The production of opposite-charge $W$-boson pairs in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV is measured using data corresponding to 3.16 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity collected by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider in 2015. Candidate $W$-boson pairs are selected by identifying their leptonic decays into an electron, a muon and neutrinos. Events with reconstructed jets are not included in the candidate event sample. The cross-section measurement is performed in a fiducial phase space close to the experimental acceptance and is compared to theoretical predictions. Agreement is found between the measurement and the most accurate calculations available.
A search for the decay of neutral, weakly interacting, long-lived particles using data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC is presented. The analysis in this paper uses 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV recorded in 2015-2016. The search employs techniques for reconstructing vertices of long-lived particles decaying into jets in the muon spectrometer exploiting a two vertex strategy and a novel technique that requires only one vertex in association with additional activity in the detector that improves the sensitivity for longer lifetimes. The observed numbers of events are consistent with the expected background and limits for several benchmark signals are determined.
A search for heavy Higgs bosons produced in association with a vector boson and decaying into a pair of vector bosons is performed in final states with two leptons (electrons or muons) of the same electric charge, missing transverse momentum and jets. A data sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider between 2015 and 2018 is used. The data correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. The observed data are in agreement with Standard Model background expectations. The results are interpreted using higher-dimensional operators in an effective field theory. Upper limits on the production cross-section are calculated at 95% confidence level as a function of the heavy Higgs boson's mass and coupling strengths to vector bosons. Limits are set in the Higgs boson mass range from 300 to 1500 GeV, and depend on the assumed couplings. The highest excluded mass for a heavy Higgs boson with the coupling combinations explored is 900 GeV. Limits on coupling strengths are also provided.
Cross-section measurements for a $Z$ boson produced in association with high-transverse-momentum jets ($p_{\mathrm{T}} \geq 100$ GeV) and decaying into a charged-lepton pair ($e^+e^-,\mu^+\mu^-$) are presented. The measurements are performed using proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $139$ fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Measurements of angular correlations between the $Z$ boson and the closest jet are performed in events with at least one jet with $p_{\mathrm{T}} \geq 500$ GeV. Event topologies of particular interest are the collinear emission of a $Z$ boson in dijet events and a boosted $Z$ boson recoiling against a jet. Fiducial cross sections are compared with state-of-the-art theoretical predictions. The data are found to agree with next-to-next-to-leading-order predictions by NNLOjet and with the next-to-leading-order multi-leg generators MadGraph5_aMC@NLO and Sherpa.
The electroweak production of $Z(\nu\bar{\nu})\gamma$ in association with two jets is studied in a regime with a photon of high transverse momentum above 150 GeV using proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis uses a data sample with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS detector during the 2015-2018 LHC data-taking period. This process is an important probe of the electroweak symmetry breaking mechanism in the Standard Model and is sensitive to quartic gauge boson couplings via vector-boson scattering. The fiducial $Z(\nu\bar{\nu})\gamma jj$ cross section for electroweak production is measured to be 0.77$^{+0.34}_{-0.30}$ fb and is consistent with the Standard Model prediction. Evidence of electroweak $Z(\nu\bar{\nu})\gamma jj$ production is found with an observed significance of 3.2$\sigma$ for the background-only hypothesis, compared with an expected significance of 3.7$\sigma$. The combination of this result with the previously published ATLAS observation of electroweak $Z(\nu\bar{\nu})\gamma jj$ production yields an observed (expected) signal significance of 6.3$\sigma$ (6.6$\sigma$). Limits on anomalous quartic gauge boson couplings are obtained in the framework of effective field theory with dimension-8 operators.
