The production cross section of a top quark pair in association with a photon is measured in proton-proton collisions in the decay channel with two oppositely charged leptons (e$^\pm\mu^\mp$, e$^+$e$^-$, or $\mu^+\mu^-$). The measurement is performed using 138 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS experiment at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV during the 2016-2018 data-taking period of the CERN LHC. A fiducial phase space is defined such that photons radiated by initial-state particles, top quarks, or any of their decay products are included. An inclusive cross section of 175.2 $\pm$ 2.5 (stat) $\pm$ 6.3 (syst) fb is measured in a signal region with at least one jet coming from the hadronization of a bottom quark and exactly one photon with transverse momentum above 20 GeV. Differential cross sections are measured as functions of several kinematic observables of the photon, leptons, and jets, and compared to standard model predictions. The measurements are also interpreted in the standard model effective field theory framework, and limits are found on the relevant Wilson coefficients from these results alone and in combination with a previous CMS measurement of the $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}\gamma$ production process using the lepton+jets final state.

A search for Kaluza-Klein excited vector boson resonances, $W_\mathrm{KK}$, decaying in cascade to three W bosons via a scalar radion $R, W_\mathrm{KK}\to WR \to WWW$, with two or three massive jets is presented. The search is performed with proton-proton collision data recorded 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$^{-1}$. Two final states are simultaneously probed, one where the two W bosons produced by the R decay are reconstructed as separate, large-radius, massive jets, and one where they are merged in a single large-radius jet. The observed data are in agreement with the standard model expectations. Limits are set on the product of the $W_\mathrm{KK}$ resonance cross section and branching fraction to three W bosons in an extended warped extra-dimensional model and are the first of their kind at the LHC.

The production of Z bosons associated with jets is measured in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with data recorded with the CMS experiment at the LHC corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.3 fb$^{-1}$. The multiplicity of jets with transverse momentum $p_\mathrm{T}$$\gt$ 30 GeV is measured for different regions of the Z boson's $p_\mathrm{T}$(Z), from lower than 10 GeV to higher than 100 GeV. The azimuthal correlation $\Delta \phi$ between the Z boson and the leading jet, as well as the correlations between the two leading jets are measured in three regions of $p_\mathrm{T}$(Z). The measurements are compared with several predictions at leading and next-to-leading orders, interfaced with parton showers. Predictions based on transverse-momentum dependent parton distributions and corresponding parton showers give a good description of the measurement in the regions where multiple parton interactions and higher jet multiplicities are not important. The effects of multiple parton interactions are shown to be important to correctly describe the measured spectra in the low $p_\mathrm{T}$(Z) regions.

Protons consist of three valence quarks, two up-quarks and one down-quark, held together by gluons and a sea of quark-antiquark pairs. Collectively, quarks and gluons are referred to as partons. In a proton-proton collision, typically only one parton of each proton undergoes a hard scattering - referred to as single-parton scattering - leaving the remainder of each proton only slightly disturbed. Here, we report the study of double- and triple-parton scatterings through the simultaneous production of three J/$\psi$ mesons, which consist of a charm quark-antiquark pair, in proton-proton collisions recorded with the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. We observed this process - reconstructed through the decays of J/$\psi$ mesons into pairs of oppositely charged muons - with a statistical significance above five standard deviations. We measured the inclusive fiducial cross section to be 272 $^{+141}_{-104}$ (stat) $\pm$ 17 (syst) fb, and compared it to theoretical expectations for triple-J/$\psi$ meson production in single-, double- and triple-parton scattering scenarios. Assuming factorization of multiple hard-scattering probabilities in terms of single-parton scattering cross sections, double- and triple-parton scattering are the dominant contributions for the measured process.

Three searches are presented for signatures of physics beyond the standard model (SM) in $\tau\tau$ final states in proton-proton collisions at the LHC, using a data sample collected with the CMS detector at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. Upper limits at 95% confidence level (CL) are set on the products of the branching fraction for the decay into $\tau$ leptons and the cross sections for the production of a new boson $\phi$, in addition to the H(125) boson, via gluon fusion (gg$\phi$) or in association with b quarks, ranging from $\mathcal{O}$(10 pb) for a mass of 60 GeV to 0.3 fb for a mass of 3.5 TeV each. The data reveal two excesses for gg$\phi$ production with local $p$-values equivalent to about three standard deviations at $m_\phi$ = 0.1 and 1.2 TeV. In a search for $t$-channel exchange of a vector leptoquark U$_1$, 95% CL upper limits are set on the dimensionless U$_1$ leptoquark coupling to quarks and $\tau$ leptons ranging from 1 for a mass of 1 TeV to 6 for a mass of 5 TeV, depending on the scenario. In the interpretations of the $M_\mathrm{h}^{125}$ and $M_\mathrm{h, EFT}^{125}$ minimal supersymmetric SM benchmark scenarios, additional Higgs bosons with masses below 350 GeV are excluded at 95% CL.

