Proton-proton interactions resulting in final states with two photons are studied in a search for the signature of flavor-changing neutral current interactions of top quarks (t) and Higgs bosons (H). The analysis is based on data collected at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$. No significant excess above the background prediction is observed. Upper limits on the branching fractions ($\mathcal{B}$) of the top quark decaying to a Higgs boson and an up (u) or charm quark (c) are derived through a binned fit to the diphoton invariant mass spectrum. The observed (expected) 95% confidence level upper limits are found to be 0.019 (0.031)% for $\mathcal B$(t $\to$ Hu) and 0.073 (0.051)% for $\mathcal{B}$(t $\to$ Hc). These are the strictest upper limits yet determined.

A search for low-mass dilepton resonances in Higgs boson decays is conducted in the four-lepton final state. The decay is assumed to proceed via a pair of beyond the standard model particles, or one such particle and a Z boson. The search uses proton-proton collision data collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$, at a center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV. No significant deviation from the standard model expectation is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on model-independent Higgs boson decay branching fractions. Additionally, limits on dark photon and axion-like particle production, based on two specific models, are reported.

A search for physics beyond the standard model (SM) in the final state with a hadronically decaying tau lepton and a neutrino is presented. This analysis is based on data recorded by the CMS experiment from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the LHC, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{=1}$. The transverse mass spectrum is analyzed for the presence of new physics. No significant deviation from the SM prediction is observed. Limits are set on the production cross section of a W' boson decaying into a tau lepton and a neutrino. Lower limits are set on the mass of the sequential SM-like heavy charged vector boson and the mass of a quantum black hole. Upper limits are placed on the couplings of a new boson to the SM fermions. Constraints are put on a nonuniversal gauge interaction model and an effective field theory model. For the first time, upper limits on the cross section of $t$-channel leptoquark (LQ) exchange are presented. These limits are translated into exclusion limits on the LQ mass and on its coupling in the $t$-channel. The sensitivity of this analysis extends into the parameter space of LQ models that attempt to explain the anomalies observed in B meson decays. The limits presented for the various interpretations are the most stringent to date. Additionally, a model-independent limit is provided.

A search is presented for long-lived particles produced in pairs in proton-proton collisions at the LHC operating at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data were collected with the CMS detector during the period from 2015 through 2018, and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$. This search targets pairs of long-lived particles with mean proper decay lengths between 0.1 and 100 mm, each of which decays into at least two quarks that hadronize to jets, resulting in a final state with two displaced vertices. No significant excess of events with two displaced vertices is observed. In the context of $R$-parity violating supersymmetry models, the pair production of long-lived neutralinos, gluinos, and top squarks is excluded at 95% confidence level for cross sections larger than 0.08 fb, masses between 800 and 3000 GeV, and mean proper decay lengths between 1 and 25 mm.

The ratio of the production cross sections times branching fractions (sigma(Bc+) B(Bc+ to J/psi pi+))/ (sigma(B+) B(B+ to J/psi K+)) is studied in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The kinematic region investigated requires Bc+/- and B+/- mesons with transverse momentum pt > 15 GeV and rapidity abs(y) < 1.6. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.1 inverse femtobarns. The ratio is determined to be [0.48 +/- 0.05 (stat) +/- 0.03 (syst) +/- 0.05 (tau_{Bc})]% The J/psi pi+/- pi+/- pi-/+ decay mode is also observed in the same data sample. Using a model-independent method developed to measure the efficiency given the presence of resonant behaviour in the three-pion system, the ratio of the branching fractions B(Bc+/- to J/psi pi+/- pi+/- pi-/+) / B(Bc+/- to J/psi pi+/-) is measured to be 2.55 +/- 0.80 (stat) +/- 0.33 (syst) +0.04/-0.01 (tau[Bc+]), consistent with the previous LHCb result.

