A search for pair production of third-generation scalar leptoquarks decaying into a top quark and a $\tau$-lepton is presented. The search is based on a dataset of $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. Events are selected if they have one light lepton (electron or muon) and at least one hadronically decaying $\tau$-lepton, or at least two light leptons. In addition, two or more jets, at least one of which must be identified as containing $b$-hadrons, are required. Six final states, defined by the multiplicity and flavour of lepton candidates, are considered in the analysis. Each of them is split into multiple event categories to simultaneously search for the signal and constrain several leading backgrounds. The signal-rich event categories require at least one hadronically decaying $\tau$-lepton candidate and exploit the presence of energetic final-state objects, which is characteristic of signal events. No significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed in any of the considered event categories, and 95% CL upper limits are set on the production cross section as a function of the leptoquark mass, for different assumptions about the branching fractions into $t\tau$ and $b\nu$. Scalar leptoquarks decaying exclusively into $t\tau$ are excluded up to masses of 1.43 TeV while, for a branching fraction of 50% into $t\tau$, the lower mass limit is 1.22 TeV.
Selection efficiency times acceptance summed over the seven signal regions as a function of $m_{\mathrm{LQ}_{3}^{\mathrm{d}}}$, assuming B = 1.
Selection efficiency times acceptance summed over the seven signal regions as a function of $m_{\mathrm{LQ}_{3}^{\mathrm{d}}}$, assuming B = 1.
Summary of the observed and expected 95% CL upper limits on the cross section for $\mathrm{LQ}_{3}^{\mathrm{d}}$ pair production as a function of $m_{\mathrm{LQ}_{3}^{\mathrm{d}}}$ under the assumptions of B=1.
Two-particle long-range azimuthal correlations are measured in photonuclear collisions using 1.7 nb$^{-1}$ of 5.02 TeV Pb+Pb collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Candidate events are selected using a dedicated high-multiplicity photonuclear event trigger, a combination of information from the zero-degree calorimeters and forward calorimeters, and from pseudorapidity gaps constructed using calorimeter energy clusters and charged-particle tracks. Distributions of event properties are compared between data and Monte Carlo simulations of photonuclear processes. Two-particle correlation functions are formed using charged-particle tracks in the selected events, and a template-fitting method is employed to subtract the non-flow contribution to the correlation. Significant nonzero values of the second- and third-order flow coefficients are observed and presented as a function of charged-particle multiplicity and transverse momentum. The results are compared with flow coefficients obtained in proton-proton and proton-lead collisions in similar multiplicity ranges, and with theoretical expectations. The unique initial conditions present in this measurement provide a new way to probe the origin of the collective signatures previously observed only in hadronic collisions.
The measured $v_2$ and $v_3$ charged-particle anisotropies as a function of charged-particle multiplicity in photonuclear collisions
The measured $v_2$ and $v_3$ charged-particle anisotropies as a function of charged-particle transverse momentum in photonuclear collisions
A search for lepton-flavor-violating $Z\to e\tau$ and $Z\to\mu\tau$ decays with $pp$ collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC is presented. This analysis uses 139 fb$^{-1}$ of Run 2 $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV and is combined with the results of a similar ATLAS search in the final state in which the $\tau$-lepton decays hadronically, using the same data set as well as Run 1 data. The addition of leptonically decaying $\tau$-leptons significantly improves the sensitivity reach for $Z\to\ell\tau$ decays. The $Z\to\ell\tau$ branching fractions are constrained in this analysis to $\mathcal{B}(Z\to e\tau)<7.0\times10^{-6}$ and $\mathcal{B}(Z\to \mu\tau)<7.2\times10^{-6}$ at 95% confidence level. The combination with the previously published analyses sets the strongest constraints to date: $\mathcal{B}(Z\to e\tau)<5.0\times10^{-6}$ and $\mathcal{B}(Z\to \mu\tau)<6.5\times10^{-6}$ at 95% confidence level.
The best-fit predicted and observed distributions of the combined NN output in the low-$p_\text{T}$-SR for the $e\tau_\mu$ channel. The first and last bin include underflow and overflow events, respectively.
The best-fit predicted and observed distributions of the combined NN output in the low-$p_\text{T}$-SR for the $\mu\tau_e$ channel. The first and last bin include underflow and overflow events, respectively.
The best-fit predicted and observed distributions of the combined NN output in the high-$p_\text{T}$-SR for the $e\tau_\mu$ channel. The first and last bin include underflow and overflow events, respectively.
