A search for nonresonant Higgs boson pair production in the $b\bar{b}\gamma\gamma$ final state is performed using 140 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. This analysis supersedes and expands upon the previous nonresonant ATLAS results in this final state based on the same data sample. The analysis strategy is optimised to probe anomalous values not only of the Higgs ($H$) boson self-coupling modifier $\kappa_\lambda$ but also of the quartic $HHVV$ ($V=W,Z$) coupling modifier $\kappa_{2V}$. No significant excess above the expected background from Standard Model processes is observed. An observed upper limit $\mu_{HH}<4.0$ is set at 95% confidence level on the Higgs boson pair production cross-section normalised to its Standard Model prediction. The 95% confidence intervals for the coupling modifiers are $-1.4<\kappa_\lambda<6.9$ and $-0.5<\kappa_{2V}<2.7$, assuming all other Higgs boson couplings except the one under study are fixed to the Standard Model predictions. The results are interpreted in the Standard Model effective field theory and Higgs effective field theory frameworks in terms of constraints on the couplings of anomalous Higgs boson (self-)interactions.

Measurements of the differential production cross-sections of prompt and non-prompt $J/\psi$ and $\psi(2$S$)$ mesons with transverse momenta between 8 and 360 GeV and rapidity in the range $|y|<2$ are reported. Furthermore, measurements of the non-prompt fractions of $J/\psi$ and $\psi(2$S$)$, and the prompt and non-prompt $\psi(2$S$)$-to-$J/\psi$ production ratios, are presented. The analysis is performed using 140 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV $pp$ collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC during the years 2015-2018.

A search for a new massive charged gauge boson, $W'$, is performed with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The dataset used in this analysis was collected from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} =13$ TeV, and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. The reconstructed $tb$ invariant mass is used to search for a $W'$ boson decaying into a top quark and a bottom quark. The result is interpreted in terms of a $W'$ boson with purely right-handed or left-handed chirality in a mass range of 0.5-6 TeV. Different values for the coupling of the $W'$ boson to the top and bottom quarks are considered, taking into account interference with single-top-quark production in the $s$-channel. No significant deviation from the background prediction is observed. The results are expressed as upper limits on the $W' \rightarrow tb$ production cross-section times branching ratio as a function of the $W'$-boson mass and in the plane of the coupling vs the $W'$-boson mass.

We present a search for magnetic monopoles and high-electric-charge objects using LHC Run 2 $\sqrt{s} =$13 TeV proton$-$proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector. A total integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$ was collected by a specialized trigger. No highly ionizing particle candidate was observed. Considering the Drell-Yan and photon-fusion pair production mechanisms as benchmark models, cross-section upper limits are presented for spin-0 and spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ magnetic monopoles of magnetic charge $1g_\textrm{D}$ and $2g_\textrm{D}$ and for high-electric-charge objects of electric charge $20 \leq |z| \leq 100$, for masses between 200 GeV and 4000 GeV. The search improves by approximately a factor of three the previous cross-section limits on the Drell-Yan production of magnetic monopoles and high-electric charge objects. Also, the first ATLAS limits on the photon-fusion pair production mechanism of magnetic monopoles and high-electric-charge objects have been obtained.

This Letter reports the observation of $WZ\gamma$ production and a measurement of its cross-section using 140.1 $\pm$ 1.2 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data recorded at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The $WZ\gamma$ production cross-section, with both the $W$ and $Z$ bosons decaying leptonically, $pp \rightarrow WZ\gamma \rightarrow {\ell'}^{\pm}\nu\ell^{+}\ell^{-}\gamma$ ($\ell^{(')} = e, \mu$), is measured in a fiducial phase-space region defined such that the leptons and the photon have high transverse momentum and the photon is isolated. The cross-section is found to be 2.01 $\pm$ 0.30 (stat.) $\pm$ 0.16 (syst) fb. The corresponding Standard Model predicted cross-section calculated at next-to-leading order in perturbative quantum chromodynamics and at leading order in the electroweak coupling constant is 1.50 $\pm$ 0.06 fb. The observed significance of the $WZ\gamma$ signal is 6.3$\sigma$, compared with an expected significance of 5.0$\sigma$.

