The production of a Z boson, decaying to two charged leptons, in association with jets in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is measured. Data recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC are used that correspond to an integrated luminosity of 2.19 fb$^{-1}$. The cross section is measured as a function of the jet multiplicity and its dependence on the transverse momentum of the Z boson, the jet kinematic variables (transverse momentum and rapidity), the scalar sum of the jet momenta, which quantifies the hadronic activity, and the balance in transverse momentum between the reconstructed jet recoil and the Z boson. The measurements are compared with predictions from four different calculations. The first two merge matrix elements with different parton multiplicities in the final state and parton showering, one of which includes one-loop corrections. The third is a fixed-order calculation with next-to-next-to-leading order accuracy for the process with a Z boson and one parton in the final state. The fourth combines the fully differential next-to-next-to-leading order calculation with next-to-next-to-leading logarithm resummation and parton showering.
Modifications of the properties of jets in PbPb collisions, relative to those in pp collisions, are studied at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} =$ 5.02 TeV via correlations of charged particles with the jet axis in relative pseudorapidity ($\Delta \eta$), relative azimuth ($\Delta \phi$), and relative angular distance from the jet axis $\Delta \mathrm{r} = \sqrt{{(\Delta\eta)^{2}+(\Delta\phi)^{2}}}$. This analysis uses data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 404 $\mu$b$^{-1}$ and 27.4 pb$^{-1}$ for PbPb and pp collisions, respectively. Charged particle number densities, jet fragmentation functions, and jet shapes are presented as a function of PbPb collision centrality and charged-particle track transverse momentum, providing a differential description of jet modifications due to interactions with the quark-gluon plasma.
The transverse momentum balance of pairs of back-to-back b quark jets in PbPb and pp collisions recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC is reported. The center-of-mass energy in both collision systems is 5.02 TeV per nucleon pair. Compared to the pp collision baseline, b quark jets have a larger imbalance in the most central PbPb collisions, as expected from the jet quenching effect. The data are also compared to the corresponding measurement with inclusive dijets. In the most central collisions, the imbalance of b quark dijets is comparable to that of inclusive dijets.
Measurements of prompt $\psi$(2S) meson production cross sections in proton-lead (pPb) and proton-proton (pp) collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s_{_\mathrm{NN}}}=$ 5.02 TeV are reported. The results are based on pPb and pp data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 34.6 nb$^{-1}$ and 28.0 pb$^{-1}$, respectively. The nuclear modification factor $R_\mathrm{pPb}$ is measured for prompt $\psi$(2S) in the transverse momentum range 4 $<$ p$_\mathrm{T}$ $<$ 30 GeV$/c$ and the center-of-mass rapidity range $-$2.4 $< y_\mathrm{cm} <$ 1.93. The results on $\psi$(2S) $R_\mathrm{pPb}$ are compared to the corresponding modification factor for prompt J$/\psi$ mesons and are found to be more suppressed than the J$/\psi$ states over the entire kinematic range studied.
Differential and double-differential cross sections for the production of top quark pairs in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV are measured as a function of kinematic variables of the top quarks and the top quark-antiquark ($\mathrm{t}\overline{\mathrm{t}}$) system. In addition, kinematic variables and multiplicities of jets associated with the $\mathrm{t}\overline{\mathrm{t}}$ production are measured. This analysis is based on data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.8 fb$^{-1}$. The measurements are performed in the lepton+jets decay channels with a single muon or electron and jets in the final state. The differential cross sections are presented at the particle level, within a phase space close to the experimental acceptance, and at the parton level in the full phase space. The results are compared to several standard model predictions that use different methods and approximations. The kinematic variables of the top quarks and the $\mathrm{t}\overline{\mathrm{t}}$ system are reasonably described in general, though none predict all the measured distributions. In particular, the transverse momentum distribution of the top quarks is more steeply falling than predicted. The kinematic distributions and multiplicities of jets are adequately modeled by certain combinations of next-to-leading-order calculations and parton shower models.