This paper presents a search for decays of the Higgs boson with a mass of 125 GeV into a pair of new pseudoscalar particles, $H\rightarrow aa$, where one $a$-boson decays into a $b$-quark pair and the other into a muon pair. The search uses 139 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV recorded between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. A narrow dimuon resonance is searched for in the invariant mass spectrum between 16 GeV and 62 GeV. The largest excess of events above the Standard Model backgrounds is observed at a dimuon invariant mass of 52 GeV and corresponds to a local (global) significance of $3.3 \sigma$ ($1.7 \sigma$). Upper limits at 95% confidence level are placed on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to the $bb\mu\mu$ final state, $\mathcal{B}(H\rightarrow aa\rightarrow bb\mu\mu)$, and are in the range $\text{(0.2-4.0)} \times 10^{-4}$, depending on the signal mass hypothesis.
Post-fit number of background events in all SR bins (after applying the BDT cuts) that are tested for the presence of signal. The bins are 2 GeV (3 GeV) wide in mmumu for ma ≤ 45 GeV (ma > 45 GeV). Events in neighbouring bins partially overlap. Discontinuities in the background predictions appear when the BDT discriminant used for the selection changes from the one trained in the lower mass range to the one trained in the higher mass range.
Post-fit number of background events in all SR bins without applying the BDT cuts that are tested for the presence of signal. The bins are 2 GeV (3 GeV) wide in mµµ for $m_a$ ≤ 45 GeV ($m_a$ > 45 GeV). Events in neighbouring bins partially overlap. Discontinuities in the background predictions appear when the BDT discriminant used for the selection changes from the one trained in the lower mass range to the one trained in the higher mass range.
Probability that the observed spectrum is compatible with the background-only hypothesis. The local $p_0$-values are quantified in standard deviations $\sigma$.
Heavy-flavour hadron production provides information about the transport properties and microscopic structure of the quark-gluon plasma created in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions. A measurement of the muons from semileptonic decays of charm and bottom hadrons produced in Pb+Pb and $pp$ collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is presented. The Pb+Pb data were collected in 2015 and 2018 with sampled integrated luminosities of $208~\mathrm{\mu b}^{-1}$ and $38~\mathrm{\mu b^{-1}}$, respectively, and $pp$ data with a sampled integrated luminosity of $1.17~\mathrm{pb}^{-1}$ were collected in 2017. Muons from heavy-flavour semileptonic decays are separated from the light-flavour hadronic background using the momentum imbalance between the inner detector and muon spectrometer measurements, and muons originating from charm and bottom decays are further separated via the muon track's transverse impact parameter. Differential yields in Pb+Pb collisions and differential cross sections in $pp$ collisions for such muons are measured as a function of muon transverse momentum from 4 GeV to 30 GeV in the absolute pseudorapidity interval $|\eta| < 2$. Nuclear modification factors for charm and bottom muons are presented as a function of muon transverse momentum in intervals of Pb+Pb collision centrality. The measured nuclear modification factors quantify a significant suppression of the yields of muons from decays of charm and bottom hadrons, with stronger effects for muons from charm hadron decays.
Summary of charm muon double differential cross section in pp collisions at 5.02 TeV as a function of pT. Uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.
Summary of charm muon per-event invariant yields in Pb+Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV as a function of pT for five different centrality intervals. Uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.
Summary of bottom muon per-event invariant yields in Pb+Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV as a function of pT for five different centrality intervals. Uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.
Searches are conducted for new spin-0 or spin-1 bosons using events where a Higgs boson with mass $125$ GeV decays into four leptons ($\ell =$$e$,$\mu$). This decay is presumed to occur via an intermediate state which contains two on-shell, promptly decaying bosons: $H \rightarrow XX/ZX \rightarrow 4\ell$, where the new boson $X$ has a mass between 1 and 60 GeV. The search uses $pp$ collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV. The data are found to be consistent with Standard Model expectations. Limits are set on fiducial cross sections and on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to decay into $XX/ZX$, improving those from previous publications by a factor between two and four. Limits are also set on mixing parameters relevant in extensions of the Standard Model containing a dark sector where $X$ is interpreted to be a dark boson.
