Pseudorapidity gap distributions in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV are studied using a minimum bias data sample with an integrated luminosity of 7.1 inverse microbarns. Cross sections are measured differentially in terms of Delta eta F, the larger of the pseudorapidity regions extending to the limits of the ATLAS sensitivity, at eta = +/- 4.9, in which no final state particles are produced above a transverse momentum threshold p_T Cut. The measurements span the region 0 < Delta eta F < 8 for 200 < p_T Cut < 800 MeV. At small Delta eta F, the data test the reliability of hadronisation models in describing rapidity and transverse momentum fluctuations in final state particle production. The measurements at larger gap sizes are dominated by contributions from the single diffractive dissociation process (pp -> Xp), enhanced by double dissociation (pp -> XY) where the invariant mass of the lighter of the two dissociation systems satisfies M_Y <~ 7 GeV. The resulting cross section is d sigma / d Delta eta F ~ 1 mb for Delta eta F >~ 3. The large rapidity gap data are used to constrain the value of the pomeron intercept appropriate to triple Regge models of soft diffraction. The cross section integrated over all gap sizes is compared with other LHC inelastic cross section measurements.

The production of a $W$ boson decaying to $e\nu$ or $\mu\nu$ in association with a $W$ or $Z$ boson decaying to two jets is studied using $4.6 \mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of proton--proton collision data at $\sqrt{\rm{s}} = 7$ TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The combined $WW+WZ$ cross section is measured with a significance of 3.4$\sigma$ and is found to be $68 \pm 7 \ \mathrm{(stat.)} \pm 19 \ \mathrm{(syst.)} \ pb$, in agreement with the Standard Model expectation of $61.1 \pm 2.2 \ \mathrm{pb}$. The distribution of the transverse momentum of the dijet system is used to set limits on anomalous contributions to the triple gauge coupling vertices and on parameters of an effective-field-theory model.

This article reports on a search for dark matter pair production in association with bottom or top quarks in 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions collected at $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events with large missing transverse momentum are selected when produced in association with high-momentum jets of which one or more are identified as jets containing $b$-quarks. Final states with top quarks are selected by requiring a high jet multiplicity and in some cases a single lepton. The data are found to be consistent with the Standard Model expectations and limits are set on the mass scale of effective field theories that describe scalar and tensor interactions between dark matter and Standard Model particles. Limits on the dark-matter--nucleon cross-section for spin-independent and spin-dependent interactions are also provided. These limits are particularly strong for low-mass dark matter. Using a simplified model, constraints are set on the mass of dark matter and of a coloured mediator suitable to explain a possible signal of annihilating dark matter.

A search is presented for production of dark matter particles recoiling against a leptonically decaying Z boson in 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events with large missing transverse momentum and two oppositely-charged electrons or muons consistent with the decay of a Z boson are analyzed. No excess above the Standard Model prediction is observed. Limits are set on the mass scale of the contact interaction as a function of the dark matter particle mass using an effective field theory description of the interaction of dark matter with quarks or with Z bosons. Limits are also set on the coupling and mediator mass of a model in which the interaction is mediated by a scalar particle.

Searches are performed for resonant and non-resonant Higgs boson pair production in the $\gamma\gamma b\bar{b}$ final state using 20 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. A 95% confidence level upper limit on the cross section times branching ratio of non-resonant production is set at 2.2 pb, while the expected limit is 1.0 pb. The difference derives from a modest excess of events, corresponding to 2.4 standard deviations from the background-only hypothesis. The limit observed in the search for a narrow $X \to hh$ resonance ranges between 0.7 and 3.5 pb as a function of the resonance mass.

A first measurement of the inelastic cross-section is presented for proton-proton collisions at a center of mass energy sqrt{s}=7 TeV using the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. In a dataset corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20 mub-1, events are selected by requiring hits on scintillation counters mounted in the forward region of the detector. An inelastic cross-section of $60.3 +/- 2.1 mb is measured for xi > 5x10^-6, where xi=M_X^2/s is calculated from the invariant mass, M_X, of hadrons selected using the largest rapidity gap in the event. For diffractive events this corresponds to requiring at least one of the dissociation masses to be larger than 15.7 GeV.

Results are presented of a search for supersymmetric particles in events with large missing transverse momentum and at least one heavy flavour jet candidate in sqrt{s} = 7 TeV proton-proton collisions. In a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35 pb-1 recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, no significant excess is observed with respect to the prediction for Standard Model processes. For R-parity conserving models in which sbottoms (stops) are the only squarks to appear in the gluino decay cascade, gluino masses below 590 GeV (520 GeV) are excluded at the 95% C.L. The results are also interpreted in an MSUGRA/CMSSM supersymmetry breaking scenario with tan(beta)=40 and in an SO(10) model framework.