A search for leptoquarks decaying into the $b\tau$ final state is performed using Run 2 proton-proton collision data from the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector. The benchmark models considered in this search are vector leptoquarks with electric charge of 2/3e and scalar leptoquarks with an electric charge of 4/3e. No significant excess above the Standard Model prediction is observed, and 95% confidence level upper limits are set on the cross-section times branching fraction of leptoquarks decaying into $b\tau$. For the vector leptoquark production two models are considered: the Yang-Mills and Minimal coupling models. In the Yang-Mills (Minimal coupling) scenario, vector leptoquarks with a mass below 1.58 (1.35) TeV are excluded for a gauge coupling of 1.0 and below 2.05 (1.99) TeV for a gauge coupling of 2.5. In the case of scalar leptoquarks, masses below 1.28 TeV (1.53 TeV) are excluded for a Yukawa coupling of 1.0 (2.5). Finally, an interpretation of the results with minimal model dependence is performed for each of the signal region categories, and limits on the visible cross-section for beyond the Standard Model processes are provided.

A search for Majorana neutrinos in same-sign $WW$ scattering events is presented. The analysis uses $\sqrt{s}= 13$ TeV proton-proton collision data with an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$ recorded during 2015-2018 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis targets final states including exactly two same-sign muons and at least two hadronic jets well separated in rapidity. The modelling of the main backgrounds, from Standard Model same-sign $WW$ scattering and $WZ$ production, is constrained with data in dedicated signal-depleted control regions. The distribution of the transverse momentum of the second-hardest muon is used to search for signals originating from a heavy Majorana neutrino with a mass between 50 GeV and 20 TeV. No significant excess is observed over the background expectation. The results are interpreted in a benchmark scenario of the Phenomenological Type-I Seesaw model. In addition, the sensitivity to the Weinberg operator is investigated. Upper limits at the 95% confidence level are placed on the squared muon-neutrino-heavy-neutrino mass-mixing matrix element $\vert V_{\mu N} \vert^{2}$ as a function of the heavy Majorana neutrino's mass $m_N$, and on the effective $\mu\mu$ Majorana neutrino mass $|m_{\mu\mu}|$.

A search for physics beyond the Standard Model inducing periodic signals in the dielectron and diphoton invariant mass spectra is presented using 139 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV $pp$ collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Novel search techniques based on continuous wavelet transforms are used to infer the frequency of periodic signals from the invariant mass spectra and neural network classifiers are used to enhance the sensitivity to periodic resonances. In the absence of a signal, exclusion limits are placed at the 95% confidence level in the two-dimensional parameter space of the clockwork gravity model. Model-independent searches for deviations from the background-only hypothesis are also performed.

In relativistic heavy-ion collisions, a global spin polarization, $P_\mathrm{H}$, of $\Lambda$ and $\bar{\Lambda}$ hyperons along the direction of the system angular momentum was discovered and measured across a broad range of collision energies and demonstrated a trend of increasing $P_\mathrm{H}$ with decreasing $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$. A splitting between $\Lambda$ and $\bar{\Lambda}$ polarization may be possible due to their different magnetic moments in a late-stage magnetic field sustained by the quark-gluon plasma which is formed in the collision. The results presented in this study find no significant splitting at the collision energies of $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=19.6$ and $27$ GeV in the RHIC Beam Energy Scan Phase II using the STAR detector, with an upper limit of $P_{\bar{\Lambda}}-P_{\Lambda}<0.24$% and $P_{\bar{\Lambda}}-P_{\Lambda}<0.35$%, respectively, at a 95% confidence level. We derive an upper limit on the na\"ive extraction of the late-stage magnetic field of $B<9.4\cdot10^{12}$ T and $B<1.4\cdot10^{13}$ T at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=19.6$ and $27$ GeV, respectively, although more thorough derivations are needed. Differential measurements of $P_\mathrm{H}$ were performed with respect to collision centrality, transverse momentum, and rapidity. With our current acceptance of $|y|<1$ and uncertainties, we observe no dependence on transverse momentum and rapidity in this analysis. These results challenge multiple existing model calculations following a variety of different assumptions which have each predicted a strong dependence on rapidity in this collision-energy range.

A search is presented for displaced production of Higgs bosons or $Z$ bosons, originating from the decay of a neutral long-lived particle (LLP) and reconstructed in the decay modes $H\rightarrow \gamma\gamma$ and $Z\rightarrow ee$. The analysis uses the full Run 2 data set of proton$-$proton collisions delivered by the LHC at an energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV between 2015 and 2018 and recorded by the ATLAS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. Exploiting the capabilities of the ATLAS liquid argon calorimeter to precisely measure the arrival times and trajectories of electromagnetic objects, the analysis searches for the signature of pairs of photons or electrons which arise from a common displaced vertex and which arrive after some delay at the calorimeter. The results are interpreted in a gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking model with pair-produced higgsinos that decay to LLPs, and each LLP subsequently decays into either a Higgs boson or a $Z$ boson. The final state includes at least two particles that escape direct detection, giving rise to missing transverse momentum. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation. The results are used to set upper limits on the cross section for higgsino pair production, up to a $\tilde\chi^0_1$ mass of 369 (704) GeV for decays with 100% branching ratio of $\tilde\chi^0_1$ to Higgs ($Z$) bosons for a $\tilde\chi^0_1$ lifetime of 2 ns. A model-independent limit is also set on the production of pairs of photons or electrons with a significant delay in arrival at the calorimeter.