Distribution of $\langle m_{\ell\ell}\rangle$ for events selected in the HM $H\to XX \to 4\ell$ $\, ( 15 \,\text{GeV} < m_{X} < 60 \,\text{GeV})$ analysis. (Pre-fit background expectations and signal templates for $m_{Z_d} = 20 \,\text{GeV}$, $35 \,\text{GeV}$, and $55 \,\text{GeV}$ are given. The latter's yields are normalized with $\sigma(pp\to H\to Z_dZ_d\to 4\ell) =\frac{1}{10}\sigma_{\textrm{SM}}(pp\to H\to ZZ^*\to 4\ell)$.
Distribution of $\langle m_{\ell\ell}\rangle$ for events selected in the LM $H\to XX \to 4\mu$ $( 1 \,\text{GeV} < m_{X} < 15 \, \text{GeV} )$ analysis. The regions of 2 GeV to 4.4 GeV, and 8 GeV to 12 GeV are each excluded by the quarkonia veto. No data events pass this selection. Background expectations are pre-fit. Signal templates for $m_{Z_d} = 2 \,\text{GeV}$, $6 \,\text{GeV}$, and $15 \,\text{GeV}$ are given. All signal yields are normalized with $\sigma(pp\to H\to aa\to 4\mu) = \frac{1}{10}\sigma_{\textrm{SM}}(pp\to H\to ZZ^*\to 4\mu) = 0.15 \text{ fb}$ .
Distribution of $m_{34}$ for data and background events in the mass range $115 \,\text{GeV} < m_{4\ell} < 130 \,\text{GeV}$ after the $H\to ZX\to 4\ell$ selection. The background yield for the $H \to ZZ^* \to 4\ell$ process is post-fit and constrained to $1.2 \pm 0.16$ times the Standard Model expectation. Three $H \to ZZ_d \to 4\ell$ signal templates are shown for $Z_d$ masses of $m_{Z_d} = 20 \,\text{GeV}$, $35 \,\text{GeV}$, and $55 \,\text{GeV}$. They are normalized to a branching ratio of $\textrm{BR}(H\rightarrow ZZ_d \rightarrow 4\ell) = \frac{1}{10}\textrm{BR}(H\rightarrow ZZ^*\rightarrow 4\ell)$.
Measurements of four-lepton differential and integrated fiducial cross-sections in events with two same-flavour, opposite-charge electron or muon pairs are presented. The data correspond to 139 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV proton-proton collisions, collected by the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider (2015-2018). The final state has contributions from a number of interesting Standard Model processes that dominate in different four-lepton invariant mass regions, including single $Z$ boson production, Higgs boson production and on-shell $ZZ$ production, with a complex mix of interference terms, and possible contributions from physics beyond the Standard Model. The differential cross-sections include the four-lepton invariant mass inclusively, in slices of other kinematic variables, and in different lepton flavour categories. Also measured are dilepton invariant masses, transverse momenta, and angular correlation variables, in four regions of four-lepton invariant mass, each dominated by different processes. The measurements are corrected for detector effects and are compared with state-of-the-art Standard Model calculations, which are found to be consistent with the data. The $Z\rightarrow 4\ell$ branching fraction is extracted, giving a value of $\left(4.41 \pm 0.30\right) \times 10^{-6}$. Constraints on effective field theory parameters and a model based on a spontaneously broken $B-L$ gauge symmetry are also evaluated. Further reinterpretations can be performed with the provided information.
Inclusive differential cross section for four leptons (Max = 1710~GeV).
Inclusive differential cross section for four muons (Max = 1320~GeV)
Inclusive differential cross section for four electrons (Max = 887~GeV).
A search for charged Higgs bosons decaying into a top quark and a bottom quark is presented. The data analysed correspond to 139 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=13TeV, recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The production of a heavy charged Higgs boson in association with a top quark and a bottom quark, $pp\rightarrow tbH^{+}\rightarrow tbtb$, is explored in the $H^+$ mass range from 200 to 2000 GeV using final states with jets and one electron or muon. Events are categorised according to the multiplicity of jets and $b$-tagged jets, and multivariate analysis techniques are used to discriminate between signal and background events. No significant excess above the background-only hypothesis is observed and exclusion limits are derived for the production cross-section times branching ratio of a charged Higgs boson as a function of its mass; they range from 3.6 pb at 200 GeV to 0.036 pb at 2000 GeV at 95% confidence level. The results are interpreted in the hMSSM and $M_h^{125}$ scenarios.
