A search for an exotic decay of the Higgs boson to a pair of light pseudoscalar bosons is performed for the first time in the final state with two b quarks and two $\tau$ leptons. The search is motivated in the context of models of physics beyond the standard model (SM), such as two Higgs doublet models extended with a complex scalar singlet (2HDM+S), which include the next-to-minimal supersymmetric SM (NMSSM). The results are based on a data set of proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$, accumulated by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Masses of the pseudoscalar boson between 15 and 60 GeV are probed, and no excess of events above the SM expectation is observed. Upper limits between 3 and 12% are set on the branching fraction $\mathcal{B}$(h $\to$ aa $\to$ 2$\tau$2b) assuming the SM production of the Higgs boson. Upper limits are also set on the branching fraction of the Higgs boson to two light pseudoscalar bosons in different 2HDM+S scenarios. Assuming the SM production cross section for the Higgs boson, the upper limit on this quantity is as low as 20% for a mass of the pseudoscalar of 40 GeV in the NMSSM.

Measurements of the differential cross section for the Drell-Yan process, based on proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment, are presented. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 2.8 (2.3) fb$^{-1}$ in the dimuon (dielectron) channel. The total and fiducial cross section measurements are presented as a function of dilepton invariant mass in the range 15 to 3000 GeV, and compared with the perturbative predictions of the standard model. The measured differential cross sections are in good agreement with the theoretical calculations.

This paper reports on a search for an extended scalar sector of the standard model, where a new CP-even (odd) boson decays to a Z boson and a lighter CP-odd (even) boson, and the latter further decays to a b quark pair. The Z boson is reconstructed via its decays to electron or muon pairs. The analysed data were recorded in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC during 2016, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. Data and predictions from the standard model are in agreement within the uncertainties. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the production cross section times branching fraction, with masses of the new bosons up to 1000 GeV. The results are interpreted in the context of the two-Higgs-doublet model.

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.

Evidence for the light-by-light scattering process, $\gamma\gamma$ $\to$ $\gamma\gamma$, in ultraperipheral PbPb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.02 TeV is reported. The analysis is conducted using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 390 $\mu$b$^{-1}$ recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC. Light-by-light scattering processes are selected in events with two photons exclusively produced, each with transverse energy E$_\mathrm{T}^{\gamma}$ $>$ 2 GeV, pseudorapidity $|\eta^{\gamma}|$ $\lt$ 2.4, diphoton invariant mass $m^{\gamma\gamma}$ $\gt$ 5 GeV, diphoton transverse momentum $p_\mathrm{T}^{\gamma\gamma}$ $\lt$ 1 GeV, and diphoton acoplanarity below 0.01. After all selection criteria are applied, 14 events are observed, compared to expectations of 9.0 $\pm$ 0.9 (theo) events for the signal and 4.0 $\pm$ 1.2 (stat) for the background processes. The excess observed in data relative to the background-only expectation corresponds to a significance of 3.7 standard deviations, and has properties consistent with those expected for the light-by-light scattering signal. The measured fiducial light-by-light scattering cross section, $\sigma_\mathrm{fid} (\gamma\gamma$ $\to$ $\gamma\gamma) =$ 120 $\pm$ 46 (stat) $\pm$ 28 (syst) $\pm$ 12 (theo) nb, is consistent with the standard model prediction. The $m^{\gamma\gamma}$ distribution is used to set new exclusion limits on the production of pseudoscalar axion-like particles, via the $\gamma\gamma$ $\to$ a $\to$ $\gamma\gamma$ process, in the mass range $m_{\mathrm{a}} =$ 5-90 GeV.

The momentum-weighted sum of the electric charges of particles inside a jet, known as jet charge, is sensitive to the electric charge of the particle initiating the parton shower. This paper presents jet charge distributions in $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} =$ 5.02 TeV lead-lead (PbPb) and proton-proton (pp) collisions recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC. These data correspond to integrated luminosities of 404 $\mu$b$^{-1}$ and 27.4 pb$^{-1}$ for PbPb and pp collisions, respectively. Leveraging the sensitivity of the jet charge to fundamental differences in the electric charges of quarks and gluons, the jet charge distributions from simulated events are used as templates to extract the quark- and gluon-like jet fractions from data. The modification of these jet fractions is examined by comparing pp and PbPb data as a function of the overlap of the colliding Pb nuclei (centrality). This measurement tests the color charge dependence of jet energy loss due to interactions with the quark-gluon plasma. No significant modification between different centrality classes and with respect to pp results is observed in the extracted fractions of quark- and gluon-like jet fractions.

