functions. This inclusive cross section measurement explores a new kinematic region and is consistent with QCD predictions.
The quark-gluon plasma is studied via medium-induced changes to correlations between jets and charged particles in PbPb collisions compared to pp reference data. This analysis uses data sets from PbPb and pp collisions with integrated luminosities of 166 inverse microbarns and 5.3 inverse picobarns, respectively, collected at sqrt(s[NN]) = 2.76 TeV. The angular distributions of charged particles are studied as a function of relative pseudorapidity (Delta eta) and relative azimuthal angle (Delta phi) with respect to reconstructed jet directions. Charged particles are correlated with all jets with transverse momentum (pt) above 120 GeV, and with the leading and subleading jets (the highest and second-highest in pt, respectively) in a selection of back-to-back dijet events. Modifications in PbPb data relative to pp reference data are characterized as a function of PbPb collision centrality and charged particle pt. A centrality-dependent excess of low-pt particles is present for all jets studied, and is most pronounced in the most central events. This excess of low-pt particles follows a Gaussian-like distribution around the jet axis, and extends to large relative angles of Delta eta approximately 1 and Delta phi approximately 1.
A search is presented for the decays of heavy exotic long-lived particles (LLPs) that are produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the CERN LHC and come to rest in the CMS detector. Their decays would be visible during periods of time well separated from proton-proton collisions. Two decay scenarios of stopped LLPs are explored: a hadronic decay detected in the calorimeter and a decay into muons detected in the muon system. The calorimeter (muon) search covers a period of sensitivity totaling 721 (744) hours in 38.6 (39.0) fb$^{-1}$ of data collected by the CMS detector in 2015 and 2016. The results are interpreted in several scenarios that predict LLPs. Production cross section limits are set as a function of the mean proper lifetime and the mass of the LLPs, for lifetimes between 100 ns and 10 days. These are the most stringent limits to date on the mass of hadronically decaying stopped LLPs, and this is the first search at the LHC for stopped LLPs that decay to muons.
A search for long-lived particles decaying in the outer regions of the CMS silicon tracker or in the calorimeters is presented. The search is based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2016-2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. A novel technique, using trackless and out-of-time jet information combined in a deep neural network discriminator, is employed to identify decays of long-lived particles. The results are interpreted in a simplified model of chargino-neutralino production, where the neutralino is the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle, is long-lived, and decays to a gravitino and either a Higgs or Z boson. This search is most sensitive to neutralino proper decay lengths of approximately 0.5 m, for which masses up to 1.18 TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level. The current search is the best result to date in the mass range from the kinematic limit imposed by the Higgs mass up to 1.8 TeV.
Two-particle Bose-Einstein momentum correlation functions are studied for charged-hadron pairs in lead-lead collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV. The data sample, containing 4.27 $\times$$10^{9}$ minimum bias events corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.607 nb$^{-1}$, was collected by the CMS experiment in 2018. The experimental results are discussed in terms of a Lévy-type source distribution. The parameters of this distribution are extracted as functions of particle pair average transverse mass and collision centrality. These parameters include the Lévy index or shape parameter ($\alpha$), the Lévy scale parameter ($R$), and the correlation strength parameter ($\lambda$). The source shape, characterized by $\alpha$, is found to be neither Cauchy nor Gaussian, implying the need for a full Lévy analysis. Similarly to what was previously found for systems characterized by Gaussian source radii, a hydrodynamical scaling is observed for the Lévy $R$ parameter. The $\lambda$ parameter is studied in terms of the core-halo model.
A search for pairs of Higgs bosons produced via gluon and vector boson fusion is presented, focusing on the four b quark final state. The data sample consists of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. No deviation from the background-only hypothesis is observed. A 95% confidence level upper limit on the Higgs boson pair production cross section is observed at 3.9 times the standard model prediction for an expected value of 7.8. Constraints are also set on the modifiers of the Higgs field self-coupling, $\kappa_\lambda$, and of the coupling of two Higgs bosons to two vector bosons, $\kappa_\mathrm{2V}$. The observed (expected) allowed intervals at the 95% confidence level are $-$2.3 $\lt$ $\kappa_\lambda$ $\lt$ 9.4 ($-$5.0 $\lt$ $\kappa_\lambda$ $\lt$ 12.0) and $-$0.1 $\lt$ $\kappa_\mathrm{2V}$ $\lt$ 2.2 ($-$0.4 $\lt$ $\kappa_\mathrm{2V}$ $\lt$ 2.5). These are the most stringent observed constraints to date on the HH production cross section and on the $\kappa_\mathrm{2V}$ coupling.
A search for flavor-changing neutral current interactions of the top quark (t) and the Higgs boson (H) is presented. The search is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$ recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV. Events containing exactly one lepton (muon or electron) and at least three jets, among which at least two are identified as originating from the hadronization of a bottom quark, are analyzed. A set of deep neural networks is used for kinematic event reconstruction, while boosted decision trees distinguish the signal from the background events. No significant excess over the background predictions is observed, and upper limits on the signal production cross sections are extracted. These limits are interpreted in terms of top quark decay branching fractions ($\mathcal{B}$) to the Higgs boson and an up (u) or a charm quark (c). Assuming one nonvanishing extra coupling at a time, the observed (expected) upper limits at 95% confidence level are $\mathcal{B}$(t $\to$ Hu) $\lt$ 0.079 (0.11)% and $\mathcal{B}$(t $\to$ Hc) $\lt$ 0.094 (0.086)%.
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