This paper presents a study of the production of $WW$ or $WZ$ boson pairs, with one $W$ boson decaying to $e\nu$ or $\mu\nu$ and one $W$ or $Z$ boson decaying hadronically. The analysis uses 20.2 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV $pp$ collision data, collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Cross-sections for $WW/WZ$ production are measured in high-$p_{T}$ fiducial regions defined close to the experimental event selection. The cross-section is measured for the case where the hadronically decaying boson is reconstructed as two resolved jets, and the case where it is reconstructed as a single jet. The transverse momentum distribution of the hadronically decaying boson is used to search for new physics. Observations are consistent with the Standard Model predictions, and $95\%$ confidence intervals are calculated for parameters describing anomalous triple gauge-boson couplings.

The results of a search for new heavy $W^\prime$ bosons decaying to an electron or muon and a neutrino using proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV are presented. The dataset was collected in 2015 and 2016 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$. As no excess of events above the Standard Model prediction is observed, the results are used to set upper limits on the $W^\prime$ boson cross-section times branching ratio to an electron or muon and a neutrino as a function of the $W^\prime$ mass. Assuming a $W^\prime$ boson with the same couplings as the Standard Model $W$ boson, $W^\prime$ masses below 5.1 TeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level.

A search for heavy neutral Higgs bosons and $Z^{\prime}$ bosons is performed using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ from proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2015 and 2016. The heavy resonance is assumed to decay to $\tau^+\tau^-$ with at least one tau lepton decaying to final states with hadrons and a neutrino. The search is performed in the mass range of 0.2-2.25 TeV for Higgs bosons and 0.2-4.0 TeV for $Z^{\prime}$ bosons. The data are in good agreement with the background predicted by the Standard Model. The results are interpreted in benchmark scenarios. In the context of the hMSSM scenario, the data exclude $\tan\beta > 1.0$ for $m_A$ = 0.25 TeV and $\tan\beta > 42$ for $m_A$ = 1.5 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the Sequential Standard Model, $Z^{\prime}_\mathrm{SSM}$ with $m_{Z^{\prime}} < 2.42$ TeV is excluded at 95% confidence level, while $Z^{\prime}_\mathrm{NU}$ with $m_{Z^{\prime}} < 2.25$ TeV is excluded for the non-universal $G(221)$ model that exhibits enhanced couplings to third-generation fermions.

The inclusive and fiducial $t\bar{t}$ production cross-sections are measured in the lepton+jets channel using 20.2 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Major systematic uncertainties due to the modelling of the jet energy scale and $b$-tagging efficiency are constrained by separating selected events into three disjoint regions. In order to reduce systematic uncertainties in the most important background, the W+jets process is modelled using Z+jets events in a data-driven approach. The inclusive $t\bar{t}$ cross-section is measured with a precision of 5.7% to be $\sigma_{\text{inc}}(t\bar{t})$ = 248.3 $\pm$ 0.7 (stat.) $\pm$ 13.4 (syst.) $\pm$ 4.7 (lumi.) pb, assuming a top-quark mass of 172.5 GeV. The result is in agreement with the Standard Model prediction. The cross-section is also measured in a phase space close to that of the selected data. The fiducial cross-section is $\sigma_{\text{fid}}(t\bar{t})$ = 48.8 $\pm$ 0.1 (stat.) $\pm$ 2.0 (syst.) $\pm$ 0.9 (lumi.) pb with a precision of 4.5%.

Inclusive and differential fiducial cross sections of Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions are measured in the $H \rightarrow ZZ^* \rightarrow 4\ell$ decay channel. The proton-proton collision data were produced at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$. The inclusive fiducial cross section in the $H \rightarrow ZZ^* \rightarrow 4\ell$ decay channel is measured to be 3.62 $\pm$ 0.50 (stat) $^{+0.25}_{-0.20}$ (sys) fb, in agreement with the Standard Model prediction of 2.91 $\pm$ 0.13 fb. The cross section is also extrapolated to the total phase space including all Standard Model Higgs boson decays. Several differential fiducial cross sections are measured for observables sensitive to the Higgs boson production and decay, including kinematic distributions of jets produced in association with the Higgs boson. Good agreement is found between data and Standard Model predictions. The results are used to put constraints on anomalous Higgs boson interactions with Standard Model particles, using the pseudo-observable extension to the kappa-framework.