A measurement is presented of the ratio of the inclusive 3-jet cross section to the inclusive 2-jet cross section as a function of the average transverse momentum, <pT[1,2]>, of the two leading jets in the event. The data sample was collected during 2011 at a proton-proton centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 inverse femtobarns. The strong coupling constant at the scale of the Z boson mass is determined to be alphaS[MZ] = 0.1148 +/- 0.0014 (exp.) +/- 0.0018 (PDF) +/- 0.0050 (theory), by comparing the ratio in the range 0.42 < <pT[1,2]> < 1.39 TeV to the predictions of perturbative QCD at next-to-leading order. This is the first determination of alphaS[MZ] from measurements at momentum scales beyond 0.6 TeV. The predicted ratio depends only indirectly on the evolution of the parton distribution functions of the proton such that this measurement also serves as a test of the evolution of the strong coupling constant. No deviation from the expected behaviour is observed.

A measurement of the Z gamma to nu nu-bar gamma production cross section in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV is presented, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.6 inverse femtobarns collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. This measurement is based on the observation of events with large missing energy and with a single photon with transverse momentum above 145 GeV and absolute pseudorapidity in the range |eta| < 1.44. The measured Z gamma to nu nu-bar gamma production cross section, 52.7 +/- 2.1(stat) +/- 6.4 (syst) +/- 1.4 (lumi) fb, agrees well with the standard model prediction of 50.0 +2.4 -2.2 fb. A study of the photon transverse momentum spectrum yields the most stringent limits to date on the anomalous Z-Z-gamma and Z-gamma-gamma trilinear gauge boson couplings.

The Lambda(b) differential production cross section and the cross section ratio anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) are measured as functions of transverse momentum pt(Lambda(b)) and rapidity abs(y(Lambda(b))) in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measurements are based on Lambda(b) decays reconstructed in the exclusive final state J/Psi Lambda, with the subsequent decays J/Psi to an opposite-sign muon pair and Lambda to proton pion, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.9 inverse femtobarns. The product of the cross section times the branching ratio for Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda versus pt(Lambda(b)) falls faster than that of b mesons. The measured value of the cross section times the branching ratio for pt(Lambda(b)) > 10 GeV and abs(y(Lambda(b))) < 2.0 is 1.06 +/- 0.06 +/- 0.12 nb, and the integrated cross section ratio for anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) is 1.02 +/- 0.07 +/- 0.09, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.

Measurements are presented of the t-channel single-top-quark production cross section in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV. The results are based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC. The cross section is measured inclusively, as well as separately for top (t) and antitop (t-bar), in final states with a muon or an electron. The measured inclusive t-channel cross section is sigma[t-ch] = 83.6 +/- 2.3 (stat.) +/- 7.4 (syst.) pb. The single t and t-bar cross sections are measured to be sigma[t-ch,t] = 53.8 +/- 1.5 (stat.) +/- 4.4 (syst.) pb and sigma[t-ch,t-bar] = 27.6 +/- 1.3 (stat.) +/- 3.7 (syst.) pb, respectively. The measured ratio of cross sections is R[t-ch] = sigma[t-ch,t]/sigma[t-ch,t-bar] = 1.95 +/- 0.10 (stat.) +/- 0.19 (syst.), in agreement with the standard model prediction. The modulus of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element Vtb is extracted and, in combination with a previous CMS result at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, a value abs(Vtb) = 0.998 +/- 0.038 (exp.) +/- 0.016 (theo.) is obtained.

Measurements of the inclusive jet cross section with the anti-kt clustering algorithm are presented for two radius parameters, R=0.5 and 0.7. They are based on data from LHC proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 inverse femtobarns collected with the CMS detector in 2011. The ratio of these two measurements is obtained as a function of the rapidity and transverse momentum of the jets. Significant discrepancies are found comparing the data to leading-order simulations and to fixed-order calculations at next-to-leading order, corrected for nonperturbative effects, whereas simulations with next-to-leading-order matrix elements matched to parton showers describe the data best.