A search for Z bosons in the mu^+mu^- decay channel has been performed in PbPb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre of mass energy = 2.76 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC, in a 7.2 inverse microbarn data sample. The number of opposite-sign muon pairs observed in the 60--120 GeV/c2 invariant mass range is 39, corresponding to a yield per unit of rapidity (y) and per minimum bias event of (33.8 ± 5.5 (stat) ± 4.4 (syst)) 10^{-8}, in the |y|<2.0 range. Rapidity, transverse momentum, and centrality dependencies are also measured. The results agree with next-to-leading order QCD calculations, scaled by the number of incoherent nucleon-nucleon collisions.

The differential yields of charged particles having pseudorapidity within $|\eta|<$ 1 are measured using xenon-xenon (XeXe) collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.44 TeV. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.42 $\mu$b$^{-1}$, were collected in 2017 by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The yields are reported as functions of collision centrality and transverse momentum, $p_\mathrm{T}$, from 0.5 to 100 GeV. A previously reported $p_\mathrm{T}$ spectrum from proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 5.02 TeV is used for comparison after correcting for the difference in center-of-mass energy. The nuclear modification factors using this reference, $R_\mathrm{AA}^*$, are constructed and compared to previous measurements and theoretical predictions. In head-on collisions, the $R_\mathrm{AA}^*$ has a value of 0.17 in the $p_\mathrm{T}$ range of 6-8 GeV, but increases to approximately 0.7 at 100 GeV. Above $\approx$ 6 GeV, the XeXe data show a notably smaller suppression than previous results for lead-lead (PbPb) collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV when compared at the same centrality (i.e., the same fraction of total cross section). However, the XeXe suppression is slightly greater than that for PbPb in events having a similar number of participating nucleons.

Isolated photon production is measured in proton-proton and lead-lead collisions at nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energies of 2.76 TeV in the pseudorapidity range |eta|<1.44 and transverse energies ET between 20 and 80 GeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The measured ET spectra are found to be in good agreement with next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD predictions. The ratio of PbPb to pp isolated photon ET-differential yields, scaled by the number of incoherent nucleon-nucleon collisions, is consistent with unity for all PbPb reaction centralities.

The production of prompt $\Lambda^+_\mathrm{c}$ baryons is measured via the exclusive decay channel $\Lambda^+_\mathrm{c}$$\to$ pK$^-\pi^+$ at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.02 TeV, using proton-proton (pp) and lead-lead (PbPb) collision data collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC. The pp and PbPb data were obtained in 2017 and 2018 with integrated luminosities of 252 and 0.607 nb$^{-1}$, respectively. The measurements are performed within the $\Lambda^+_\mathrm{c}$ rapidity interval $\vert y \vert$$\lt$ 1 with transverse momentum ($p_\mathrm{T}$) ranges of 3-30 and 6-40 GeV/$c$ for pp and PbPb collisions, respectively. Compared to the yields in pp collisions scaled by the expected number of nucleon-nucleon interactions, the observed yields of $\Lambda^+_\mathrm{c}$ with $p_\mathrm{T}$$\gt$ 10 GeV/$c$ are strongly suppressed in PbPb collisions. The level of suppression depends significantly on the collision centrality. The $\Lambda^+_\mathrm{c}$ / D$^0$ production ratio is similar in PbPb and pp collisions at $p_\mathrm{T}$$\gt$ 10 GeV/$c$, suggesting that the coalescence process does not play a dominant role in prompt $\Lambda^+_\mathrm{c}$ baryon production at higher $p_\mathrm{T}$.

The differential cross sections of $\Lambda_\mathrm{c}^+$ baryon production are measured via the exclusive decay channel $\Lambda_\mathrm{c}^+ \to $pK$^-\pi^+$, as a function of transverse momentum ($p_\mathrm{T}$) in proton-proton (pp) and lead-lead (PbPb) collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The measurement is performed within the $\Lambda_\mathrm{c}^+$ rapidity interval $|y|<$1.0 in the $p_\mathrm{T}$ range of 5-20 GeV/$c$ in pp and 10-20 GeV/$c$ in PbPb collisions. The observed yields of $\Lambda_\mathrm{c}^+$ for $p_\mathrm{T}$ of 10-20 GeV/$c$ suggest a possible suppression in central PbPb collisions compared to pp collisions. The $\Lambda_\mathrm{c}^+/$D$^0$ production ratio in pp collisions is compared to theoretical models. In PbPb collisions, this ratio is consistent with the result from pp collisions in their common $p_\mathrm{T}$ range.