A search for high-mass charged and neutral bosons decaying to $W\gamma$ and $Z\gamma$ final states is presented in this paper. The analysis uses a data sample of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV proton-proton collisions with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS detector during LHC Run 2 operation. The sensitivity of the search is determined using models of the production and decay of spin-1 charged bosons and spin-0/2 neutral bosons. The range of resonance masses explored extends from 1.0 TeV to 6.8 TeV. At these high resonance masses, it is beneficial to target the hadronic decays of the $W$ and $Z$ bosons because of their large branching fractions. The decay products of the high-momentum $W/Z$ bosons are strongly collimated and boosted-boson tagging techniques are employed to improve the sensitivity. No evidence of a signal above the Standard Model backgrounds is observed, and upper limits on the production cross-sections of these bosons times their branching fractions to $W\gamma$ and $Z\gamma$ are derived for various boson production models.

Global polarizations ($P$) of $\Lambda$ ($\bar{\Lambda}$) hyperons have been observed in non-central heavy-ion collisions. The strong magnetic field primarily created by the spectator protons in such collisions would split the $\Lambda$ and $\bar{\Lambda}$ global polarizations ($\Delta P = P_{\Lambda} - P_{\bar{\Lambda}} < 0$). Additionally, quantum chromodynamics (QCD) predicts topological charge fluctuations in vacuum, resulting in a chirality imbalance or parity violation in a local domain. This would give rise to an imbalance ($\Delta n = \frac{N_{\text{L}} - N_{\text{R}}}{\langle N_{\text{L}} + N_{\text{R}} \rangle} \neq 0$) between left- and right-handed $\Lambda$ ($\bar{\Lambda}$) as well as a charge separation along the magnetic field, referred to as the chiral magnetic effect (CME). This charge separation can be characterized by the parity-even azimuthal correlator ($\Delta\gamma$) and parity-odd azimuthal harmonic observable ($\Delta a_{1}$). Measurements of $\Delta P$, $\Delta\gamma$, and $\Delta a_{1}$ have not led to definitive conclusions concerning the CME or the magnetic field, and $\Delta n$ has not been measured previously. Correlations among these observables may reveal new insights. This paper reports measurements of correlation between $\Delta n$ and $\Delta a_{1}$, which is sensitive to chirality fluctuations, and correlation between $\Delta P$ and $\Delta\gamma$ sensitive to magnetic field in Au+Au collisions at 27 GeV. For both measurements, no correlations have been observed beyond statistical fluctuations.

A search for heavy right-handed Majorana or Dirac neutrinos $N_{\mathrm{R}}$ and heavy right-handed gauge bosons $W_{\mathrm{R}}$ is performed in events with energetic electrons or muons, with the same or opposite electric charge, and energetic jets. The search is carried out separately for topologies of clearly separated final-state products (``resolved'' channel) and topologies with boosted final states with hadronic and/or leptonic products partially overlapping and reconstructed as a large-radius jet (``boosted'' channel). The events are selected from $pp$ collision data at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS detector at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV. No significant deviations from the Standard Model predictions are observed. The results are interpreted within the theoretical framework of a left-right symmetric model, and lower limits are set on masses in the heavy right-handed $W_{\mathrm{R}}$ boson and $N_{\mathrm{R}}$ plane. The excluded region extends to about $m(W_{\mathrm{R}}) = 6.4$ TeV for both Majorana and Dirac $N_{\mathrm{R}}$ neutrinos at $m(N_{\mathrm{R}})<1$ TeV. $N_{\mathrm{R}}$ with masses of less than 3.5 (3.6) TeV are excluded in the electron (muon) channel at $m(W_{\mathrm{R}})=4.8$ TeV for the Majorana neutrinos, and limits of $m(N_{\mathrm{R}})$ up to 3.6 TeV for $m(W_{\mathrm{R}}) = 5.2$ (5.0) TeV in the electron (muon) channel are set for the Dirac neutrinos. These constitute the most stringent exclusion limits to date for the model considered.

