A search for new physics in events featuring a single photon and missing transverse momentum is presented, using proton-proton $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC between 2017 and 2018. This analysis, combined with a previous study of 36 fb$^{-1}$ of 2016 data (totaling 137 fb$^{-1}$), reveals no significant deviations from standard model expectations. The results are then used to establish 95% confidence level limits on parameters in theoretical models involving dark matter and large extra dimensions. Compared to the 2016-only analysis, this search achieves up to a 14% improvement in exclusion reach for mediator masses in simplified dark matter models, along with 11% and 1% enhancements in the limits on the effective field theory suppression scale and the fundamental Planck scale, respectively. These results are the most stringent constraints on these parameters to date.
A search for exotic Higgs boson decays H $\to$$\mathcal{AA}$, with $\mathcal{A}$$\to$$γγ$ is presented, using events with a semi-merged topology. One of the hypothetical particles, $\mathcal{A}$, is assumed to decay promptly into a semi-merged diphoton system reconstructed as a single photon-like object, while the other $\mathcal{A}$ decays into two resolved photons. The search is performed using proton-proton collision data collected by the CMS experiment at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The data agree with the standard model background expectation. Upper limits are set on the product of the Higgs boson production cross section and the branching fraction, $σ$(pp $\to$ H)$\mathcal{B}$(H $\to$$\mathcal{AA}$$\to$ 4$γ$), which range from 0.264 to 0.005 pb at 95% confidence level, for $\mathcal{A}$ masses in the range 1 $\lt$ $m_\mathcal{A}$ $\lt$ 15 GeV. These limits are the most stringent to date in the 1$-$5 GeV $m_\mathcal{A}$ range.
A search is presented for charged Higgs bosons (H$^\pm$) in proton-proton (pp) collision events via the pp $\to$ (b)H$^\pm$ processes, with H$^\pm$ decaying into top (t) and bottom (b) quarks. The search targets final states with one lepton, missing transverse momentum, and two or more b jets. The analysis is based on data collected at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. We search for charged Higgs bosons in the 200 GeV to 1 TeV mass range. The results are interpreted within the generalized two-Higgs-doublet model (g2HDM). This model predicts additional Yukawa couplings of the Higgs bosons to the top quark $ρ_\mathrm{tt}$, the top and charm quark $ρ_\mathrm{tc}$, and the top and up quark $ρ_\mathrm{tu}$. This search focuses on the real components of $ρ_\mathrm{tt}$ and $ρ_\mathrm{tc}$, which are probed up to values of unity. An excess is observed with respect to the standard model expectation with a local significance of 2.4 standard deviations for a signal with an H$^\pm$ boson mass ($m_{\mathrm{H}^\pm}$) of 600 GeV. Limits are derived on the product of the cross section $σ$(pp $\to$ (b)H$^\pm$) and branching fraction $\mathcal{B}$(H$^\pm$$\to$ tb, t $\to$ b$\ellν$), where $\ell$ = e, $μ$. The values of $ρ_\mathrm{tc} \gtrsim$ 0.15$-$0.5 are excluded at 95% confidence level, depending on the $m_{\mathrm{H}^\pm}$ and $ρ_\mathrm{tt}$ assumptions. The results represent the first search for charged Higgs bosons within the g2HDM framework and complement the existing results on additional neutral Higgs bosons.
Measurements of the spin correlation coefficients in the beam basis are presented for top quark-antiquark ($\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$) systems produced in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment in 2016$-$2018, and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$ system is reconstructed from final states containing an electron or muon, and jets. Together with the previously reported results in the helicity basis, these measurements are used to decompose the system into the Bell and spin eigenstates in various kinematic regions. The spin correlation coefficients are also used to evaluate properties of the $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$ quantum state, such as the purity, von Neumann entropy, and entanglement. All results are consistent with standard model predictions.
