A search is presented for a charged Higgs boson heavier than the top quark, produced in association with a top quark, or with a top and a bottom quark, and decaying into a top-bottom quark-antiquark pair. The search is performed using proton-proton collision data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. Events are selected by the presence of a single isolated charged lepton (electron or muon) or an opposite-sign dilepton (electron or muon) pair, categorized according to the jet multiplicity and the number of jets identified as originating from b quarks. Multivariate analysis techniques are used to enhance the discrimination between signal and background in each category. The data are compatible with the standard model, and 95% confidence level upper limits of 9.6-0.01 pb are set on the charged Higgs boson production cross section times branching fraction to a top-bottom quark-antiquark pair, for charged Higgs boson mass hypotheses ranging from 200 GeV to 3 TeV. The upper limits are interpreted in different minimal supersymmetric extensions of the standard model.

A search for decays of the Higgs and Z boson to pairs of J/$\psi$ or $\Upsilon$(nS) (n=1, 2, 3) mesons, with their subsequent decay to $\mu^+\mu^-$ pairs, is presented. The analysis uses data from proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2017 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 37.5 fb$^{-1}$. While an observation of such a decay with this sample would indicate the presence of physics beyond the standard model, no significant excess is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are placed on the branching fractions of these decays. In the J/$\psi$ pair channel, the limits are 1.8$\times$10$^{-3}$ and 2.2$\times$10$^{-6}$ for the Higgs and Z boson, respectively, while in the combined $\Upsilon$(nS) pair channel, the limits are 1.4$\times$ 10$^{-3}$ and 1.5$\times$10$^{-6}$, respectively, when the mesons from the Higgs and Z boson decay are assumed to be unpolarized. When fully longitudinal and transverse polarizations are considered the limits reduce by about 22-29% and increase by about 10-13%, respectively.

A measurement is presented of differential cross sections for $t$-channel single top quark and antiquark production in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV by the CMS experiment at the LHC. From a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$, events containing one muon or electron and two or three jets are analysed. The cross section is measured as a function of the top quark transverse momentum ($p_\mathrm{T}$), rapidity, and polarisation angle, the charged lepton $p_\mathrm{T}$ and rapidity, and the $p_\mathrm{T}$ of the W boson from the top quark decay. In addition, the charge ratio is measured differentially as a function of the top quark, charged lepton, and W boson kinematic observables. The results are found to be in agreement with standard model predictions using various next-to-leading-order event generators and sets of parton distribution functions. Additionally, the spin asymmetry, sensitive to the top quark polarisation, is determined from the differential distribution of the polarisation angle at parton level to be 0.440 $\pm$ 0.070, in agreement with the standard model prediction.

A search is presented for three additional operators that would lead to anomalous WW$\gamma$ or WWZ couplings with respect to those in the standard model. They are constrained by studying events with two vector bosons; a W boson decaying to e$\nu$ or $\mu\nu$, and a W or Z boson decaying hadronically, reconstructed as a single, massive, large-radius jet. The search uses a data set of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in 2016, and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. Using the reconstructed diboson invariant mass, 95% confidence intervals are obtained for the anomalous coupling parameters of $-1.58< c_\mathrm{WWW}/\Lambda^2$ $<$ 1.59 TeV$^{-2}$, $-$2.00 $<$ $c_\mathrm{W}/\Lambda^2$ $<$ 2.65 TeV$^{-2}$, and $-$8.78 $<$ $c_\mathrm{B}/\Lambda^2$ $<$ 8.54 TeV$^{-2}$, in agreement with standard model expectations of zero for each parameter. These are the strictest bounds on these parameters to date.

The polarizations of promptly produced $\chi_\mathrm{c1}$ and $\chi_\mathrm{c2}$ mesons are studied using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = $ 8 TeV. The $\chi_\mathrm{c}$ states are reconstructed via their radiative decays $\chi_\mathrm{c}$ $\to$ $\mathrm{J}/\psi\, \gamma$, with the photons being measured through conversions to e$^+$e$^-$, which allows the two states to be well resolved. The polarizations are measured in the helicity frame, through the analysis of the $\chi_\mathrm{c2}$ to $\chi_\mathrm{c1}$ yield ratio as a function of the polar or azimuthal angle of the positive muon emitted in the $\mathrm{J}/\psi$ $\to$ $\mu^+\mu^-$ decay, in three ranges of $\mathrm{J}/\psi$ transverse momentum. While no differences are seen between the two states in terms of azimuthal decay angle distributions, they are observed to have significantly different polar anisotropies. The measurement favors a scenario where at least one of the two states is strongly polarized along the helicity quantization axis, in agreement with nonrelativistic quantum chromodynamics predictions. This is the first measurement of significantly polarized quarkonia produced at high transverse momentum.