The two-spin parameter A LL in inclusive π 0 productionby longitudinally-polarized protons and antiprotons on a longitudinally-polarized proton target has been measured at the 200 GeV Fermilab spin physics facility, for π 0 's at x F =0 with 1⩽ p t ⩽3 GeV/ c . The results exclude, at the 95% confidence level, values of A LL (pp) > 0.1 and < − 0.1 for π 0 's produced by protons, and values of A LL ( p p) > 0.1 and < −0.2 for incident antiprotons. The relevance of A LL (pp) for the gluon spin density is discussed. The data are in good agreement with “conventional”, small or zero, gluon polarization.
Four-lepton production in proton-proton collisions, pp to (Z/gamma*)(Z/gamma*) to l+l-l'+l'-, where l, l' = e or mu, is studied at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.6 inverse femtobarns. The ZZ production cross section, sigma(pp to ZZ) = 14.6 +1.9/-1.8 (stat) +0.5/-0.3 (syst) +/- 0.2 (theo) +/- 0.4 (lumi) pb, is measured for events with two opposite-sign, same-flavor lepton pairs produced in the mass region 60 < m[l+l-], m[l'+l'-] < 120 GeV. The Z boson branching fraction to four leptons is measured to be B(Z to l+l-l'+l'-) = 4.9 +0.8/-0.7 (stat) +0.3/-0.2 (syst) +0.2/-0.1 (theo) +/- 0.1 (lumi) x E-6 for the four-lepton invariant mass in the range 80 < m[l+l-l'+l'-] < 100 GeV and dilepton mass m[l+l-] > 4 GeV for all opposite-sign, same-flavor lepton pairs. The results are in agreement with standard model predictions.
Measurements are presented of the cross section for the production of at least four jets, of which at least two originate from b quarks, in proton-proton collisions. Data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV are used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 inverse picobarns. The cross section is measured as a function of the jet transverse momentum for pt > 20 GeV, and of the jet pseudorapidity for abs(eta) < 2.4 (b jets), 4.7 (untagged jets). The correlations in azimuthal angle and pt between the jets are also studied. The inclusive cross section is measured to be sigma(pp to 2 b + 2 j + X) = 69 +/- 3 (stat) +/- 24 (syst) nb. The eta and pt distributions of the four jets and the correlations between them are well reproduced by event generators that combine perturbative QCD calculations at next-to-leading-order accuracy with contributions from parton showers and multiparton interactions.
The W boson helicity fractions from top quark decays in t t-bar events are measured using data from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The data were collected in 2012 with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.8 inverse femtobarns. Events are reconstructed with either one muon or one electron, along with four jets in the final state, with two of the jets being identified as originating from b quarks. The measured helicity fractions from both channels are combined, yielding F[0] = 0.681 +/- 0.012 (stat) +/- 0.023 (syst), F[L] = 0.323 +/- 0.008 (stat) +/- 0.014 (syst), and F[R] = -0.004 +/- 0.005 (stat) +/- 0.014 (syst) for the longitudinal, left-, and right-handed components of the helicity, respectively. These measurements of the W boson helicity fractions are the most accurate to date and they agree with the predictions from the standard model.
Single top quark events produced in the t channel are used to set limits on anomalous Wtb couplings and to search for top quark flavour-changing neutral current (FCNC) interactions. The data taken with the CMS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 and 8 TeV correspond to integrated luminosities of 5.0 and 19.7 inverse femtobarns, respectively. The analysis is performed using events with one muon and two or three jets. A Bayesian neural network technique is used to discriminate between the signal and backgrounds, which are observed to be consistent with the standard model prediction. The 95% confidence level (CL) exclusion limits on anomalous right-handed vector, and left- and right-handed tensor Wtb couplings are measured to be |f[V]^R| < 0.16, |f[T]^L| < 0.057, and -0.049 < f[T]^R < 0.048, respectively. For the FCNC couplings kappa[tug] and kappa[tcg], the 95% CL upper limits on coupling strengths are |kappa[tug]|/Lambda < 4.1E-3 TeV-1 and |kappa[tcg]|/Lambda < 1.8E-2 TeV-1, where Lambda is the scale for new physics, and correspond to upper limits on the branching fractions of 2.0E-5 and 4.1E-4 for the decays t to ug and t to cg, respectively.