The deconfined quark-gluon plasma (QGP) created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions enables the exploration of the fundamental properties of matter under extreme conditions. Non-central collisions can produce strong magnetic fields on the order of $10^{18}$ Gauss, which offers a probe into the electrical conductivity of the QGP. In particular, quarks and anti-quarks carry opposite charges and receive contrary electromagnetic forces that alter their momenta. This phenomenon can be manifested in the collective motion of final-state particles, specifically in the rapidity-odd directed flow, denoted as $v_1(\mathsf{y})$. Here we present the charge-dependent measurements of $dv_1/d\mathsf{y}$ near midrapidities for $\pi^{\pm}$, $K^{\pm}$, and $p(\bar{p})$ in Au+Au and isobar ($_{44}^{96}$Ru+$_{44}^{96}$Ru and $_{40}^{96}$Zr+$_{40}^{96}$Zr) collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=$ 200 GeV, and in Au+Au collisions at 27 GeV, recorded by the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The combined dependence of the $v_1$ signal on collision system, particle species, and collision centrality can be qualitatively and semi-quantitatively understood as several effects on constituent quarks. While the results in central events can be explained by the $u$ and $d$ quarks transported from initial-state nuclei, those in peripheral events reveal the impacts of the electromagnetic field on the QGP. Our data put valuable constraints on the electrical conductivity of the QGP in theoretical calculations.

Differential and double-differential distributions of kinematic variables of leptons from decays of top-quark pairs ($t\bar{t}$) are measured using the full LHC Run 2 data sample collected with the ATLAS detector. The data were collected at a $pp$ collision energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$. The measurements use events containing an oppositely charged $e\mu$ pair and $b$-tagged jets. The results are compared with predictions from several Monte Carlo generators. While no prediction is found to be consistent with all distributions, a better agreement with measurements of the lepton $p_{\text{T}}$ distributions is obtained by reweighting the $t\bar{t}$ sample so as to reproduce the top-quark $p_{\text{T}}$ distribution from an NNLO calculation. The inclusive top-quark pair production cross-section is measured as well, both in a fiducial region and in the full phase-space. The total inclusive cross-section is found to be \[ \sigma_{t\bar{t}} = 829 \pm 1\;(\textrm{stat}) \pm 13\;(\textrm{syst}) \pm 8\;(\textrm{lumi}) \pm 2\; (\textrm{beam})\ \textrm{pb}, \] where the uncertainties are due to statistics, systematic effects, the integrated luminosity and the beam energy. This is in excellent agreement with the theoretical expectation.

A search is reported for excited $\tau$-leptons and leptoquarks in events with two hadronically decaying $\tau$-leptons and two or more jets. The search uses proton-proton (pp) collision data at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment during the Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider in 2015-2018. The total integrated luminosity is 139 fb$^{-1}$. The excited $\tau$-lepton is assumed to be produced and to decay via a four-fermion contact interaction into an ordinary $\tau$-lepton and a quark-antiquark pair. The leptoquarks are assumed to be produced in pairs via the strong interaction, and each leptoquark is assumed to couple to a charm or lighter quark and a $\tau$-lepton. No excess over the background prediction is observed. Excited $\tau$-leptons with masses below 2.8 TeV are excluded at 95% CL in scenarios with the contact interaction scale $\Lambda$ set to 10 TeV. At the extreme limit of model validity where $\Lambda$ is set equal to the excited $\tau$-lepton mass, excited $\tau$-leptons with masses below 4.6 TeV are excluded. Leptoquarks with masses below 1.3 TeV are excluded at 95% CL if their branching ratio to a charm quark and a $\tau$-lepton equals 1. The analysis does not exploit flavour-tagging in the signal region.

Presented are the first measurements of the transverse single-spin asymmetries ($A_N$) for neutral pions and eta mesons in $p$+Au and $p$+Al collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV in the pseudorapidity range $|\eta|<$0.35 with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The asymmetries are consistent with zero, similar to those for midrapidity neutral pions and eta mesons produced in $p$+$p$ collisions. These measurements show no evidence of additional effects that could potentially arise from the more complex partonic environment present in proton-nucleus collisions.