Several extensions of the Standard Model predict the production of dark matter particles at the LHC. An uncharted signature of dark matter particles produced in association with $VV=W^\pm W^\mp$ or $ZZ$ pairs from a decay of a dark Higgs boson $s$ is searched for using 139 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The $s\to V(q\bar q)V(q\bar q)$ decays are reconstructed with a novel technique aimed at resolving the dense topology from boosted $VV$ pairs using jets in the calorimeter and tracking information. Dark Higgs scenarios with $m_s > 160$ GeV are excluded.

A search is performed for new phenomena in events having a photon with high transverse momentum and a jet collected in 36.7 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The invariant mass distribution of the leading photon and jet is examined to look for the resonant production of new particles or the presence of new high-mass states beyond the Standard Model. No significant deviation from the background-only hypothesis is observed and cross-section limits for generic Gaussian-shaped resonances are extracted. Excited quarks hypothesized in quark compositeness models and high-mass states predicted in quantum black hole models with extra dimensions are also examined in the analysis. The observed data exclude, at 95% confidence level, the mass range below 5.3 TeV for excited quarks and 7.1 TeV (4.4 TeV) for quantum black holes in the Arkani-Hamed-Dimopoulos-Dvali (Randall-Sundrum) model with six (one) extra dimensions.

A search for neutral heavy resonances is performed in the $WW\to e\nu\mu\nu$ decay channel using $pp$ collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$, collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. No evidence of such heavy resonances is found. In the search for production via the quark--antiquark annihilation or gluon--gluon fusion process, upper limits on $\sigma_X \times B(X \to WW)$ as a function of the resonance mass are obtained in the mass range between 200 GeV and up to 5 TeV for various benchmark models: a Higgs-like scalar in different width scenarios, a two-Higgs-doublet model, a heavy vector triplet model, and a warped extra dimensions model. In the vector-boson fusion process, constraints are also obtained on these resonances, as well as on a Higgs boson in the Georgi--Machacek model and a heavy tensor particle coupling only to gauge bosons.

Measurements of $ZZ$ production in the $\ell^{+}\ell^{-}\ell^{\prime +}\ell^{\prime -}$ channel in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV center-of-mass energy at the Large Hadron Collider are presented. The data correspond to 36.1 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of collisions collected by the ATLAS experiment in 2015 and 2016. Here $\ell$ and $\ell'$ stand for electrons or muons. Integrated and differential $ZZ \to \ell^{+}\ell^{-}\ell^{\prime +}\ell^{\prime -}$ cross sections with $Z \to \ell^+\ell^-$ candidate masses in the range of 66 GeV to 116 GeV are measured in a fiducial phase space corresponding to the detector acceptance and corrected for detector effects. The differential cross sections are presented in bins of twenty observables, including several that describe the jet activity. The integrated cross section is also extrapolated to a total phase space and to all Standard-Model decays of $Z$ bosons with mass between 66 GeV and 116 GeV, resulting in a value of $17.3 \pm 0.9$ [$\pm 0.6$ (stat.) $\pm 0.5$ (syst.) $\pm 0.6$ (lumi.)] pb. The measurements are found to be in good agreement with the Standard-Model predictions. A search for neutral triple gauge couplings is performed using the transverse momentum distribution of the leading $Z$-boson candidate. No evidence for such couplings is found and exclusion limits are set on their parameters.

A search for long-lived, massive particles predicted by many theories beyond the Standard Model is presented. The search targets final states with large missing transverse momentum and at least one high-mass displaced vertex with five or more tracks, and uses 32.8 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV $pp$ collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The observed yield is consistent with the expected background. The results are used to extract 95\% CL exclusion limits on the production of long-lived gluinos with masses up to 2.37 TeV and lifetimes of $\mathcal{O}(10^{-2})$-$\mathcal{O}(10)$ ns in a simplified model inspired by Split Supersymmetry.