The production of $\Upsilon$(2S) and $\Upsilon$(3S) mesons in lead-lead (PbPb) and proton-proton (pp) collisions is studied in their dimuon decay channel using the CMS detector at the LHC. The $\Upsilon$(3S) meson is observed for the first time in PbPb collisions, with a significance above five standard deviations. The ratios of yields measured in PbPb and pp collisions are reported for both the $\Upsilon$(2S) and $\Upsilon$(3S) mesons, as functions of transverse momentum and PbPb collision centrality. These ratios, when appropriately scaled, are significantly less than unity, indicating a suppression of $\Upsilon$ yields in PbPb collisions. This suppression increases from peripheral to central PbPb collisions. Furthermore, the suppression is stronger for $\Upsilon$(3S) mesons compared to $\Upsilon$(2S) mesons, extending the pattern of sequential suppression of quarkonium states in nuclear collisions previously seen for the $\psi$/J, $\psi$(2S), $\Upsilon$(1S), and $\Upsilon$(2S) mesons.

The transverse energy ($E_\mathrm{T}^{\gamma}$) spectra of photons isolated from other particles are measured using proton-proton (pp) and lead-lead (PbPb) collisions at the LHC at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} =$ 5.02 TeV with integrated luminosities of 27.4 pb$^{-1}$and 404 $\mu$b$^{-1}$ for pp and PbPb data, respectively. The results are presented for photons with 25 $<$ $E_\mathrm{T}^{\gamma}$ $<$ 200 GeV in the pseudorapidity range $|\eta|$ $<$ 1.44, and for different centrality intervals for PbPb collisions. Photon production in PbPb collisions is consistent with that in pp collisions scaled by the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions, demonstrating that photons do not interact with the quark-gluon plasma. Therefore, isolated photons can provide information about the initial energy of the associated parton in photon+jet measurements. The results are compared with predictions from the next-to-leading-order JETPHOX generator for different parton distribution functions (PDFs) and nuclear PDFs (nPDFs). The comparisons can help to constrain the nPDFs global fits.

Jet production in lead-lead (PbPb) and proton-proton (pp) collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV is studied with the CMS detector at the LHC, using PbPb and pp data samples corresponding to integrated luminosities of 404 $\mu$b$^{-1}$ and 27.4 pb$^{-1}$, respectively. Jets with different areas are reconstructed using the anti-$k_\mathrm{T}$ algorithm by varying the distance parameter $R$. The measurements are performed using jets with transverse momenta ($p_\mathrm{T}$) greater than 200 GeV and in a pseudorapidity range of $|\eta|$$\lt$ 2. To reveal the medium modification of the jet spectra in PbPb collisions, the properly normalized ratio of spectra from PbPb and pp data is used to extract jet nuclear modification factors as functions of the PbPb collision centrality, $p_\mathrm{T}$ and, for the first time, as a function of $R$ up to 1.0. For the most central collisions, a strong suppression is observed for high-$p_\mathrm{T}$ jets reconstructed with all distance parameters, implying that a significant amount of jet energy is scattered to large angles. The dependence of jet suppression on $R$ is expected to be sensitive to both the jet energy loss mechanism and the medium response, and so the data are compared to several modern event generators and analytic calculations. The models considered do not fully reproduce the data.

The $B_\mathrm{c}^+$ meson is observed for the first time in heavy ion collisions. Data from the CMS detector are used to study the production of the $B_\mathrm{c}^+$ meson in lead-lead (PbPb) and proton-proton (pp) collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} =$ 5.02 TeV, via the $B_\mathrm{c}^+ \to (J/\psi\to\mu^+\mu^-)\mu^+\nu_\mu$ decay. The $B_\mathrm{c}^+$ nuclear modification factor, derived from the PbPb-to-pp ratio of production cross sections, is measured in two bins of the trimuon transverse momentum and of the PbPb collision centrality. The B$_\mathrm{c}^+$ meson is shown to be less suppressed than quarkonia and most of the open heavy-flavor mesons, suggesting that effects of the hot and dense nuclear matter created in heavy ion collisions contribute to its production. This measurement sets forth a promising new probe of the interplay of suppression and enhancement mechanisms in the production of heavy-flavor mesons in the quark-gluon plasma.

The production of jets associated to bottom quarks is measured for the first time in PbPb collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 2.76 TeV per nucleon pair. Jet spectra are reported in the transverse momentum (pt) range of 80-250 GeV, and within pseudorapidity abs(eta < 2). The nuclear modification factor (R[AA]) calculated from these spectra shows a strong suppression in the b-jet yield in PbPb collisions relative to the yield observed in pp collisions at the same energy. The suppression persists to the largest values of pt studied, and is centrality dependent. The R[AA] is about 0.4 in the most central events, similar to previous observations for inclusive jets. This implies that jet quenching does not have a strong dependence on parton mass and flavor in the jet pt range studied.