We report a new measurement of the production of electrons from open heavy-flavor hadron decays (HFEs) at mid-rapidity ($|y|<$ 0.7) in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=200$ GeV. Invariant yields of HFEs are measured for the transverse momentum range of $3.5 < p_{\rm T} < 9$ GeV/$c$ in various configurations of the collision geometry. The HFE yields in head-on Au+Au collisions are suppressed by approximately a factor of 2 compared to that in $p$+$p$ collisions scaled by the average number of binary collisions, indicating strong interactions between heavy quarks and the hot and dense medium created in heavy-ion collisions. Comparison of these results with models provides additional tests of theoretical calculations of heavy quark energy loss in the quark-gluon plasma.

A study of multiplicity and pseudorapidity distributions of inclusive photons measured in pp and p$-$Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon$-$nucleon collision of $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV using the ALICE detector in the forward pseudorapidity region $2.3 < \eta_{\rm lab} < 3.9$ is presented. Measurements in p$-$Pb collisions are reported for two beam configurations in which the directions of the proton and lead ion beam were reversed. The pseudorapidity distributions in p$-$Pb collisions are obtained for seven centrality classes which are defined based on different event activity estimators, i.e., the charged-particle multiplicity measured at midrapidity as well as the energy deposited in a calorimeter at beam rapidity. The inclusive photon multiplicity distributions for both pp and p$-$Pb collisions are described by double negative binomial distributions. The pseudorapidity distributions of inclusive photons are compared to those of charged particles at midrapidity in \pp collisions and for different centrality classes in p$-$Pb collisions. The results are compared to predictions from various Monte Carlo event generators. None of the generators considered in this paper reproduces the inclusive photon multiplicity distributions in the reported multiplicity range. The pseudorapidity distributions are, however, better described by the same generators.

A search for a charged Higgs boson, $H^{\pm}$, produced in top-quark decays, $t \rightarrow H^{\pm}b$, is presented. The search targets $H^{\pm}$ decays into a bottom and a charm quark, $H^{\pm} \rightarrow cb$. The analysis focuses on a selection enriched in top-quark pair production, where one top quark decays into a leptonically decaying $W$ boson and a bottom quark, and the other top quark decays into a charged Higgs boson and a bottom quark. This topology leads to a lepton-plus-jets final state, characterised by an isolated electron or muon and at least four jets. The search exploits the high multiplicity of jets containing $b$-hadrons, and deploys a neural network classifier that uses the kinematic differences between the signal and the background. The search uses a dataset of proton-proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV between 2015 and 2018 with the ATLAS detector at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, amounting to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. Observed (expected) 95% confidence-level upper limits between 0.15% (0.09%) and 0.42% (0.25%) are derived for the product of branching fractions $\mathscr{B}(t\rightarrow H^{\pm}b) \times \mathscr{B}(H^{\pm}\rightarrow cb)$ for charged Higgs boson masses between 60 and 160 GeV, assuming the SM production of the top-quark pairs.

This paper presents direct searches for lepton flavour violation in Higgs boson decays, $H\rightarrow e\tau$ and $H\rightarrow\mu\tau$, performed using data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The searches are based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. Leptonic ($\tau \rightarrow \ell \nu_\ell \nu_\tau$) and hadronic ($\tau \rightarrow $ hadrons $ \nu_\tau$) decays of the $\tau$-lepton are considered. Two background estimation techniques are employed: the MC-template method, based on data-corrected simulation samples, and the Symmetry method, based on exploiting the symmetry between electrons and muons in the Standard Model backgrounds. No significant excess of events is observed and the results are interpreted as upper limits on lepton-flavour-violating branching ratios of the Higgs boson. The observed (expected) upper limits set on the branching ratios at 95% confidence level, $\mathcal{B}(H\rightarrow e\tau)<0.20\%$ (0.12%) and $\mathcal{B}(H\rightarrow \mu\tau)<0.18\%$ (0.09%), are obtained with the MC-template method from a simultaneous measurement of potential $H \rightarrow e\tau$ and $H \rightarrow\mu\tau$ signals. The best-fit branching ratio difference, $\mathcal{B}(H\rightarrow \mu\tau)- \mathcal{B}(H\rightarrow e\tau)$, measured with the Symmetry method in the channel where the $\tau$-lepton decays to leptons, is (0.25 $\pm$ 0.10)%, compatible with a value of zero within 2.5$\sigma$.

