Measurements are presented of the associated production of a W boson and a charm-quark jet (W + c) in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. The analysis is conducted with a data sample corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns, collected by the CMS detector at the LHC. W boson candidates are identified by their decay into a charged lepton (muon or electron) and a neutrino. The W + c measurements are performed for charm-quark jets in the kinematic region $p_T^{jet} \gt$ 25 GeV, $|\eta^{jet}| \lt$ 2.5, for two different thresholds for the transverse momentum of the lepton from the W-boson decay, and in the pseudorapidity range $|\eta^{\ell}| \lt$ 2.1. Hadronic and inclusive semileptonic decays of charm hadrons are used to measure the following total cross sections: $\sigma(pp \to W + c + X) \times B(W \to \ell \nu)$ = 107.7 +/- 3.3 (stat.) +/- 6.9 (syst.) pb ($p_T^{\ell} \gt$ 25 GeV) and $\sigma(pp \to W + c + X) \times B(W \to \ell \nu)$ = 84.1 +/- 2.0 (stat.) +/- 4.9 (syst.) pb ($p_T^{\ell} \gt$ 35 GeV), and the cross section ratios $\sigma(pp \to W^+ + \bar{c} + X)/\sigma(pp \to W^- + c + X)$ = 0.954 +/- 0.025 (stat.) +/- 0.004 (syst.) ($p_T^{\ell} \gt$ 25 GeV) and $\sigma(pp \to W^+ + \bar{c} + X)\sigma(pp \to W^- + c + X)$ = 0.938 +/- 0.019 (stat.) +/- 0.006 (syst.) ($p_T^{\ell} \gt$ 35 GeV). Cross sections and cross section ratios are also measured differentially with respect to the absolute value of the pseudorapidity of the lepton from the W-boson decay. These are the first measurements from the LHC directly sensitive to the strange quark and antiquark content of the proton. Results are compared with theoretical predictions and are consistent with the predictions based on global fits of parton distribution functions.

The normalized differential cross section for top quark pair (tt-bar) production is measured in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV at the CERN LHC using the CMS detector in data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns. The measurements are performed in the lepton + jets (e/mu + jets) and in the dilepton (e+e-, mu+mu-, and e+-mu-+) decay channels. The tt-bar cross section is measured as a function of the kinematic properties of the charged leptons, the jets associated to b quarks, the top quarks, and the tt-bar system. The data are compared with several predictions from perturbative quantum chromodynamics up to approximate next-to-next-to-leading-order precision. No significant deviations are observed relative to the standard model predictions.

Jet multiplicity distributions in top quark pair (t t-bar) events are measured in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns. The measurement is performed in the dilepton decay channels (e+ e-, mu+ mu-, and e+/- mu-/+). The absolute and normalized differential cross sections for t t-bar production are measured as a function of the jet multiplicity in the event for different jet transverse momentum thresholds and the kinematic properties of the leading additional jets. The differential t t-bar b and t t-bar b b-bar cross sections are presented for the first time as a function of the kinematic properties of the leading additional b jets. Furthermore, the fraction of events without additional jets above a threshold is measured as a function of the transverse momenta of the leading additional jets and the scalar sum of the transverse momenta of all additional jets. The data are compared and found to be consistent with predictions from several perturbative quantum chromodynamics event generators and a next-to-leading order calculation.

Measurements of differential cross sections are presented for the production of a Z boson and at least one hadronic jet in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, recorded by the CMS detector, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 inverse femtobarns. The jet multiplicity distribution is measured for up to six jets. The differential cross sections are measured as a function of jet transverse momentum and pseudorapidity for the four highest transverse momentum jets. The distribution of the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta is also measured as a function of the jet multiplicity. The measurements are compared with theoretical predictions at leading and next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD.

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pt) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 inverse femtobarns. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MADGRAPH + PYTHIA and SHERPA, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BLACKHAT + SHERPA. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pt distributions of the leading jets at high pt values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.

The differential cross sections for inclusive production of B+ hadrons are measured as a function of the B+ transverse momentum pT[B] and rapidity y[B] in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, using data collected by the CMS experiment that correspond to an integrated luminosity of 49.4 inverse picobarns. The measurement uses the exclusive decay channel B+ to J/psi K+, with J/psi mesons that decay to a pair of muons. The results show a reasonable agreement with theoretical calculations within the uncertainties.

Differential cross sections for a W boson produced in association with jets are measured in a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV recorded with the CMS detector and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.6 inverse femtobarns. The W bosons are identified through their decay mode W to mu nu. The cross sections are reported as functions of jet multiplicity, transverse momenta, and the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT) for different jet multiplicities. Distributions of the angular correlations between the jets and the muon are examined, as well as the average number of jets as a function of HT and as a function of angular variables. The measured differential cross sections are compared with tree-level and higher-order recent event generators, as well as next-to-leading-order and next-to-next-to-leading-order theoretical predictions. The agreement of the generators with the measurements builds confidence in their use for the simulation of W+jets background processes in searches for new physics at the LHC.

The production of a W boson in association with a single charm quark is studied using 4.6 fb^-1 of pp collision data at sqrt(s)=7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. In events in which a W boson decays to an electron or muon, the charm quark is tagged either by its semileptonic decay to a muon or by the presence of a charmed meson. The integrated and differential cross sections as a function of the pseudorapidity of the lepton from the W-boson decay are measured. Results are compared to the predictions of next-to-leading-order QCD calculations obtained from various parton distribution function parameterisations. The ratio of the strange-to-down sea-quark distributions is determined to be 0.96 +0.26 -0.30 at Q^2=1.9 GeV^2, which supports the hypothesis of an SU(3)-symmetric composition of the light-quark sea. Additionally, the cross-section ratio sigma(W^+ + bar{c})/sigma(W^- + c) is compared to the predictions obtained using parton distribution function parameterisations with different assumptions about the s-bar{s} quark asymmetry.

A measurement of the cross section for the production of isolated prompt photons in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV is presented. The results are based on an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb-1 collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The cross section is measured as a function of photon pseudorapidity and transverse energy in the kinematic range between 100 GeV and 1000 GeV and in the regions of pseudorapidity less than 1.37 and between 1.52 and 2.37. The results are compared to leading-order parton-shower Monte Carlo models and next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations. Next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations agree well with the measured cross sections as a function of transverse energy and pseudorapidity.