A search for new phenomena is performed in final states containing one or more jets and an imbalance in transverse momentum in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The analysed data sample, recorded with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC, corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.3 inverse femtobarns. Several kinematic variables are employed to suppress the dominant background, multijet production, as well as to discriminate between other standard model and new physics processes. The search provides sensitivity to a broad range of new-physics models that yield a stable weakly interacting massive particle. The number of observed candidate events is found to agree with the expected contributions from standard model processes, and the result is interpreted in the mass parameter space of fourteen simplified supersymmetric models that assume the pair production of gluinos or squarks and a range of decay modes. For models that assume gluino pair production, masses up to 1575 and 975 GeV are excluded for gluinos and neutralinos, respectively. For models involving the pair production of top squarks and compressed mass spectra, top squark masses up to 400 GeV are excluded.

A measurement of the W$^+$W$^-$ boson pair production cross section in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV is presented. The data used in this study are collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. The W$^+$W$^-$ candidate events are selected by requiring two oppositely charged leptons (electrons or muons). Two methods for reducing background contributions are employed. In the first one, a sequence of requirements on kinematic quantities is applied allowing a measurement of the total production cross section: 117.6 $\pm$ 6.8 pb, which agrees well with the theoretical prediction. Fiducial cross sections are also reported for events with zero or one jet, and the change in the zero-jet fiducial cross section with the jet transverse momentum threshold is measured. Normalized differential cross sections are reported within the fiducial region. A second method for suppressing background contributions employs two random forest classifiers. The analysis based on this method includes a measurement of the total production cross section and also a measurement of the normalized jet multiplicity distribution in W$^+$W$^-$ events. Finally, a dilepton invariant mass distribution is used to probe for physics beyond the standard model in the context of an effective field theory, and constraints on the presence of dimension-6 operators are derived.

Decays of the 125 GeV Higgs boson into a Z boson and a $\rho^0$(770) or $\phi$(1020) meson are searched for using proton-proton collision data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at $\sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV. The analysed data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$. Events are selected in which the Z boson decays into a pair of electrons or a pair of muons, and the $\rho$ and $\phi$ mesons decay into pairs of pions and kaons, respectively. No significant excess above the background model is observed. As different polarization states are possible for the decay products of the Z boson and $\rho$ or $\phi$ mesons, affecting the signal acceptance, scenarios in which the decays are longitudinally or transversely polarized are considered. Upper limits at the 95% confidence level on the Higgs boson branching fractions into Z$\rho$ and Z$\phi$ are determined to be 1.04-1.31% and 0.31-0.40%, respectively, where the ranges reflect the considered polarization scenarios; these values are 740-940 and 730-950 times larger than the respective standard model expectations. These results constitute the first experimental limits on the two decay channels.

Using a data sample of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the CMS experiment in 2016-2018, the B$^0_\mathrm{s}$ $\to$ X(3872)$\phi$ decay is observed. Decays into J/$\psi\,\pi^+\pi^-$ and K$^+$K$^-$ are used to reconstruct, respectively, the X(3872) and $\phi$. The ratio of the product of branching fractions $\mathcal{B}($B$^0_\mathrm{s}$ $\to$ X(3872)$\phi)\,\mathcal{B}($X(3872) $\to$ J$/\psi\,\pi^+\pi^-)$ to the product $\mathcal{B}($B$^0_\mathrm{s}$ $\to$ $\psi$(2S)$\phi)\,\mathcal{B}(\psi$(2S) $\to$ J/$\psi\,\pi^+\pi^-)$ is measured to be (2.21 $\pm$ 0.29 (stat) $\pm$ 0.17 (syst))%. The ratio $\mathcal{B}($B$^0_\mathrm{s}$ $\to$ X(3872)$\phi) / \mathcal{B}($B$^{0}$ $\to$ X(3872)K$^0)$ is found to be consistent with one, while the ratio $\mathcal{B}($B$^0_\mathrm{s}$ $\to$ X(3872)$\phi) / \mathcal{B}($B$^+$ $\to$ X(3872)K$^+)$ is two times smaller. This suggests a difference in the production dynamics of the X(3872) in B$^0$ and B$^0_\mathrm{s}$ meson decays compared to B$^+$. The reported observation may shed new light on the nature of the X(3872) particle.