A measurement of the top quark pole mass $m_\mathrm{t}^\text{pole}$ in events where a top quark-antiquark pair ($\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$) is produced in association with at least one additional jet ($\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$+jet) is presented. This analysis is performed using proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 36.3 fb$^{-1}$. Events with two opposite-sign leptons in the final state (e$^+$e$^-$, $\mu^+\mu^-$, e$^\pm\mu^\mp$) are analyzed. The reconstruction of the main observable and the event classification are optimized using multivariate analysis techniques based on machine learning. The production cross section is measured as a function of the inverse of the invariant mass of the $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$+jet system at the parton level using a maximum likelihood unfolding. Given a reference parton distribution function (PDF), the top quark pole mass is extracted using the theoretical predictions at next-to-leading order. For the ABMP16NLO PDF, this results in $m_\mathrm{t}^\text{pole}$ = 172.93 $\pm$ 1.36 GeV.

Inclusive and differential cross sections of single top quark production in association with a Z boson are measured in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$ recorded by the CMS experiment. Events are selected based on the presence of three leptons, electrons or muons, associated with leptonic Z boson and top quark decays. The measurement yields an inclusive cross section of 87.9 $_{-7.3}^{+7.5}$ (stat) $_{-6.0}^{+7.3}$ (syst) fb for a dilepton invariant mass greater than 30 GeV, in agreement with standard model (SM) calculations and the most precise determination to date. The ratio between the cross sections for the top quark and the top antiquark production in association with a Z boson is measured as 2.37 $_{-0.42}^{+0.56}$ (stat) ${}_{-0.13}^{+0.27}$ (syst). Differential measurements at parton and particle levels are performed for the first time. Several kinematic observables are considered to study the modeling of the process. Results are compared to theoretical predictions with different assumptions on the source of the initial-state b quark and found to be in agreement, within the uncertainties. Additionally, the spin asymmetry, which is sensitive to the top quark polarization, is determined from the differential distribution of the polarization angle at parton level to be 0.54 $\pm$ 0.16 (stat) $\pm$ 0.06 (syst), in agreement with SM predictions.

A measurement of the jet mass distribution in hadronic decays of Lorentz-boosted top quarks is presented. The measurement is performed in the lepton+jets channel of top quark pair production ($\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$) events, where the lepton is an electron or muon. The products of the hadronic top quark decay are reconstructed using a single large-radius jet with transverse momentum greater than 400 GeV. The data were collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collisions and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The differential $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$ production cross section as a function of the jet mass is unfolded to the particle level and is used to extract the top quark mass. The jet mass scale is calibrated using the hadronic W boson decay within the large-radius jet. The uncertainties in the modelling of the final state radiation are reduced by studying angular correlations in the jet substructure. These developments lead to a significant increase in precision, and a top quark mass of 173.06 $\pm$ 0.84 GeV.

Results are presented from a search for charged-lepton flavor violating (CLFV) interactions in top quark production and decay in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The events are required to contain one oppositely charged electron-muon pair in the final state, along with at least one jet identified as originating from a bottom quark. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. This analysis includes both the production (q $\to$ e$\mu$t) and decay (t $\to$ e$\mu$q) modes of the top quark through CLFV interactions, with q referring to a u or c quark. These interactions are parametrized using an effective field theory approach. With no significant excess over the standard model expectation, the results are interpreted in terms of vector-, scalar-, and tensor-like CLFV four-fermion effective interactions. Finally, observed exclusion limits are set at 95% confidence levels on the respective branching fractions of a top quark to an e$\mu$ pair and an up (charm) quark of 0.13 $\times$ 10$^{-6}$ (1.31 $\times$ 10$^{-6}$), 0.07 $\times$ 10$^{-6}$ (0.89 $\times$ 10$^{-6}$), and 0.25 $\times$ 10$^{-6}$ (2.59 $\times$ 10$^{-6}$) for vector, scalar, and tensor CLFV interactions, respectively.

The double differential cross sections of the Drell-Yan lepton pair ($\ell^+\ell^-$, dielectron or dimuon) production are measured as functions of the invariant mass $m_{\ell\ell}$, transverse momentum $p_\mathrm{T}(\ell\ell)$, and $\phi^*_\eta$. The $\phi^*_\eta$ observable, derived from angular measurements of the leptons and highly correlated with $p_\mathrm{T}(\ell\ell)$, is used to probe the low-$p_\mathrm{T}(\ell\ell)$ region in a complementary way. Dilepton masses up to 1 TeV are investigated. Additionally, a measurement is performed requiring at least one jet in the final state. To benefit from partial cancellation of the systematic uncertainty, the ratios of the differential cross sections for various $m_{\ell\ell}$ ranges to those in the Z mass peak interval are presented. The collected data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36.3 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Measurements are compared with predictions based on perturbative quantum chromodynamics, including soft-gluon resummation.