A search is described for the production of a pair of bottom-type vector-like quarks (B VLQs) with mass greater than 1000 GeV. Each B VLQ decays into a b quark and a Higgs boson, a b quark and a Z boson, or a t quark and a W boson. This analysis considers both fully hadronic final states and those containing a charged lepton pair from a Z boson decay. The products of the H $to$ bb boson decay and of the hadronic Z or W boson decays can be resolved as two distinct jets or merged into a single jet, so the final states are classified by the number of reconstructed jets. The analysis uses data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$ collected in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC from 2016 to 2018. No excess over the expected background is observed. Lower limits are set on the B VLQ mass at 95% confidence level. These depend on the B VLQ branching fractions and are 1570 and 1540 GeV for 100% B $\to$ bH and 100% B $\to$ bZ, respectively. In most cases, the mass limits obtained exceed previous limits by at least 100 GeV.

Ultrarelativistic nuclear collisions create a strongly interacting state of hot and dense quark-gluon matter that exhibits a remarkable collective flow behavior with minimal viscous dissipation. To gain deeper insights into its intrinsic nature and fundamental degrees of freedom, we extracted the speed of sound in this medium created using lead-lead (PbPb) collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.02 TeV. The data were recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 0.607 nb$^{-1}$. The measurement is performed by studying the multiplicity dependence of the average transverse momentum of charged particles emitted in head-on PbPb collisions. Our findings reveal that the speed of sound in this matter is nearly half the speed of light, with a squared value of 0.241 $\pm$ 0.002 (stat) $\pm$ 0.016 (syst) in natural units. The effective medium temperature, estimated using the mean transverse momentum, is 219 $\pm$ 8 (syst) MeV. The measured squared speed of sound at this temperature aligns precisely with predictions from lattice quantum chromodynamic (QCD) calculations. This result provides a stringent constraint on the equation of state of the created medium and direct evidence for a deconfined QCD phase being attained in relativistic nuclear collisions.

A search for pair production of scalar and vector leptoquarks (LQs) each decaying to a muon and a bottom quark is performed using proton-proton collision data collected at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. No excess above standard model expectation is observed. Scalar (vector) LQs with masses less than 1810 (2120) GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level, assuming a 100% branching fraction of the LQ decaying to a muon and a bottom quark. These limits represent the most stringent to date.

A study of the anomalous couplings of the Higgs boson to vector bosons, including $CP$-violation effects, has been conducted using its production and decay in the WW channel. This analysis is performed on proton-proton collision data collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC during 2016-2018 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The different-flavor dilepton (e$\mu$) final state is analyzed, with dedicated categories targeting gluon fusion, electroweak vector boson fusion, and associated production with a W or Z boson. Kinematic information from associated jets is combined using matrix element techniques to increase the sensitivity to anomalous effects at the production vertex. A simultaneous measurement of four Higgs boson couplings to electroweak vector bosons is performed in the framework of a standard model effective field theory. All measurements are consistent with the expectations for the standard model Higgs boson and constraints are set on the fractional contribution of the anomalous couplings to the Higgs boson production cross section.

A test of lepton flavor universality in B$^{\pm}$$\to$ K$^{\pm}\mu^+\mu^-$ and B$^{\pm}$$\to$ K$^{\pm}$e$^+$e$^-$ decays, as well as a measurement of differential and integrated branching fractions of a nonresonant B$^{\pm}$$\to$ K$^{\pm}\mu^+\mu^-$ decay are presented. The analysis is made possible by a dedicated data set of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV recorded in 2018, by the CMS experiment at the LHC, using a special high-rate data stream designed for collecting about 10 billion unbiased b hadron decays. The ratio of the branching fractions $\mathcal{B}$(B$^{\pm}$$\to$ K$^{\pm}\mu^+\mu^-$) to $\mathcal{B}$(B$^{\pm}$$\to$ K$^{\pm}$e$^+$e$^-$) is determined from the measured double ratio $R$(K) of these decays to the respective branching fractions of the B$^\pm$$\to$ J/$\psi$K$^\pm$ with J/$\psi$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-$ and e$^+$e$^-$ decays, which allow for significant cancellation of systematic uncertainties. The ratio $R$(K) is measured in the range 1.1 $\lt q^2 \lt$ 6.0 GeV$^2$, where $q$ is the invariant mass of the lepton pair, and is found to be $R$(K) = 0.78$^{+0.47}_{-0.23}$, in agreement with the standard model expectation $R$(K) $\approx$ 1. This measurement is limited by the statistical precision of the electron channel. The integrated branching fraction in the same $q^2$ range, $\mathcal{B}$(B$^{\pm}$$\to$ K$^{\pm}\mu^+\mu^-$) = (12.42 $\pm$ 0.68) $\times$ 10$^{-8}$, is consistent with the present world-average value and has a comparable precision.