Observed and expected upper limits for the production of $H^+\rightarrow tb$ in association with a top quark and a bottom quark. The bands surrounding the expected limit show the 68% and 95% confidence intervals. The red lines show the observed and expected 95% CL exclusion limits obtained with the 36 fb$^{-1}$ data sample. Theory predictions are shown for two representative values of $\tan\beta$ in the hMSSM benchmark scenario. Uncertainties in the predicted $H^+$ cross-sections or branching ratios are not considered.
Observed and expected limits on $\tan\beta$ as a function of $m_{H^+}$ in the hMSSM scenario. Limits are shown for $\tan\beta$ values in the range of 0.5-60 due to the availability of the model prediction. The bands surrounding the expected limits show the 68% and 95% confidence intervals. Uncertainties in the predicted $H^+$ cross-sections or branching ratios are not considered.
Observed and expected limits on $\tan\beta$ as a function of $m_{H^+}$ in the $M_h^{125}$ scenario. Limits are shown for $\tan\beta$ values in the range of 0.5-60 due to the availability of the model prediction. The bands surrounding the expected limits show the 68% and 95% confidence intervals. Uncertainties in the predicted $H^+$ cross-sections or branching ratios are not considered.
A search is presented for the production of the Standard Model Higgs boson in association with a high-energy photon. With a focus on the vector-boson fusion process and the dominant Higgs boson decay into $b$-quark pairs, the search benefits from a large reduction of multijet background compared to more inclusive searches. Results are reported from the analysis of 132 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data at $\sqrt{s}$=13 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measured Higgs boson signal yield in this final-state signature is $1.3 \pm 1.0$ times the Standard Model prediction. The observed significance of the Higgs boson signal above the background is 1.3 standard deviations, compared to an expected significance of 1.0 standard deviations.
Comparisons of data and simulated event distributions of the BDT input variable \(\Delta \eta_{jj}\) in the two \(m_{bb}\) sidebands after kinematic reweighting of the non-resonant \(b\bar{b}\gamma jj\) background. The data are shown as black points, and the background contributions are stacked in coloured histograms. The Higgs boson signal contribution is scaled up and represented by the dashed red line. The bottom panel in each plot shows the ratio of the data to the SM prediction, where the uncertainty band corresponds to the statistical uncertainty only.
Comparisons of data and simulated event distributions of the BDT input variable \(p_{\text{T}}^{\text{balance}}\) in the two \(m_{bb}\) sidebands after kinematic reweighting of the non-resonant \(b\bar{b}\gamma jj\) background. The data are shown as black points, and the background contributions are stacked in coloured histograms. The Higgs boson signal contribution is scaled up and represented by the dashed red line. The bottom panel in each plot shows the ratio of the data to the SM prediction, where the uncertainty band corresponds to the statistical uncertainty only.
The \(m_{bb}\) distributions in the HighBDT categories, overlaid with contributions from the \(H\gamma jj\) signal as well as the resonant \(Z\gamma jj\) and non-resonant \(b\bar{b} \gamma jj\) background fits. The combined \(\chi^2\) per degree of freedom is \(45.2/45\). The bottom panel in each plot presents the significance of the Higgs boson signal relative to the non-resonant \(b\bar{b} \gamma jj\) background in each bin.
A search for heavy resonances decaying into a pair of $Z$ bosons leading to $\ell^+\ell^-\ell'^+\ell'^-$ and $\ell^+\ell^-\nu\bar\nu$ final states, where $\ell$ stands for either an electron or a muon, is presented. The search uses proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected from 2015 to 2018 that corresponds to the full integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ recorded by the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider. Different mass ranges spanning 200 GeV to 2000 GeV for the hypothetical resonances are considered, depending on the final state and model. In the absence of a significant observed excess, the results are interpreted as upper limits on the production cross section of a spin-0 or spin-2 resonance. The upper limits for the spin-0 resonance are translated to exclusion contours in the context of Type-I and Type-II two-Higgs-doublet models, and the limits for the spin-2 resonance are used to constrain the Randall--Sundrum model with an extra dimension giving rise to spin-2 graviton excitations.
Distribution of the four-lepton invariant mass in the four-lepton final state for the ggF-MVA-high 4-muon category.
Distribution of the four-lepton invariant mass in the four-lepton final state for the ggF-MVA-high 2e2mu category.
Distribution of the four-lepton invariant mass in the four-lepton final state for the ggF-MVA-high 4-electron category.
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