The production of $W$ boson pairs in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 8 TeV is studied using data corresponding to 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity collected by the ATLAS detector during 2012 at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The $W$ bosons are reconstructed using their leptonic decays into electrons or muons and neutrinos. Events with reconstructed jets are not included in the candidate event sample. A total of 6636 $WW$ candidate events are observed. Measurements are performed in fiducial regions closely approximating the detector acceptance. The integrated measurement is corrected for all acceptance effects and for the $W$ branching fractions to leptons in order to obtain the total $WW$ production cross section, which is found to be 71.1$\pm1.1$(stat)$^{+5.7}_{-5.0}$(syst)$\pm1.4$ pb. This agrees with the next-to-next-to-leading-order Standard Model prediction of 63.2$^{+1.6}_{-1.4}$(scale)$\pm1.2$(PDF) pb. Fiducial differential cross sections are measured as a function of each of six kinematic variables. The distribution of the transverse momentum of the leading lepton is used to set limits on anomalous triple-gauge-boson couplings.
This paper reports the results of a search for strong production of supersymmetric particles in 20.1 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The search is performed separately in events with either zero or at least one high $p_\mathrm{T}$ lepton (electron or muon), large missing transverse momentum, high jet multiplicity and at least three jets identified as originated from the fragmentation of a b-quark. No excess is observed with respect to the Standard Model predictions. The results are interpreted in the context of several supersymmetric models involving gluinos and scalar top and bottom quarks, as well as a mSUGRA/CMSSM model. Gluino masses up to 1340 GeV are excluded, depending on the model, significantly extending the previous ATLAS limits.
The production of a $Z$ boson in association with a $J/\psi$ meson in proton-proton collisions probes the production mechanisms of quarkonium and heavy flavour in association with vector bosons, and allows studies of multiple parton scattering. Using $20.3\, \mathrm{fb^{-1}}$ of data collected with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=8\, \mathrm{TeV}$, the first measurement of associated $Z + J/\psi$ production is presented for both prompt and non-prompt $J/\psi$ production, with both signatures having a significance in excess of $5\sigma$. The inclusive production cross-sections for $Z$ boson production (analysed in $\mu^+\mu^-$ or $e^+e^-$ decay modes) in association with prompt and non-prompt $J/\psi(\to\mu^+\mu^-)$ are measured relative to the inclusive production rate of $Z$ bosons in the same fiducial volume to be $(36.8\pm 6.7\pm 2.5) \times 10^{-7}$ and $(65.8\pm 9.2\pm 4.2) \times 10^{-7}$ respectively. Normalised differential production cross-section ratios are also determined as a function of the $J/\psi$ transverse momentum. The fraction of signal events arising from single and double parton scattering is estimated, and a lower limit of $5.3\ (3.7)\, \mathrm{mb}$ at $68\ (95)$% confidence level is placed on the effective cross-section regulating double parton interactions.
Measurements of fiducial cross sections for the electroweak production of two jets in association with a Z-boson are presented. The measurements are performed using 20.3 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data collected at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s)=8 TeV by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The electroweak component is extracted by a fit to the dijet invariant mass distribution in a fiducial region chosen to enhance the electroweak contribution over the dominant background in which the jets are produced via the strong interaction. The electroweak cross sections measured in two fiducial regions are in good agreement with the Standard Model expectations and the background-only hypothesis is rejected with significance above the 5 sigma level. The electroweak process includes the vector boson fusion production of a Z-boson and the data are used to place limits on anomalous triple gauge boson couplings. In addition, measurements of cross sections and differential distributions for inclusive Z-boson-plus-dijet production are performed in five fiducial regions, each with different sensitivity to the electroweak contribution. The results are corrected for detector effects and compared to predictions from the SHERPA and POWHEG event generators.
The production rates of prompt and non-prompt $J/\psi$ and $\psi(2\mathrm{S})$ mesons are measured using 2.1 $fb^{-1}$ and 11.4 $fb^{-1}$ of data collected with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC, in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ and 8 TeV respectively. Production cross-sections for both prompt and non-prompt production sources, ratios of $\psi(2\mathrm{S})$ to $J/\psi$ production, and fractions of non-prompt to inclusive production for $J/\psi$ and $\psi(2\mathrm{S})$ are measured double-differentially as a function of meson $p_{T}$ and rapidity. These measurements are made in a restricted fiducial volume and also corrected for geometrical acceptance after which they are compared to a variety of theoretical predictions.
Results of a search for the electroweak associated production of charginos and next-to-lightest neutralinos, pairs of charginos or pairs of tau sleptons are presented. These processes are characterised by final states with at least two hadronically decaying tau leptons, missing transverse momentum and low jet activity. The analysis is based on an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of proton--proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV recorded with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess is observed with respect to the predictions from Standard Model processes. Limits are set at 95% confidence level on the masses of the lighter chargino and next-to-lightest neutralino for various hypotheses for the lightest neutralino mass in simplified models. In the scenario of direct production of chargino pairs, with each chargino decaying into the lightest neutralino via an intermediate tau slepton, chargino masses up to 345 GeV are excluded for a massless lightest neutralino. For associated production of mass-degenerate charginos and next-to-lightest neutralinos, both decaying into the lightest neutralino via an intermediate tau slepton, masses up to 410 GeV are excluded for a massless lightest neutralino.
A measurement of the $ZZ$ production in the $\ell^{-}\ell^{+}\ell^{\prime -}\ell^{\prime +}$ and $\ell^{-}\ell^{+}\nu\bar{\nu}$ channels $(\ell = e, \mu)$ in proton--proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS experiment in 2012 is presented. The fiducial cross sections for $ZZ\to\ell^{-}\ell^{+}\ell^{\prime -}\ell^{\prime +}$ and $ZZ\to \ell^{-}\ell^{+}\nu\bar{\nu}$ are measured in selected phase-space regions. The total cross section for $ZZ$ events produced with both $Z$ bosons in the mass range 66 to 116 GeV is measured from the combination of the two channels to be $7.3\pm0.4\textrm{(stat)}\pm0.3\textrm{(syst)}\pm0.2\textrm{(lumi)}$ pb, which is consistent with the Standard Model prediction of $6.6^{+0.7}_{-0.6}$ pb. The differential cross sections in bins of various kinematic variables are presented. The differential event yield as a function of the transverse momentum of the leading $Z$ boson is used to set limits on anomalous neutral triple gauge boson couplings in $ZZ$ production.
This paper presents a study of the production of $WW$ or $WZ$ boson pairs, with one $W$ boson decaying to $e\nu$ or $\mu\nu$ and one $W$ or $Z$ boson decaying hadronically. The analysis uses 20.2 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV $pp$ collision data, collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Cross-sections for $WW/WZ$ production are measured in high-$p_{T}$ fiducial regions defined close to the experimental event selection. The cross-section is measured for the case where the hadronically decaying boson is reconstructed as two resolved jets, and the case where it is reconstructed as a single jet. The transverse momentum distribution of the hadronically decaying boson is used to search for new physics. Observations are consistent with the Standard Model predictions, and $95\%$ confidence intervals are calculated for parameters describing anomalous triple gauge-boson couplings.