The results of a search for the production of two scalar bosons in final states with two photons and two tau leptons are presented. The search considers both nonresonant production of a Higgs boson pair, HH, and resonant production via a new boson X which decays either to HH or to H and a new scalar Y. The analysis uses up to 138 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data, recorded between 2016 and 2018 by the CMS experiment at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. No evidence for signal is found in the data. For the nonresonant production, the observed (expected) upper limit at 95% confidence level (CL) on the HH production cross section is set at 930 (740) fb, corresponding to 33 (26) times the standard model prediction. At 95% CL, HH production is observed (expected) to be excluded for values of $κ_λ$ outside the range between $-$12 ($-$9.4) and 17 (15). Observed (expected) upper limits at 95% CL for the XHH cross section are found to be within 160 to 2200 (200 to 1800) fb, depending on the mass of X. In the X $\to$ Y($γγ$)H($ττ$) search, the observed (expected) upper limits on the product of the production cross section and decay branching fractions vary between 0.059$-$1.2 fb (0.087$-$0.68 fb). For the X $\to$ Y($γγ$)H($ττ$) search the observed (expected) upper limits on the product of the production cross section and Y $to$ $γγ$ branching fraction vary between 0.69$-$15 fb (0.73$-$8.3 fb) in the low Y mass search, tightening constraints on the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model, and between 0.64$-$10 fb (0.70$-$7.6 fb) in the high Y mass search.
A measurement of the Z$γ$ production cross section in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13.6 TeV is presented. Data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34.8 fb$^{-1}$, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2022 are used. Events with an oppositely charged pair of muons or electrons, with an invariant mass corresponding to a Z boson, together with an isolated photon are selected. The measured fiducial cross section for the combined electron and muon channels is 1.896 $\pm$ 0.033 (stat) $\pm$ 0.05 (syst) $\pm$ 0.006 (theo) pb, in agreement with the standard model prediction of 1.922 $\pm$ 0.094 pb. Constraints on neutral triple gauge couplings generated by dimension-8 operators in a recently proposed effective field theory framework are determined for the first time.
The fundamental building blocks of the proton, quarks and gluons, have been known for decades. However, we still have an incomplete theoretical and experimental understanding of how these particles and their dynamics give rise to the quantum bound state of the proton and its physical properties, such as for example its spin. The two up and the single down quarks that comprise the proton in the simplest picture account only for a few percent of the proton mass, the bulk of which is in the form of quark kinetic and potential energy and gluon energy from the strong force. An essential feature of this force, as described by quantum chromodynamics, is its ability to create matter-antimatter quark pairs inside the proton that exist only for a very short time. Their fleeting existence makes the antimatter quarks within protons difficult to study, but their existence is discernible in reactions where a matter-antimatter quark pair annihilates. In this picture of quark-antiquark creation by the strong force, the probability distributions as a function of momentum for the presence of up and down antimatter quarks should be nearly identical, since their masses are quite similar and small compared to the mass of the proton. In the present manuscript, we show evidence from muon pair production measurements that these distributions are significantly different, with more abundant down antimatter quarks than up antimatter quarks over a wide range of momentum. These results revive interest in several proposed mechanisms as the origin of this antimatter asymmetry in the proton that had been disfavored by the previous results and point to the future measurements that can distinguish between these mechanisms.