Measurements of the suppression and correlations of dijets is performed using 3 $\mu$b$^{-1}$ of Xe+Xe data at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} = 5.44$ TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Dijets with jets reconstructed using the $R=0.4$ anti-$k_t$ algorithm are measured differentially in jet $p_{\text{T}}$ over the range of 32 GeV to 398 GeV and the centrality of the collisions. Significant dijet momentum imbalance is found in the most central Xe+Xe collisions, which decreases in more peripheral collisions. Results from the measurement of per-pair normalized and absolutely normalized dijet $p_{\text{T}}$ balance are compared with previous Pb+Pb measurements at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} =5.02$ TeV. The differences between the dijet suppression in Xe+Xe and Pb+Pb are further quantified by the ratio of pair nuclear-modification factors. The results are found to be consistent with those measured in Pb+Pb data when compared in classes of the same event activity and when taking into account the difference between the center-of-mass energies of the initial parton scattering process in Xe+Xe and Pb+Pb collisions. These results should provide input for a better understanding of the role of energy density, system size, path length, and fluctuations in the parton energy loss.

Measurements of differential cross sections are presented for inclusive isolated-photon production in $pp$ collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV provided by the LHC and using 139 fb$^{-1}$ of data recorded by the ATLAS experiment. The cross sections are measured as functions of the photon transverse energy in different regions of photon pseudorapidity. The photons are required to be isolated by means of a fixed-cone method with two different cone radii. The dependence of the inclusive-photon production on the photon isolation is investigated by measuring the fiducial cross sections as functions of the isolation-cone radius and the ratios of the differential cross sections with different radii in different regions of photon pseudorapidity. The results presented in this paper constitute an improvement with respect to those published by ATLAS earlier: the measurements are provided for different isolation radii and with a more granular segmentation in photon pseudorapidity that can be exploited in improving the determination of the proton parton distribution functions. These improvements provide a more in-depth test of the theoretical predictions. Next-to-leading-order QCD predictions from JETPHOX and SHERPA and next-to-next-to-leading-order QCD predictions from NNLOJET are compared to the measurements, using several parameterisations of the proton parton distribution functions. The measured cross sections are well described by the fixed-order QCD predictions within the experimental and theoretical uncertainties in most of the investigated phase-space region.

A search for long-lived particles decaying into hadrons is presented. The analysis uses 139 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data collected at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV by the ATLAS detector at the LHC using events that contain multiple energetic jets and a displaced vertex. The search employs dedicated reconstruction techniques that significantly increase the sensitivity to long-lived particles decaying in the ATLAS inner detector. Background estimates for Standard Model processes and instrumental effects are extracted from data. The observed event yields are compatible with those expected from background processes. The results are used to set limits at 95% confidence level on model-independent cross sections for processes beyond the Standard Model, and on scenarios with pair-production of supersymmetric particles with long-lived electroweakinos that decay via a small $R$-parity-violating coupling. The pair-production of electroweakinos with masses below 1.5 TeV is excluded for mean proper lifetimes in the range from 0.03 ns to 1 ns. When produced in the decay of $m(\tilde{g})=2.4$ TeV gluinos, electroweakinos with $m(\tilde\chi^0_1)=1.5$ TeV are excluded with lifetimes in the range of 0.02 ns to 4 ns.

A search for flavor-changing neutral-current couplings between a top quark, an up or charm quark and a $Z$ boson is presented, using proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analyzed dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. The search targets both single-top-quark events produced as $gq\rightarrow tZ$ (with $q = u, c$) and top-quark-pair events, with one top quark decaying through the $t \rightarrow Zq$ channel. The analysis considers events with three leptons (electrons or muons), a $b$-tagged jet, possible additional jets, and missing transverse momentum. The data are found to be consistent with the background-only hypothesis and 95% confidence-level limits on the $t \rightarrow Zq$ branching ratios are set, assuming only tensor operators of the Standard Model effective field theory framework contribute to the $tZq$ vertices. These are $6.2 \times 10^{-5}$ ($13\times 10^{-5}$) for $t\rightarrow Zu$ ($t\rightarrow Zc$) for a left-handed $tZq$ coupling, and $6.6 \times 10^{-5}$ ($12\times 10^{-5}$) in the case of a right-handed coupling. These results are interpreted as 95% CL upper limits on the strength of corresponding couplings, yielding limits for $|C_{uW}^{(13)*}|$ and $|C_{uB}^{(13)*}|$ ($|C_{uW}^{(31)}|$ and $|C_{uB}^{(31)}|$) of 0.15 (0.16), and limits for $|C_{uW}^{(23)*}|$ and $|C_{uB}^{(23)*}|$ ($|C_{uW}^{(32)}|$ and $|C_{uB}^{(32)}|$) of 0.22 (0.21), assuming a new-physics energy scale $\Lambda_\text{NP}$ of 1 TeV.