We present an analysis of top-antitop quark production and decay into a tau lepton, tau neutrino, and bottom quark using data from $9 {\rm fb}^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity at the Collider Detector at Fermilab. Dilepton events, where one lepton is an energetic electron or muon and the other a hadronically-decaying tau lepton, originating from proton-antiproton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV$ are used. A top-antitop quark production cross section of $8.1 \pm 2.1 {\rm pb}$ is measured, assuming standard-model top-quark decays. By separately identifying for the first time the single-tau and the ditau components, we measure the branching fraction of the top quark into tau lepton, tau neutrino, and bottom quark to be $(9.6 \pm 2.8) %$. The branching fraction of top-quark decays into a charged Higgs boson and a bottom quark, which would imply violation of lepton universality, is limited to be less than $5.9%$ at $95%$ confidence level.

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.

A measurement of the double-differential inclusive jet cross section as a function of jet transverse momentum pT and absolute jet rapidity |y| is presented. The analysis is based on proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data samples correspond to integrated luminosities of 71 and 44 inverse picobarns for |y| < 3 and 3.2 < |y| < 4.7, respectively. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt clustering algorithm for two jet sizes, R, of 0.7 and 0.4, in a phase space region covering jet pT up to 2 TeV and jet rapidity up to |y| = 4.7. Predictions of perturbative quantum chromodynamics at next-to-leading order precision, complemented with electroweak and nonperturbative corrections, are used to compute the absolute scale and the shape of the inclusive jet cross section. The cross section difference in R, when going to a smaller jet size of 0.4, is best described by Monte Carlo event generators with next-to-leading order predictions matched to parton showering, hadronisation, and multiparton interactions. In the phase space accessible with the new data, this measurement provides a first indication that jet physics is as well understood at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV as at smaller centre-of-mass energies.

The cross section for Higgs boson production in pp collisions is studied using the H to WW decay mode, followed by leptonic decays of the W bosons to an oppositely charged electron-muon pair in the final state. The measurements are performed using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.4 inverse femtobarns. The Higgs boson transverse momentum (pT) is reconstructed using the lepton pair pT and missing pT. The differential cross section times branching fraction is measured as a function of the Higgs boson pT in a fiducial phase space defined to match the experimental acceptance in terms of the lepton kinematics and event topology. The production cross section times branching fraction in the fiducial phase space is measured to be 39 +/- 8 (stat) +/- 9 (syst) fb. The measurements are found to agree, within experimental uncertainties, with theoretical calculations based on the standard model.

Results are reported from a search for supersymmetric particles in proton-proton collisions in the final state with a single, high transverse momentum lepton; multiple jets, including at least one b-tagged jet; and large missing transverse momentum. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.3 inverse femtobarns at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV, recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The search focuses on processes leading to high jet multiplicities, such as gluino pair production with gluinos to t t-bar neutralino[1]. The quantity M[J], defined as the sum of the masses of the large-radius jets in the event, is used in conjunction with other kinematic variables to provide discrimination between signal and background and as a key part of the background estimation method. The observed event yields in the signal regions in data are consistent with those expected for standard model backgrounds, estimated from control regions in data. Exclusion limits are obtained for a simplified model corresponding to gluino pair production with three-body decays into top quarks and neutralinos. Gluinos with a mass below 1600 GeV are excluded at a 95% confidence level for scenarios with low neutralino[1] mass, and neutralinos with a mass below 800 GeV are excluded for a gluino mass of about 1300 GeV. For models with two-body gluino decays producing on-shell top squarks, the excluded region is only weakly sensitive to the top squark mass.

A measurement is presented of the cross section for the electroweak production of a Z boson and a photon in association with two jets in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s)= 8 TeV. The Z bosons are identified through their decays to electron or muon pairs. The measurement is based on data collected with the CMS detector corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns. The electroweak contribution has a significance of 3.0 standard deviations, and the measured fiducial cross section is 1.86 +0.90/-0.75 (stat) +0.34/-0.26 (syst) +/- 0.05 (lumi) fb, while the summed electroweak and quantum chromodynamic total cross section in the same region is observed to be 5.94 +1.53/-1.35 (stat) +0.43/-0.37 (syst) +/- 0.13 (lumi) fb. Both measurements are consistent with the leading-order standard model predictions. Limits on anomalous quartic gauge couplings are set based on the Z gamma mass distribution.

A measurement of the double-differential inclusive jet cross section as a function of the jet transverse momentum pT and the absolute jet rapidity abs(y) is presented. Data from LHC proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns, have been collected with the CMS detector. Jets are reconstructed using the anti-kT clustering algorithm with a size parameter of 0.7 in a phase space region covering jet pT from 74 GeV up to 2.5 TeV and jet absolute rapidity up to abs(y) = 3.0. The low-pT jet range between 21 and 74 GeV is also studied up to abs(y) = 4.7, using a dedicated data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.6 inverse picobarns. The measured jet cross section is corrected for detector effects and compared with the predictions from perturbative QCD at next-to-leading order (NLO) using various sets of parton distribution functions (PDF). Cross section ratios to the corresponding measurements performed at 2.76 and 7 TeV are presented. From the measured double-differential jet cross section, the value of the strong coupling constant evaluated at the Z mass is alpha[S(M[Z]) = 0.1164 +0.0060 -0.0043, where the errors include the PDF, scale, nonperturbative effects and experimental uncertainties, using the CT10 NLO PDFs. Improved constraints on PDFs based on the inclusive jet cross section measurement are presented.

Signals consistent with the B$^+_\mathrm{c}$(2S) and B$^{*+}_\mathrm{c}$(2S) states are observed in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV, in an event sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$, collected by the CMS experiment during the 2016, 2017, and 2018 LHC running periods. These excited $\bar{\mathrm{b}}$c states are observed in the B$^+_\mathrm{c}\pi^+\pi^-$ invariant mass spectrum, with the ground state B$^+_\mathrm{c}$ reconstructed through its decay to J/$\psi\,\pi^+$. The two states are well resolved from each other and are observed with a significance exceeding five standard deviations. The mass of the B$^+_\mathrm{c}$(2S) meson is measured to be 6871.0 $\pm$ 1.2 (stat) $\pm$ 0.8 (syst) $\pm$ 0.8 (B$^+_\mathrm{c}$) MeV, where the last term corresponds to the uncertainty in the world-average B$^+_\mathrm{c}$ mass.