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p> The existence of three distinct neutrino flavours, <jats:italic>ν</jats:italic> <jats:sub>e</jats:sub> , <jats:italic>ν</jats:italic> <jats:sub>μ</jats:sub> and <jats:italic>ν</jats:italic> <jats:sub>τ</jats:sub> , is a central tenet of the Standard Model of particle physics <jats:sup>1,2</jats:sup> . Quantum-mechanical interference can allow a neutrino of one initial flavour to be detected sometime later as a different flavour, a process called neutrino oscillation. Several anomalous observations inconsistent with this three-flavour picture have motivated the hypothesis that an additional neutrino state exists, which does not interact directly with matter, termed as ‘sterile’ neutrino, <jats:italic>ν</jats:italic> <jats:sub>s</jats:sub> (refs. <jats:sup>3–9</jats:sup> ). This includes anomalous observations from the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND) <jats:sup>3</jats:sup> experiment and Mini-Booster Neutrino Experiment (MiniBooNE) <jats:sup>4,5</jats:sup> , consistent with <jats:italic>ν</jats:italic> <jats:sub>μ</jats:sub> → <jats:italic>ν</jats:italic> <jats:sub>e</jats:sub> transitions at a distance inconsistent with the three-neutrino picture. Here we use data obtained from the MicroBooNE liquid-argon time projection chamber <jats:sup>10</jats:sup> in two accelerator neutrino beams to exclude the single light sterile neutrino interpretation of the LSND and MiniBooNE anomalies at the 95% confidence level (CL). Moreover, we rule out a notable portion of the parameter space that could explain the gallium anomaly <jats:sup>6–8</jats:sup> . This is one of the first measurements to use two accelerator neutrino beams to break a degeneracy between <jats:italic>ν</jats:italic> <jats:sub>e</jats:sub> appearance and disappearance, which would otherwise weaken the sensitivity to the sterile neutrino hypothesis. We find no evidence for either <jats:italic>ν</jats:italic> <jats:sub>μ</jats:sub> → <jats:italic>ν</jats:italic> <jats:sub>e</jats:sub> flavour transitions or <jats:italic>ν</jats:italic> <jats:sub>e</jats:sub> disappearance that would indicate non-standard flavour oscillations. Our results indicate that previous anomalous observations consistent with <jats:italic>ν</jats:italic> <jats:sub>μ</jats:sub> → <jats:italic>ν</jats:italic> <jats:sub>e</jats:sub> transitions cannot be explained by introducing a single sterile neutrino state. </jats:p>
The first observation of electroweak production of a photon in association with two forward jets in proton-proton collisions is presented. The measurement uses data recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC during 2016$-$2018 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The analysis is performed in a region enriched in photon production via vector boson fusion, with a requirement on the transverse momentum of the photon to exceed 200 GeV. The cross section is measured to be 202$^{+36}_{-32}$ fb, at a significance with respect to the null hypothesis that exceeds five standard deviations. This is in agreement with the standard model prediction of 177$^{+13}_{-12}$ fb. Differential cross sections are measured as a function of various observables. Limits are set on dimension-6 effective field theory operators that contribute to the WW$γ$ interaction. The observed 95% confidence intervals for the corresponding Warsaw basis Wilson coefficients $c_\mathrm{W}$ and $c_\mathrm{HWB}$ are [$-$0.11, 0.16] and [$-$1.6, 1.5], respectively.
A measurement of the substructure of bottom quark jets (b jets) in proton-proton (pp) collisions is presented. The measurement uses data collected in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 5.02 TeV recorded by the CMS experiment in 2017, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 301$^{-1}$. An algorithm to identify and cluster the charged decay daughters of b hadrons is developed for this analysis, which facilitates the exposure of the gluon radiation pattern of b jets using iterative Cambridge-Aachen declustering. The soft-drop-groomed jet radius, $R_\mathrm{g}$, and momentum balance, $z_\mathrm{g}$, of b quark jets are presented. These observables can be used to test perturbative quantum chromodynamics predictions that account for mass effects. Because the b hadron is partially reconstructed from its charged decay daughters, only charged particles are used for the jet substructure studies. In addition, a jet fragmentation function, $z_\text{b,ch}$, is measured, which is defined as the distribution of the ratio of the transverse momentum ($p_\mathrm{T}$) of the partially reconstructed b hadron with respect to the charged-particle component of the jet $p_\mathrm{T}$. The substructure variable distributions are unfolded to the charged-particle level. The b jet substructure is compared to the substructure of jets in an inclusive jet sample that is dominated by light-quark and gluon jets in order to assess the role of the b quark mass. A strong suppression of emissions at small $R_\mathrm{g}$ values is observed for b jets when compared to inclusive jets, consistent with the dead-cone effect. The measurement is also compared with theoretical predictions from Monte Carlo event generators. This is the first substructure measurement of b jets that clusters together the b hadron decay daughters.
Forum