The differential cross sections for the production of photons in Z to mu+ mu- gamma decays are presented as a function of the transverse energy of the photon and its separation from the nearest muon. The data for these measurements were collected with the CMS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 inverse femtobarns of pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV delivered by the CERN LHC. The cross sections are compared to simulations with POWHEG and PYTHIA, where PYTHIA is used to simulate parton showers and final-state photons. These simulations match the data to better than 5%.

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 production of Z bosons is studied in the dimuon and dielectron decay channels in PbPb and pp collisions at sqrt(s[NN]) = 2.76 TeV, using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The PbPb data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of about 150 inverse microbarns, while the pp data sample collected in 2013 at the same nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy has an integrated luminosity of 5.4 inverse picobarns. The Z boson yield is measured as a function of rapidity, transverse momentum, and collision centrality. The ratio of PbPb to pp yields, scaled by the number of inelastic nucleon-nucleon collisions, is found to be 1.06 +/- 0.05 (stat) +/- 0.08 (syst) in the dimuon channel and 1.02 +/- 0.08 (stat) +/- 0.15 (syst) in the dielectron channel, for centrality-integrated Z boson production. This binary collision scaling is seen to hold in the entire kinematic region studied, as expected for a colourless probe that is unaffected by the hot and dense QCD medium produced in heavy ion collisions.

The ratio between the prompt psi(2S) and J/psi yields, reconstructed via their decays into muon pairs, is measured in PbPb and pp collisions at sqrt(s[NN]) = 2.76 TeV. The analysis is based on PbPb and pp data samples collected by CMS at the LHC, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 150 inverse microbarns and 5.4 inverse picobarns, respectively. The double ratio of measured yields, (N[psi(2S)]/N[J/psi])[PbPb] / (N[psi(2S)]/ N[J/psi])[pp], is computed in three PbPb collision centrality bins and two kinematic ranges: one at midrapidity, abs(y) < 1.6, covering the transverse momentum range 6.5 < pt < 30 GeV/c, and the other at forward rapidity, 1.6 < abs(y) < 2.4, extending to lower pt values, 3 < pt < 30 GeV/c. The centrality-integrated double ratio changes from 0.45 +/- 0.13 (stat) +/- 0.07 (syst) in the first range to 1.67 +/- 0.34 (stat) +/- 0.27 (syst) in the second. This difference is most pronounced in the most central collisions.

The production cross section for a W boson and two b jets is measured using proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV in a data sample collected with the CMS experiment at the LHC corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 inverse femtobarns. The W + b b-bar events are selected in the W to mu nu decay mode by requiring a muon with transverse momentum pt > 25 GeV and pseudorapidity abs(eta) < 2.1, and exactly two b-tagged jets with pt > 25 GeV and abs(eta) < 2.4. The measured W + b b-bar production cross section in the fiducial region, calculated at the level of final-state particles, is sigma(pp to W + b b-bar) x B(W to mu nu) = 0.53 +/- 0.05 (stat.) +/- 0.09 (syst.) +/- 0.06 (theo.) +/- 0.01 (lum.) pb, in agreement with the standard model prediction. In addition, kinematic distributions of the W + b b-bar system are in agreement with the predictions of a simulation using MADGRAPH and PYTHIA.

A measurement of the forward-backward asymmetry (A[FB]) of Drell-Yan lepton pairs in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV is presented. The data sample, collected with the CMS detector, corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns. The asymmetry is measured as a function of dilepton mass and rapidity in the dielectron and dimuon channels. Combined results from the two channels are also presented. The A[FB] measurement in the dimuon channel and the combination of the two channels are the first such results obtained at a hadron collider. The measured asymmetries are consistent with the standard model predictions.

The production of a Z boson, decaying into two leptons and produced in association with one or more b jets, is studied using proton-proton collisions delivered by the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. The data were recorded in 2011 with the CMS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns. The Z(ll) + b-jets cross sections (where ll = mu mu or ee) are measured separately for a Z boson produced with exactly one b jet and with at least two b jets. In addition, a cross section ratio is extracted for a Z boson produced with at least one b jet, relative to a Z boson produced with at least one jet. The measured cross sections are compared to various theoretical predictions, and the data favour the predictions in the five-flavour scheme, where b quarks are assumed massless. The kinematic properties of the reconstructed particles are compared with the predictions from the MADGRAPH event generator using the PYTHIA parton shower simulation.

The ratio of the top-quark branching fractions $R = B(t \to Wb)/B(t \to Wq)$, where the denominator includes the sum over all down-type quarks (q = b, s, d), is measured in the $t\bar{t}$ dilepton final state with proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV from an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse-femtobarns, collected with the CMS detector. In order to quantify the purity of the signal sample, the cross section is measured by fitting the observed jet multiplicity, thereby constraining the signal and background contributions. By counting the number of b jets per event, an unconstrained value of R = 1.014 $\pm$ 0.003 (stat) $\pm$ 0.032 (syst) is measured, in good agreement with the standard model prediction. A lower limit R greater than 0.955 at the 95% confidence level is obtained after requiring R lower than one, and a lower limit on the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element |$V_tb$| greater than 0.975 is set at 95% confidence level. The result is combined with a previous CMS measurement of the t-channel single-top-quark cross section to determine the top-quark total decay width, $\Gamma_t$ = 1.36 $\pm$ 0.02 (stat)$^{+0.14}_{-0.11}$ (syst) GeV.

The normalised differential top quark-antiquark production cross section is measured as a function of the jet multiplicity in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV at the LHC with the CMS detector. The measurement is performed in both the dilepton and lepton + jets decay channels using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 inverse femtobarns. Using a procedure to associate jets to decay products of the top quarks, the differential cross section of the t t-bar production is determined as a function of the additional jet multiplicity in the lepton + jets channel. Furthermore, the fraction of events with no additional jets is measured in the dilepton channel, as a function of the threshold on the jet transverse momentum. The measurements are compared with predictions from perturbative quantum chromodynamics and no significant deviations are observed.

Production of prompt J/$\psi$ meson pairs in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV is measured with the CMS experiment at the LHC in a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 4.7 inverse-femtobarns. The two J/$\psi$ mesons are fully reconstructed via their decays into $\mu^+\mu^-$ pairs. This observation provides for the first time access to the high-transverse-momentum region of J/$\psi$ pair production where model predictions are not yet established. The total and differential cross sections are measured in a phase space defined by the individual J/$\psi$ transverse momentum ($p_T^{J/\psi}$) and rapidity (|$y^{J/\psi}$|): |$y^{J/\psi}$| lower than 1.2 for $p_T^{J/\psi}$ greater than 6.5 GeV/c; |$y^{J/\psi}$| in [1.2,1.43] for a $p_T$ threshold that scales linearly with |$y^{J/\psi}$| from 6.5 to 4.5 GeV/c; and |$y^{J/\psi}$| in [1.43,2.2] for $p_T^{J/\psi}$ greater than 4.5 GeV/c. The total cross section, assuming unpolarized prompt J/$\psi$ pair production is 1.49 $\pm$ 0.07 (stat.) $\pm$ 0.13 (syst.) nb. Different assumptions about the J/$\psi$ polarization imply modifications to the cross section ranging from -31% to +27%.