A search for light long-lived neutral particles with masses in the $O$(MeV-GeV) range is presented. The analysis targets the production of long-lived dark photons in the decay of a Higgs boson produced via gluon-gluon fusion or in association with a $W$ boson. Events that contain displaced collimated Standard Model fermions reconstructed in the calorimeter or muon spectrometer are selected in 139 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV $pp$ collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Background estimates for contributions from Standard Model processes and instrumental effects are extracted from data. The observed event yields are consistent with the expected background. Exclusion limits are reported on the production cross-section times branching fraction as a function of the mean proper decay length $c\tau$ of the dark photon, or as a function of the dark-photon mass and kinetic mixing parameter that quantifies the coupling between the Standard Model and potential hidden (dark) sectors. A Higgs boson branching fraction above 1% is excluded at 95% CL for a Higgs boson decaying into two dark photons for dark-photon mean proper decay lengths between 10 mm and 250 mm and dark photons with masses between 0.4 GeV and 2 GeV.
The product of the $\Lambda_b^0$ ($\overline{B}^0$) differential production cross-section and the branching fraction of the decay $\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow J/\psi pK^-$ ($\overline{B}^0\rightarrow J/\psi\overline{K}^*(892)^0$) is measured as a function of the beauty hadron transverse momentum, $p_{\rm T}$, and rapidity, $y$. The kinematic region of the measurements is $p_{\rm T}<20~{\rm GeV}/c$ and $2.0<y<4.5$. The measurements use a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $3~{\rm fb}^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb detector in $pp$ collisions at centre-of-mass energies $\sqrt{s}=7~{\rm TeV}$ in 2011 and $\sqrt{s}=8~{\rm TeV}$ in 2012. Based on previous LHCb results of the fragmentation fraction ratio, $f_{\Lambda_B^0}/f_d$, the branching fraction of the decay $\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow J/\psi pK^-$ is measured to be \begin{equation*} \mathcal{B}(\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow J/\psi pK^-)= (3.17\pm0.04\pm0.07\pm0.34^{+0.45}_{-0.28})\times10^{-4}, \end{equation*} where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, the third is due to the uncertainty on the branching fraction of the decay $\overline{B}^0\rightarrow J/\psi\overline{K}^*(892)^0$, and the fourth is due to the knowledge of $f_{\Lambda_b^0}/f_d$. The sum of the asymmetries in the production and decay between $\Lambda_b^0$ and $\overline{\Lambda}_b^0$ is also measured as a function of $p_{\rm T}$ and $y$. The previously published branching fraction of $\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow J/\psi p\pi^-$, relative to that of $\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow J/\psi pK^-$, is updated. The branching fractions of $\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow P_c^+(\rightarrow J/\psi p)K^-$ are determined.
This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of $20.2~\mbox{fb$^{-1}$}$. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.
This paper presents measurements of charged-particle distributions sensitive to the properties of the underlying event in events containing a $Z$ boson decaying into a muon pair. The data were obtained using the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$. Distributions of the charged-particle multiplicity and of the charged-particle transverse momentum are measured in regions of the azimuth defined relative to the $Z$ boson direction. The measured distributions are compared with the predictions of various Monte Carlo generators which implement different underlying-event models. The Monte Carlo model predictions qualitatively describe the data well, but with some significant discrepancies.
The problems of neutrino masses, matter-antimatter asymmetry, and dark matter could be successfully addressed by postulating right-handed neutrinos with Majorana masses below the electroweak scale. In this work, leptonic decays of $W$ bosons extracted from 32.9 fb$^{-1}$ to 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of 13 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC are used to search for heavy neutral leptons (HNLs) that are produced through mixing with muon or electron neutrinos. The search is conducted using the ATLAS detector in both prompt and displaced leptonic decay signatures. The prompt signature requires three leptons produced at the interaction point (either $\mu\mu e$ or $e e\mu$) with a veto on same-flavour opposite-charge topologies. The displaced signature comprises a prompt muon from the $W$ boson decay and the requirement of a dilepton vertex (either $\mu\mu$ or $\mu e$) displaced in the transverse plane by 4-300 mm from the interaction point. The search sets constraints on the HNL mixing to muon and electron neutrinos for HNL masses in the range 4.5-50 GeV.
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