A search for physics beyond the standard model in events with at least three charged leptons (electrons or muons) is presented. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2016-2018. The two targeted signal processes are pair production of type-III seesaw heavy fermions and production of a light scalar or pseudoscalar boson in association with a pair of top quarks. The heavy fermions may be manifested as an excess of events with large values of leptonic transverse momenta or missing transverse momentum. The light scalars or pseudoscalars may create a localized excess in the dilepton mass spectra. The results exclude heavy fermions of the type-III seesaw model for masses below 880 GeV at 95% confidence level in the scenario of equal branching fractions to each lepton flavor. This is the most restrictive limit on the flavor-democratic scenario of the type-III seesaw model to date. Assuming a Yukawa coupling of unit strength to top quarks, branching fractions of new scalar (pseudoscalar) bosons to dielectrons or dimuons above 0.004 (0.03) and 0.04 (0.03) are excluded at 95% confidence level for masses in the range 15-75 and 108-340 GeV, respectively. These are the first limits in these channels on an extension of the standard model with scalar or pseudoscalar particles.

A search for narrow and broad resonances with masses greater than 1.8 TeV decaying to a pair of jets is presented. The search uses proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV collected at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$. The background arising from standard model processes is predicted with the fit method used in previous publications and with a new method. The dijet invariant mass spectrum is well described by both data-driven methods, and no significant evidence for the production of new particles is observed. Model independent upper limits are reported on the production cross sections of narrow resonances, and broad resonances with widths up to 55% of the resonance mass. Limits are presented on the masses of narrow resonances from various models: string resonances, scalar diquarks, axigluons, colorons, excited quarks, color-octet scalars, W' and Z' bosons, Randall-Sundrum gravitons, and dark matter mediators. The limits on narrow resonances are improved by 200 to 800 GeV relative to those reported in previous CMS dijet resonance searches. The limits on dark matter mediators are presented as a function of the resonance mass and width, and on the associated coupling strength as a function of the mediator mass. These limits exclude at 95% confidence level a dark matter mediator with a mass of 1.8 TeV and width 1% of its mass or higher, up to one with a mass of 4.8 TeV and a width 45% of its mass or higher.

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.

A search for physics beyond the standard model (SM) in the final state with a hadronically decaying tau lepton and a neutrino is presented. This analysis is based on data recorded by the CMS experiment from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the LHC, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{=1}$. The transverse mass spectrum is analyzed for the presence of new physics. No significant deviation from the SM prediction is observed. Limits are set on the production cross section of a W' boson decaying into a tau lepton and a neutrino. Lower limits are set on the mass of the sequential SM-like heavy charged vector boson and the mass of a quantum black hole. Upper limits are placed on the couplings of a new boson to the SM fermions. Constraints are put on a nonuniversal gauge interaction model and an effective field theory model. For the first time, upper limits on the cross section of $t$-channel leptoquark (LQ) exchange are presented. These limits are translated into exclusion limits on the LQ mass and on its coupling in the $t$-channel. The sensitivity of this analysis extends into the parameter space of LQ models that attempt to explain the anomalies observed in B meson decays. The limits presented for the various interpretations are the most stringent to date. Additionally, a model-independent limit is provided.

A data sample of events from proton-proton collisions with at least two jets, and two isolated same-sign or three or more charged leptons, is studied in a search for signatures of new physics phenomena. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$ at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected in 2016-2018 by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The search is performed using a total of 168 signal regions defined using several kinematic variables. The properties of the events are found to be consistent with the expectations from standard model processes. Exclusion limits at 95% confidence level are set on cross sections for the pair production of gluinos or squarks for various decay scenarios in the context of supersymmetric models conserving or violating R parity. The observed lower mass limits are as large as 2.1 TeV for gluinos and 0.9 TeV for top and bottom squarks. To facilitate reinterpretations, model-independent limits are provided in a set of simplified signal regions.

