The yields and average transverse momenta of pions, kaons, and antiprotons produced at the Fermilab p¯p collider at s=300, 540, 1000, and 1800 GeV are presented and compared with data from the energies reached at the CERN collider. We also present data on the dependence of average transverse momentum 〈pt〉 and particle ratios as a function of charged particle density dNcdη; data for particle densities as high as six times the average value, corresponding to a Bjorken energy density 6 GeV/fm3, are reported. These data are relevant to the search for quark-gluon phase of QCD.
Measurements of the associated production of a W boson and a charm (c) quark in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV are reported. The analysis uses a data sample corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the CMS detector at the LHC. The W bosons are identified through their leptonic decays to an electron or a muon, and a neutrino. Charm quark jets are selected using distinctive signatures of charm hadron decays. The product of the cross section and branching fraction $\sigma$(pp $\to$ W + c + X) $\mathcal{B}$(W $\to$$\ell\nu$), where $\ell$ = e or $\mu$, and the cross section ratio $\sigma$(pp $\to$ W$^+$ + c + X) / $\sigma$(pp $\to$ W$^-$ + $\mathrm{\bar{c}}$ + X) are measured inclusively and differentially as functions of the pseudorapidity and of the transverse momentum of the lepton from the W boson decay. The results are compared with theoretical predictions. The impact of these measurements on the determination of the strange quark distribution is assessed.
Measurements are presented of the triple-differential cross section for inclusive isolated-photon+jet events in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 8 TeV as a function of photon transverse momentum ($p_\mathrm{T}^\gamma$), photon pseudorapidity ($\eta^\gamma$), and jet pseudorapidity ($\eta^\text{jet}$). The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb$^{-1}$ that probe a broad range of the available phase space, for $|\eta^\gamma|$ $<$ 1.44 and 1.57 $<$ $|\eta^\gamma|$ $<$ 2.50, $|\eta^\text{jet}|$ $<$ 2.5, 40 $<$ $p_\mathrm{T}^\gamma$ $<$ 1000 GeV, and jet transverse momentum, $p_\mathrm{T}^\text{jet}$, $>$ 25 GeV. The measurements are compared to next-to-leading order perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculations, which reproduce the data within uncertainties.
For the first time at LHC energies, the forward rapidity gap spectra from proton-lead collisions for both proton and lead dissociation processes are presented. The analysis is performed over 10.4 units of pseudorapidity at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 8.16 TeV, almost 300 times higher than in previous measurements of diffractive production in proton-nucleus collisions. For lead dissociation processes, which correspond to the pomeron-lead event topology, the EPOS-LHC generator predictions are a factor of two below the data, but the model gives a reasonable description of the rapidity gap spectrum shape. For the pomeron-proton topology, the EPOS-LHC, QGSJET II, and HIJING predictions are all at least a factor of five lower than the data. The latter effect might be explained by a significant contribution of ultra-peripheral photoproduction events mimicking the signature of diffractive processes. These data may be of significant help in understanding the high energy limit of quantum chromodynamics and for modeling cosmic ray air showers.
The second- and third-order azimuthal anisotropy Fourier harmonics of charged particles produced in pPb collisions, at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} =$ 8.16 TeV, are studied over a wide range of event multiplicities. Multiparticle correlations are used to isolate global properties stemming from the collision overlap geometry. The second-order "elliptic" harmonic moment is obtained with high precision through four-, six-, and eight-particle correlations and, for the first time, the third-order "triangular" harmonic moment is studied using four-particle correlations. A sample of peripheral PbPb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} =$ 5.02 TeV that covers a similar range of event multiplicities as the pPb results is also analyzed. Model calculations of initial-state fluctuations in pPb and PbPb collisions can be directly compared to the high precision experimental results. This work provides new insight into the fluctuation-driven origin of the $v_3$ coefficients in pPb and PbPb collisions, and into the dominating overall collision geometry in PbPb collisions at the earliest stages of heavy ion interactions.
