Normalized double-differential cross sections for top quark pair (t t-bar) production are measured in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the CMS experiment at the LHC. The analyzed data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns. The measurement is performed in the dilepton e+/- mu-/+ final state. The t t-bar cross section is determined as a function of various pairs of observables characterizing the kinematics of the top quark and t t-bar system. The data are compared to calculations using perturbative quantum chromodynamics at next-to-leading and approximate next-to-next-to-leading orders. They are also compared to predictions of Monte Carlo event generators that complement fixed-order computations with parton showers, hadronization, and multiple-parton interactions. Overall agreement is observed with the predictions, which is improved when the latest global sets of proton parton distribution functions are used. The inclusion of the measured t t-bar cross sections in a fit of parametrized parton distribution functions is shown to have significant impact on the gluon distribution.

A search is presented for extra spatial dimensions, quantum black holes, and quark contact interactions in measurements of dijet angular distributions in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV. The data were collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 2.6 inverse femtobarns. The distributions are found to be in agreement with predictions from perturbative quantum chromodynamics that include electroweak corrections. Limits for different contact interaction models are obtained in a benchmark model, valid to next-to-leading order in QCD, in which only left-handed quarks participate, quark contact interactions are excluded up to a scale of 11.5 or 14.7 TeV for destructive or constructive interference, respectively. The production of quantum black holes is excluded for masses below 7.8 or 5.3 TeV, depending on the model. The lower limits for the scales of virtual graviton exchange in the Arkani-Hamed--Dimopoulos--Dvali model of extra spatial dimensions are in the range 7.9-11.2 TeV, and are the most stringent set of limits available.

A search for physics beyond the standard model in the final state with two same-flavour leptons (electrons or muons) and two quarks produced in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV is presented. The data were recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 2.3 inverse femtobarns. The observed data are in good agreement with the standard model background prediction. The results of the measurement are interpreted in the framework of a recently proposed model in which a heavy Majorana neutrino, N(l), stems from a composite-fermion scenario. Exclusion limits are set for the first time on the mass of the heavy composite Majorana neutrino, m[N(l)], and the compositeness scale Lambda. For the case m[N(l)] = Lambda, the existence of N(e) (N(mu)) is excluded for masses up to 4.60 (4.70) TeV at 95% confidence level.

A search for charged Higgs bosons produced via vector boson fusion and decaying into W and Z bosons using proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV is presented. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 15.2 inverse femtobarns collected with the CMS detector in 2015 and 2016. The event selection requires three leptons (electrons or muons), two jets with large pseudorapidity separation and high dijet mass, and missing transverse momentum. The observation agrees with the standard model prediction. Limits on the vector boson fusion production cross section times branching fraction for new charged physical states are reported as a function of mass from 200 to 2000 GeV and interpreted in the context of Higgs triplet models.

The spectra of charged particles produced within the pseudorapidity window abs(eta) < 1 at sqrt(s[NN]) = 5.02 TeV are measured using 404 inverse microbarns of PbPb and 27.4 inverse picobarns of pp data collected by the CMS detector at the LHC in 2015. The spectra are presented over the transverse momentum ranges spanning 0.5 < pt < 400 GeV in pp and 0.7 < pt < 400 GeV in PbPb collisions. The corresponding nuclear modification factor, R[AA], is measured in bins of collision centrality. The R[AA] in the 5% most central collisions shows a maximal suppression by a factor of 7-8 in the pt region of 6-9 GeV. This dip is followed by an increase, which continues up to the highest pt measured, and approaches unity in the vicinity of pt = 200 GeV. The R[AA] is compared to theoretical predictions and earlier experimental results at lower collision energies. The newly measured pp spectrum is combined with the pPb spectrum previously published by the CMS Collaboration to construct the pPb nuclear modification factor, R[pA], up to 120 GeV. For pt > 20 GeV, R[pA] exhibits weak momentum dependence and shows a moderate enhancement above unity.

A measurement is presented of the triple-differential dijet cross section at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV using 19.7 inverse femtobarns of data collected with the CMS detector in proton-proton collisions at the LHC. The cross section is measured as a function of the average transverse momentum, half the rapidity separation, and the boost of the two leading jets in the event. The cross section is corrected for detector effects and compared to calculations in perturbative quantum chromodynamics at next-to-leading order accuracy, complemented with electroweak and nonperturbative corrections. New constraints on parton distribution functions are obtained and the inferred value of the strong coupling constant is alpha[S](M[Z]) = 0.1199 +/- 0.0015 (exp) -0.0020 +0.0031 (theo), where M[Z] is the mass of the Z boson.

Events with no charged particles produced between the two leading jets are studied in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV. The jets were required to have transverse momentum $p_\mathrm{T}^{\text{jet}}$ > 40 GeV and pseudorapidity 1.5 $<|\eta^{\text{jet}}| <$ 4.7, and to have values of $\eta^{\text{jet}}$ with opposite signs. The data used for this study were collected with the CMS detector during low-luminosity running at the LHC, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 8 pb$^{-1}$. Events with no charged particles with $p_\mathrm{T}$ > 0.2 GeV in the interval -1 < $\eta$ < 1 between the jets are observed in excess of calculations that assume no color-singlet exchange. The fraction of events with such a rapidity gap, amounting to 0.5-1% of the selected dijet sample, is measured as a function of the $p_\mathrm{T}$ of the second-leading jet and of the rapidity separation between the jets. The data are compared to previous measurements at the Tevatron, and to perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculations based on the Balitsky-Fadin-Kuraev-Lipatov evolution equations, including different modelings of the non-perturbative gap survival probability.

Jet charge is an estimator of the electric charge of a quark, antiquark, or gluon initiating a jet. It is based on the momentum-weighted sum of the electric charges of the jet constituents. Measurements of three charge observables of the leading jet in transverse momentum pT are performed with dijet events. The analysis is carried out with data collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns. The results are presented as a function of the pT of the leading jet and compared to predictions from leading- and next-to-leading-order event generators combined with parton showers. Measured jet charge distributions, unfolded for detector effects, are reported, which expand on previous measurements of the jet charge average and standard deviation in pp collisions.

Measurements are presented of W gamma gamma and Z gamma gamma production in proton-proton collisions. Fiducial cross sections are reported based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.4 inverse femtobarns collected with the CMS detector at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. Signal is identified through the W to l nu and Z to ll decay modes, where l is a muon or an electron. The production of W gamma gamma and Z gamma gamma, measured with significances of 2.6 and 5.9 standard deviations, respectively, is consistent with standard model predictions. In addition, limits on anomalous quartic gauge couplings in W gamma gamma production are determined in the context of a dimension-8 effective field theory.

Normalized differential cross sections for top quark pair production are measured in the dilepton (e$^+$e$^-$, $\mu^+\mu^-$, and $\mu^\mp$e$^\pm$) decay channels in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The measurements are performed with data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.1 fb$^{-1}$ using the CMS detector at the LHC. The cross sections are measured differentially as a function of the kinematic properties of the leptons, jets from bottom quark hadronization, top quarks, and top quark pairs at the particle and parton levels. The results are compared to several Monte Carlo generators that implement calculations up to next-to-leading order in perturbative quantum chromodynamics interfaced with parton showering, and also to fixed-order theoretical calculations of top quark pair production up to next-to-next-to-leading order.