A measurement of event-plane correlations involving two or three event planes of different order is presented as a function of centrality for 7 ub-1 Pb+Pb collision data at sqrt(s_NN)=2.76 TeV, recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Fourteen correlators are measured using a standard event-plane method and a scalar-product method, and the latter method is found to give a systematically larger correlation signal. Several different trends in the centrality dependence of these correlators are observed. These trends are not reproduced by predictions based on the Glauber model, which includes only the correlations from the collision geometry in the initial state. Calculations that include the final-state collective dynamics are able to describe qualitatively, and in some cases also quantitatively, the centrality dependence of the measured correlators. These observations suggest that both the fluctuations in the initial geometry and non-linear mixing between different harmonics in the final state are important for creating these correlations in momentum space.

This letter describes the observation of the light-by-light scattering process, $\gamma\gamma\rightarrow\gamma\gamma$, in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV. The analysis is conducted using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.73 nb$^{-1}$, collected in November 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Light-by-light scattering candidates are selected in events with two photons produced exclusively, each with transverse energy $E_{\textrm{T}}^{\gamma} > 3$ GeV and pseudorapidity $|\eta_{\gamma}| < 2.37$, diphoton invariant mass above 6 GeV, and small diphoton transverse momentum and acoplanarity. After applying all selection criteria, 59 candidate events are observed for a background expectation of 12 $\pm$ 3 events. The observed excess of events over the expected background has a significance of 8.2 standard deviations. The measured fiducial cross section is 78 $\pm$ 13 (stat.) $\pm$ 7 (syst.) $\pm$ 3 (lumi.) nb.

A search is presented for photonic signatures, motivated by generalized models of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking. This search makes use of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC, and it explores models dominated by both strong and electroweak production of supersymmetric partner states. Experimental signatures incorporating an isolated photon and significant missing transverse momentum are explored. These signatures include events with an additional photon or additional jet activity not associated with any specific underlying quark flavor. No significant excess of events is observed above the Standard Model prediction, and 95% confidence-level upper limits of between 0.083 fb and 0.32 fb are set on the visible cross section of contributions from physics beyond the Standard Model. These results are interpreted in terms of lower limits on the masses of gluinos, squarks, and gauginos in the context of generalized models of gauge-mediated supersymmetry, which reach as high as 2.3 TeV for strongly produced and 1.3 TeV for weakly produced supersymmetric partner pairs.

This paper presents a measurement of the triple-differential cross section for the Drell--Yan process $Z/\gamma^*\rightarrow \ell^+\ell^-$ where $\ell$ is an electron or a muon. The measurement is performed for invariant masses of the lepton pairs, $m_{\ell\ell}$, between $46$ and $200$ GeV using a sample of $20.2$ fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions data at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2012. The data are presented in bins of invariant mass, absolute dilepton rapidity, $|y_{\ell\ell}|$, and the angular variable $\cos\theta^{*}$ between the outgoing lepton and the incoming quark in the Collins--Soper frame. The measurements are performed in the range $|y_{\ell\ell}|<2.4$ in the muon channel, and extended to $|y_{\ell\ell}|<3.6$ in the electron channel. The cross sections are used to determine the $Z$ boson forward-backward asymmetry as a function of $|y_{\ell\ell}|$ and $m_{\ell\ell}$. The measurements achieve high-precision, below the percent level in the pole region, excluding the uncertainty in the integrated luminosity, and are in agreement with predictions. These precision data are sensitive to the parton distribution functions and the effective weak mixing angle.

A study of WZ production in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV is presented using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb^-1 collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2011. In total, 317 candidates, with a background expectation of 68+/-10 events, are observed in double-leptonic decay final states with electrons, muons and missing transverse momentum. The total cross-section is determined to be sigma_WZ(tot) = 19.0+1.4/-1.3(stat.)+/-0.9(syst.)+/-0.4(lumi.) pb, consistent with the Standard Model expectation of 17.6+1.1/-1.0 pb. Limits on anomalous triple gauge boson couplings are derived using the transverse momentum spectrum of Z bosons in the selected events. The cross section is also presented as a function of Z boson transverse momentum and diboson invariant mass.

The results of a dedicated search for pair production of scalar partners of charm quarks are reported. The search is based on an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The search is performed using events with large missing transverse momentum and at least two jets, where the two leading jets are each tagged as originating from c-quarks. Events containing isolated electrons or muons are vetoed. In an R-parity-conserving minimal supersymmetric scenario in which a single scalar-charm state is kinematically accessible, and where it decays exclusively into a charm quark and a neutralino, 95% confidence-level upper limits are obtained in the scalar-charm-neutralino mass plane such that, for neutralino masses below 200 GeV, scalar-charm masses up to 490 GeV are excluded.

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.

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.

We present a measurement of two-particle angular correlations in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 900 GeV and 7 TeV. The collision events were collected during 2009 and 2010 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider using a single-arm minimum bias trigger. Correlations are measured for charged particles produced in the kinematic range of transverse momentum pT > 100 MeV and pseudorapidity |eta| < 2.5. A complex structure in pseudorapidity and azimuth is observed at both collision energies. Results are compared to Pythia 8 and Herwig++ as well as to the AMBT2B, DW and Perugia 2011 tunes of Pythia 6. The data are not satisfactorily described by any of these models.

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.