The ATLAS experiment has observed 1995 Z boson candidates in data corresponding to 0.15 inverse nb of integrated luminosity obtained in the 2011 LHC Pb+Pb run at sqrt(s_NN)=2.76 TeV. The Z bosons are reconstructed via di-electron and di-muon decay channels, with a background contamination of less than 3%. Results from the two channels are consistent and are combined. Within the statistical and systematic uncertainties, the per-event Z boson yield is proportional to the number of binary collisions estimated by the Glauber model. The elliptic anisotropy of the azimuthal distribution of the Z boson with respect to the event plane is found to be consistent with zero.
The ATLAS experiment at the LHC has measured the production cross section of events with two isolated photons in the final state, in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV. The full data set collected in 2011, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 fb-1, is used. The amount of background, from hadronic jets and isolated electrons, is estimated with data-driven techniques and subtracted. The total cross section, for two isolated photons with transverse energies above 25 GeV and 22 GeV respectively, in the acceptance of the electromagnetic calorimeter (|eta|<1.37 and 1.52<|eta|<2.37) and with an angular separation Delta R>0.4, is 44.0 (+3.2) (-4.2) pb. The differential cross sections as a function of the di-photon invariant mass, transverse momentum, azimuthal separation, and cosine of the polar angle of the largest transverse energy photon in the Collins--Soper di-photon rest frame are also measured. The results are compared to the prediction of leading-order parton-shower and next-to-leading-order and next-to-next-to-leading-order parton-level generators.
A search for pair-produced third generation scalar leptoquarks is presented, using proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$= 7 TeV at the LHC. The data were recorded with the ATLAS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb$^{-1}$. Each leptoquark is assumed to decay to a tau lepton and a b-quark with a branching fraction equal to 100%. No statistically significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed. Third generation leptoquarks are therefore excluded at 95% confidence level for masses less than 534 GeV.
The momentum-weighted sum of the charges of tracks associated to a jet is sensitive to the charge of the initiating quark or gluon. This paper presents a measurement of the distribution of momentum-weighted sums, called jet charge, in dijet events using 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of data recorded with the ATLAS detector at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV in $pp$ collisions at the LHC. The jet charge distribution is unfolded to remove distortions from detector effects and the resulting particle-level distribution is compared with several models. The $p_T$-dependence of the jet charge distribution average and standard deviation are compared to predictions obtained with several LO and NLO parton distribution functions. The data are also compared to different Monte Carlo simulations of QCD dijet production using various settings of the free parameters within these models. The chosen value of the strong coupling constant used to calculate gluon radiation is found to have a significant impact on the predicted jet charge. There is evidence for a $p_{T}$-dependence of the jet charge distribution for a given jet flavor. In agreement with perturbative QCD predictions, the data show that the average jet charge of quark-initiated jets decreases in magnitude as the energy of the jet increases.
Distributions sensitive to the underlying event in QCD jet events have been measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, based on 37/pb of proton-proton collision data collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. Charged-particle mean $p_T$ and densities of all-particle $E_T$ and charged-particle multiplicity and $p_T$ have been measured in regions azimuthally transverse to the hardest jet in each event. These are presented both as one-dimensional distributions and with their mean values as functions of the leading-jet transverse momentum from 20 GeV to 800 GeV. The correlation of charged-particle mean $p_T$ with charged-particle multiplicity is also studied, and the $E_T$ densities include the forward rapidity region; these features provide extra data constraints for Monte Carlo modelling of colour reconnection and beam-remnant effects respectively. For the first time, underlying event observables have been computed separately for inclusive jet and exclusive dijet event selections, allowing more detailed study of the interplay of multiple partonic scattering and QCD radiation contributions to the underlying event. Comparisons to the predictions of different Monte Carlo models show a need for further model tuning, but the standard approach is found to generally reproduce the features of the underlying event in both types of event selection.
The ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is used to search for high-mass resonances decaying to dielectron or dimuon final states. Results are presented from an analysis of proton-proton (pp) collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb-1 in the dielectron channel and 20.5 fb-1 in the dimuon channel. A narrow resonance with Standard Model Z couplings to fermions is excluded at 95% confidence level for masses less than 2.79 TeV in the dielectron channel, 2.53 TeV in the dimuon channel, and 2.90 TeV in the two channels combined. Limits on other model interpretations are also presented, including a grand-unification model based on the E6 gauge group, Z* bosons, Minimal Z' Models, a spin-2 graviton excitation from Randall-Sundrum models, quantum black holes and a Minimal Walking Technicolor model with a composite Higgs boson.
The ATLAS Collaboration has measured the inclusive production of $Z$ bosons via their decays into electron and muon pairs in $p+$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=5.02$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. The measurements are made using data corresponding to integrated luminosities of 29.4 nb$^{-1}$ and 28.1 nb$^{-1}$ for $Z \rightarrow ee$ and $Z \rightarrow \mu\mu$, respectively. The results from the two channels are consistent and combined to obtain a cross section times the $Z \rightarrow \ell\ell$ branching ratio, integrated over the rapidity region $|y^{*}_{Z}|<3.5$, of 139.8 $\pm$ 4.8 (stat.) $\pm$ 6.2 (syst.) $\pm$ 3.8 (lumi.) nb. Differential cross sections are presented as functions of the $Z$ boson rapidity and transverse momentum, and compared with models based on parton distributions both with and without nuclear corrections. The centrality dependence of $Z$ boson production in $p+$Pb collisions is measured and analyzed within the framework of a standard Glauber model and the model's extension for fluctuations of the underlying nucleon-nucleon scattering cross section.
Decays of the Higgs boson into a Z boson and a J/$\psi$ or $\psi$(2S) meson are searched for in four-lepton final states with the CMS detector at the LHC. A data set of proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$ is used. Using the same data set, decays of the Higgs and Z boson into quarkonium pairs are also searched for. An observation of such decays with this sample would indicate the presence of physics beyond the standard model. No evidence for these decays has been observed and upper limits at the 95% confidence level are placed on the corresponding branching fractions ($\mathcal{B}$). Assuming longitudinal polarization of the Higgs boson decay products, 95% confidence level observed upper limits for $\mathcal{B}$(H $\to$ J/$\psi$) and $\mathcal{B}$(H $\to$ Z$\psi$(2S)) are 1.9$\times$10$^{-3}$ and 6.6$\times$10$^{-3}$, respectively.
Measurements are presented of the B$^0_\mathrm{S}$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-$ branching fraction and effective lifetime, as well as results of a search for the B$^0$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-$ decay in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV at the LHC. The analysis is based on data collected with the CMS detector in 2016-2018 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$. The branching fraction of the B$^0_\mathrm{S}$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-$ decay and the effective B$^0_\mathrm{S}$ meson lifetime are the most precise single measurements to date. No evidence for the B$^0$$\to$$\mu^+\mu^-$ decay has been found. All results are found to be consistent with the standard model predictions and previous measurements.
A search for a new boson X is presented using CERN LHC proton-proton collision data collected by the CMS experiment at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV in 2016-2018, and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The resonance X decays into either a pair of Higgs bosons HH of mass 125 GeV or an H and a new spin-0 boson Y. One H subsequently decays to a pair of photons, and the second H or Y, to a pair of bottom quarks. The explored mass ranges of X are 260-1000 GeV and 300-1000 GeV, for decays to HH and to HY, respectively, with the Y mass range being 90-800 GeV. For a spin-0 X hypothesis, the 95% confidence level upper limit on the product of its production cross section and decay branching fraction is observed to be within 0.90-0.04 fb, depending on the masses of X and Y. The largest deviation from the background-only hypothesis with a local (global) significance of 3.8 (2.8) standard deviations is observed for X and Y masses of 650 and 90 GeV, respectively. The limits are interpreted using several models of new physics.
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