A measurement of the mass of the Higgs boson in the diphoton decay channel is presented. This analysis is based on 35.9 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data collected during the 2016 LHC running period, with the CMS detector at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. A refined detector calibration and new analysis techniques have been used to improve the precision of this measurement. The Higgs boson mass is measured to be $m_\mathrm{H} =$ 125.78 $\pm$ 0.26 GeV. This is combined with a measurement of $m_\mathrm{H}$ already performed in the H $\to$ ZZ $\to$ 4$\ell$ decay channel using the same data set, giving $m_\mathrm{H} =$ 125.46 $\pm$ 0.16 GeV. This result, when further combined with an earlier measurement of $m_\mathrm{H}$ using data collected in 2011 and 2012 with the CMS detector, gives a value for the Higgs boson mass of $m_\mathrm{H} =$ 125.38 $\pm$ 0.14 GeV. This is currently the most precise measurement of the mass of the Higgs boson.
The observation of the standard model (SM) Higgs boson decay to a pair of bottom quarks is presented. The main contribution to this result is from processes in which Higgs bosons are produced in association with a W or Z boson (VH), and are searched for in final states including 0, 1, or 2 charged leptons and two identified bottom quark jets. The results from the measurement of these processes in a data sample recorded by the CMS experiment in 2017, comprising 41.3 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV, are described. When combined with previous VH measurements using data collected at $\sqrt{s}=$ 7, 8, and 13 TeV, an excess of events is observed at $m_\mathrm{H} =$ 125.09 GeV with a significance of 4.8 standard deviations, where the expectation for the SM Higgs boson is 4.9. The corresponding measured signal strength is 1.01 $\pm$ 0.22. The combination of this result with searches by the CMS experiment for H $\to\mathrm{b\overline{b}}$ in other production processes yields an observed (expected) significance of 5.6 (5.5) standard deviations and a signal strength of 1.04 $\pm$ 0.20.
A search for the Higgs boson decaying to two oppositely charged muons is presented using data recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in 2016 at a center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. Data are found to be compatible with the predicted background. For a Higgs boson with a mass of 125.09 GeV, the 95% confidence level observed (background-only expected) upper limit on the production cross section times branching fraction to a pair of muons is found to be 3.0 (2.5) times the standard model expectation. In combination with data recorded at center-of-mass energies $\sqrt{s} =$ 7 and 8 TeV, the background-only expected upper limit improves to 2.2 times the standard model value with a standard model expected significance of 1.0 standard deviations. The corresponding observed upper limit is 2.9 with an observed significance of 0.9 standard deviations. This corresponds to an observed upper limit on the standard model Higgs boson branching fraction to muons of 6.4 $\times$ 10$^{-4}$ and to an observed signal strength of 1.0 $\pm$ 1.0 (stat) $\pm$ 0.1 (syst).
The angular distribution of the flavor-changing neutral current decay B$^+$$\to$ K$^+\mu^+\mu^-$ is studied in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The analysis is based on data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.5 fb$^{-1}$. The forward-backward asymmetry $A_{\mathrm{FB}}$ of the dimuon system and the contribution $F_{\mathrm{H}}$ from the pseudoscalar, scalar, and tensor amplitudes to the decay width are measured as a function of the dimuon mass squared. The measurements are consistent with the standard model expectations.
A search for charged Higgs boson decaying to a charm and a bottom quark (H$^+\to$ c$\overline{\mathrm{b}}$) is performed using 19.7 fb$^{-1}$ of pp collision data at $\sqrt{s} =$ 8 TeV. The production mechanism investigated in this search is $\mathrm{t\overline{t}}$ pair production in which one top quark decays to a charged Higgs boson and a bottom quark and the other decays to a charged lepton, a neutrino, and a bottom quark. Charged Higgs boson decays to $\mathrm{c\overline{b}}$ are searched for, resulting in a final state containing at least four jets, a charged lepton (muon or electron), and missing transverse momentum. A kinematic fit is performed to identify the pair of jets least likely to be the bottom quarks originating from direct top quark decays and the invariant mass of this pair is used as the final observable in the search. No evidence for the presence of a charged Higgs boson is observed and upper limits at 95% confidence level of 0.8-0.5% are set on the branching fraction $\mathcal{B}$(t $\to$ H$^+$b), assuming $\mathcal{B}$(H$^+\to$ $\mathrm{c\overline{b}}) =$ 1.0 and $\mathcal{B}$(t $\to$ H$^+$b) $+$ $\mathcal{B}$(t $\to$ Wb) = 1.0, for the charged Higgs boson mass range 90-150 GeV.