A search for electroweak production of a single vector-like T quark in association with a bottom (b) quark in the all-hadronic decay channel is presented. This search uses proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC during 2016-2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$ The T quark is assumed to have charge 2/3 and decay to a top (t) quark and a Higgs (H) or Z boson. Event kinematics and the presence of jets containing b hadrons are used to reconstruct the hadronic decays of the t quark and H or Z boson. No significant deviation from the standard model prediction is observed in the data. The 95% confidence level upper limits on the product of the production cross section and branching fraction of a T quark produced in association with a b quark and decaying via tH or tZ range from 1260 to 68 fb for T quark masses of 600-1200 GeV.

A search is presented for baryon number violating interactions in top quark production and decay. The analysis uses data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. Candidate events are selected by requiring two oppositely-charged leptons (electrons or muons) and exactly one jet identified as originating from a bottom quark. Multivariate discriminants are used to separate the signal from the background. No significant deviation from the standard model prediction is observed. Upper limits are placed on the strength of baryon number violating couplings. For the first time the production of single top quarks via baryon number violating interactions is studied. This allows the search to set the most stringent constraints to date on the branching fraction of the top quark decay to a lepton, an up-type quark (u or c), and a down-type quark (d, s, or b). The results improve the previous bounds by three to six orders of magnitude based on the fermion flavor combination of the baryon number violating interactions.

The discovery of the Higgs boson has led to new possible signatures for heavy resonance searches at the LHC. Since then, search channels including at least one Higgs boson plus another particle have formed an important part of the program of new physics searches. In this report, the status of these searches by the CMS Collaboration is reviewed. Searches are discussed for resonances decaying to two Higgs bosons, a Higgs and a vector boson, or a Higgs boson and another new resonance, with proton-proton collision data collected at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV in the years 2016-2018. A combination of the results of these searches is presented together with constraints on different beyond-the-standard model scenarios, including scenarios with extended Higgs sectors, heavy vector bosons and extra dimensions. Studies are shown for the first time by CMS on the validity of the narrow-width approximation in searches for the resonant production of a pair of Higgs bosons. The potential for a discovery at the High Luminosity LHC is also discussed.

The J/$\psi$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-\mu^+\mu^-$ decay has been observed with a statistical significance in excess of five standard deviations. The analysis is based on an event sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment in 2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 33.6 fb${-1}$. Normalizing to the J/$\psi$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-$ decay mode leads to a branching fraction [10.1$^{+3.3}_{-2.7}$ (stat) $\pm$ 0.4 (syst) ]$\times$ 10$^{-7}$, a value that is consistent with the standard model prediction.

A search for ZZ and ZH production in the $\mathrm{b\bar{b}b\bar{b}}$ final state is presented, where H is the standard model (SM) Higgs boson. The search uses an event sample of proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 133 fb$^{-1}$ collected at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The analysis introduces several novel techniques for deriving and validating a multi-dimensional background model based on control samples in data. A multiclass multivariate classifier customized for the $\mathrm{b\bar{b}b\bar{b}}$ final state is developed to derive the background model and extract the signal. The data are found to be consistent, within uncertainties, with the SM predictions. The observed (expected) upper limits at 95% confidence level are found to be 3.8 (3.8) and 5.0 (2.9) times the SM prediction for the ZZ and ZH production cross sections, respectively.