A measurement of the mass of the Higgs boson in the diphoton decay channel is presented. This analysis is based on 35.9 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data collected during the 2016 LHC running period, with the CMS detector at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. A refined detector calibration and new analysis techniques have been used to improve the precision of this measurement. The Higgs boson mass is measured to be $m_\mathrm{H} =$ 125.78 $\pm$ 0.26 GeV. This is combined with a measurement of $m_\mathrm{H}$ already performed in the H $\to$ ZZ $\to$ 4$\ell$ decay channel using the same data set, giving $m_\mathrm{H} =$ 125.46 $\pm$ 0.16 GeV. This result, when further combined with an earlier measurement of $m_\mathrm{H}$ using data collected in 2011 and 2012 with the CMS detector, gives a value for the Higgs boson mass of $m_\mathrm{H} =$ 125.38 $\pm$ 0.14 GeV. This is currently the most precise measurement of the mass of the Higgs boson.

The parton-level top quark (t) forward-backward asymmetry and the anomalous chromoelectric ($\hat{d}_\mathrm{t}$) and chromomagnetic ($\hat{\mu}_\mathrm{t}$) moments have been measured using LHC pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected in the CMS detector in a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. The linearized variable $A_\mathrm{FB}^{(1)}$ is used to approximate the asymmetry. Candidate $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$ events decaying to a muon or electron and jets in final states with low and high Lorentz boosts are selected and reconstructed using a fit of the kinematic distributions of the decay products to those expected for $\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$ final states. The values found for the parameters are $A_\mathrm{FB}^{(1)} =$ 0.048 $^{+0.095}_{-0.087}$ (stat) $^{+0.020}_{-0.029}$ (syst), $\hat{\mu}_\mathrm{t} =-$ 0.024 $^{+0.013}_{-0.009}$ (stat) $^{+0.016}_{-0.011}$ (syst), and a limit is placed on the magnitude of $|\hat{d}_\mathrm{t}|$ $<$ 0.03 at 95% confidence level.

A search for physics beyond the standard model (SM) in final states with an electron or muon and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis uses data from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2016–2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. No significant deviation from the SM prediction is observed. Model-independent limits are set on the production cross section of W’ bosons decaying into lepton-plus-neutrino final states. Within the framework of the sequential standard model, with the combined results from the electron and muon decay channels a W’ boson with mass less than 5.7 TeV is excluded at 95% confidence level. Results on a SM precision test, the determination of the oblique electroweak W parameter, are presented using LHC data for the first time. These results together with those from the direct W’ resonance search are used to extend existing constraints on composite Higgs scenarios. This is the first experimental exclusion on compositeness parameters using results from LHC data other than Higgs boson measurements.

A search is reported for high-mass hadronic resonances that decay to a parton and a Lorentz-boosted resonance, which in turn decays into a pair of partons. The search is based on data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The boosted resonance is reconstructed as a single wide jet with substructure consistent with a two-body decay. The high-mass resonance is thus considered as a dijet system. The jet substructure information and the kinematic properties of cascade resonance decays are exploited to disentangle the signal from the large quantum chromodynamics multijet background. The dijet mass spectrum is analyzed for the presence of new high-mass resonances, and is found to be consistent with the standard model background predictions. Results are interpreted in a warped extra dimension model where the high-mass resonance is a Kaluza-Klein gluon, the boosted resonance is a radion, and the final state partons are all gluons. Limits on the production cross section are set as a function of the Kaluza-Klein gluon and radion masses. These limits exclude at 95% confidence level models with Kaluza-Klein gluon masses in the range from 2.0 to 4.3 TeV and radion masses in the range from 0.20 to 0.74 TeV. By exploring a novel experimental signature, the observed limits on the Kaluza-Klein gluon mass are extended by up to about 1 TeV compared to previous searches.

Proton-proton interactions resulting in final states with two photons are studied in a search for the signature of flavor-changing neutral current interactions of top quarks (t) and Higgs bosons (H). 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 137 fb$^{-1}$. No significant excess above the background prediction is observed. Upper limits on the branching fractions ($\mathcal{B}$) of the top quark decaying to a Higgs boson and an up (u) or charm quark (c) are derived through a binned fit to the diphoton invariant mass spectrum. The observed (expected) 95% confidence level upper limits are found to be 0.019 (0.031)% for $\mathcal B$(t $\to$ Hu) and 0.073 (0.051)% for $\mathcal{B}$(t $\to$ Hc). These are the strictest upper limits yet determined.