A measurement is presented of the cross section for electroweak production of a Z boson and a photon in association with two jets (Z$\gamma$jj) in proton-proton collisions. The Z boson candidates are selected through their decay into a pair of electrons or muons. The process of interest, electroweak Z$\gamma$jj production, is isolated by selecting events with a large dijet mass and a large pseudorapidity gap between the two jets. The measurement is based on data collected at the CMS experiment at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. The observed significance of the signal is 3.9 standard deviations, where a significance of 5.2 standard deviations is expected in the standard model. These results are combined with published results by CMS at $\sqrt{s} =$ 8 TeV, which leads to observed and expected respective significances of 4.7 and 5.5 standard deviations. From the 13 TeV data, a value is obtained for the signal strength of electroweak Z$\gamma$jj production and bounds are given on quartic vector boson interactions in the framework of dimension-eight effective field theory operators.

A measurement of vector boson scattering and constraints on anomalous quartic gauge couplings from events with two Z bosons and two jets are presented. The analysis is based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV collected with the CMS detector and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 inverse femtobarns. The search is performed in the fully leptonic final state ZZ to lll'l', where l, l' = e, mu. The electroweak production of two Z bosons in association with two jets is measured with an observed (expected) significance of 2.7 (1.6) standard deviations. A fiducial cross section for the electroweak production is measured to be sigma[EW](pp -> ZZjj -> lll'l'jj) = 0.40 -0.16 +0.21 (stat) -0.09 +0.13 (syst) fb, which is consistent with the standard model prediction. Limits on anomalous quartic gauge couplings are determined in terms of the effective field theory operators T0, T1, T2, T8, and T9. This is the first measurement of vector boson scattering in the ZZ channel at the LHC.

This Letter reports measurements of differential cross sections for the production of two Z bosons in association with jets in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 8 and 13 TeV. The analysis is based on data samples collected at the LHC with the CMS detector, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 19.7 and 35.9 fb$^{-1}$ at 8 and 13 TeV, respectively. The measurements are performed in the leptonic decay modes ZZ $\to\ell^+ \ell^- \ell'^+ \ell'^-$, where $\ell,\ell' =$ e, $\mu$. The differential cross sections as a function of the jet multiplicity, the transverse momentum $p_\mathrm{T}$, and pseudorapidity of the $p_\mathrm{T}$-leading and subleading jets are presented. In addition, the differential cross sections as a function of variables sensitive to the vector boson scattering, such as the invariant mass of the two $p_\mathrm{T}$-leading jets and their pseudorapidity separation, are reported. The results are compared to theoretical predictions and found in good agreement within the theoretical and experimental uncertainties.

A search for long-lived particles decaying into jets is presented. Data were collected with the CMS detector at the LHC from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV in 2016, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. The search examines the distinctive topology of displaced tracks and secondary vertices. The selected events are found to be consistent with standard model predictions. For a simplified model in which long-lived neutral particles are pair produced and decay to two jets, pair production cross sections larger than 0.2 fb are excluded at 95% confidence level for a long-lived particle mass larger than 1000 GeV and proper decay lengths between 3 and 130 mm. Several supersymmetry models with gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking or $R$-parity violation, where pair-produced long-lived gluinos or top squarks decay to several final-state topologies containing displaced jets, are also tested. For these models, in the mass ranges above 200 GeV, gluino masses up to 2300-2400 GeV and top squark masses up to 1350-1600 GeV are excluded for proper decay lengths approximately between 10 and 100 mm. These are the most restrictive limits to date on these models.

A measurement of WZ electroweak (EW) vector boson scattering is presented. The measurement is performed in the leptonic decay modes WZ $\to$ $\ell\nu\ell'\ell'$, where $\ell, \ell' = $ e, $\mu$. The analysis is based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV at the LHC collected with the CMS detector and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. The WZ plus two jet production cross section is measured in fiducial regions with enhanced contributions from EW production and found to be consistent with standard model predictions. The EW WZ production in association with two jets is measured with an observed (expected) significance of 2.2 (2.5) standard deviations. Constraints on charged Higgs boson production and on anomalous quartic gauge couplings in terms of dimension-eight effective field theory operators are also presented.