Central exclusive and semiexclusive production of $\pi^+\pi^-$ pairs is measured with the CMS detector in proton-proton collisions at the LHC at center-of-mass energies of 5.02 and 13 TeV. The theoretical description of these nonperturbative processes, which have not yet been measured in detail at the LHC, poses a significant challenge to models. The two pions are measured and identified in the CMS silicon tracker based on specific energy loss, whereas the absence of other particles is ensured by calorimeter information. The total and differential cross sections of exclusive and semiexclusive central $\pi^+\pi^-$ production are measured as functions of invariant mass, transverse momentum, and rapidity of the $\pi^+\pi^-$ system in the fiducial region defined as transverse momentum $p_\mathrm{T}(\pi)$ $>$ 0.2 GeV and pseudorapidity $|\eta(\pi)|$ $<$ 2.4. The production cross sections for the four resonant channels f$_0(500)$, $\rho^0(770)$, f$_0(980)$, and f$_2(1270)$ are extracted using a simple model. These results represent the first measurement of this process at the LHC collision energies of 5.02 and 13 TeV.
The leptonic and inclusive hadronic decay branching fractions of the W boson are measured using proton-proton collision data collected at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. Events characterized by the production of one or two W bosons are selected and categorized based on the multiplicity and flavor of reconstructed leptons, the number of jets, and the number of jets identified as originating from the hadronization of b quarks. A binned maximum likelihood estimate of the W boson branching fractions is performed simultaneously in each event category. The measured branching fractions of the W boson decaying into electron, muon, and tau lepton final states are (10.83 $\pm$ 0.10)%, (10.94 $\pm$ 0.08)%, and (10.77 $\pm$ 0.21)%, respectively, consistent with lepton flavor universality for the weak interaction. The average leptonic and inclusive hadronic decay branching fractions are estimated to be (10.89 $\pm$ 0.08)% and (67.32 $\pm$ 0.23)%, respectively. Based on the hadronic branching fraction, three standard model quantities are subsequently derived: the sum of squared elements in the first two rows of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix $\sum_{ij}\vert V_{ij}\vert^{2}$ = 1.984 $\pm$ 0.021, the CKM element $\vert V_\mathrm{cs}\vert$ = 0.967 $\pm$ 0.011, and the strong coupling constant at the W boson mass scale, $\alpha_\mathrm{S}(m^2_\mathrm{W})$ = 0.095 $\pm$ 0.033.
Inclusive multi-jet production is studied in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.4 pb^-1. Results on multi-jet cross sections are presented and compared to both leading-order plus parton-shower Monte Carlo predictions and to next-to-leading-order QCD calculations.
A search for neutral Higgs bosons predicted in the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) for mu+ mu- decay channels is presented. The analysis uses data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 5.1 and 19.3 inverse femtobarns, respectively. The search is sensitive to Higgs bosons produced through the gluon fusion process or in association with a bb quark pair. No statistically significant excess is observed in the mu+ mu- mass spectrum. Results are interpreted in the framework of several benchmark scenarios, and the data are used to set an upper limit on the MSSM parameter tan(beta) as a function of the mass of the pseudoscalar A boson in the range from 115 to 300 GeV. Model independent upper limits are given for the product of the cross section and branching fraction for gluon fusion and b quark associated production. They are the most stringent limits obtained to date in this channel.
This paper presents results of searches for electroweak production of supersymmetric particles in models with compressed mass spectra. The searches use 139 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Events with missing transverse momentum and two same-flavor, oppositely charged, low transverse momentum leptons are selected, and are further categorized by the presence of hadronic activity from initial-state radiation or a topology compatible with vector-boson fusion processes. The data are found to be consistent with predictions from the Standard Model. The results are interpreted using simplified models of $R$-parity-conserving supersymmetry in which the lightest supersymmetric partner is a neutralino with a mass similar to the lightest chargino, the second-to-lightest neutralino or the slepton. Lower limits on the masses of charginos in different simplified models range from 193 GeV to 240 GeV for moderate mass splittings, and extend down to mass splittings of 1.5 GeV to 2.4 GeV at the LEP chargino bounds (92.4 GeV). Similar lower limits on degenerate light-flavor sleptons extend up to masses of 251 GeV and down to mass splittings of 550 MeV. Constraints on vector-boson fusion production of electroweak SUSY states are also presented.
Measurements of charged-particle fragmentation functions of jets produced in ultra-relativistic nuclear collisions can provide insight into the modification of parton showers in the hot, dense medium created in the collisions. ATLAS has measured jets in $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 2.76$ TeV Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC using a data set recorded in 2011 with an integrated luminosity of 0.14 nb$^{-1}$. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-$k_{t}$ algorithm with distance parameter values $R$ = 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4. Distributions of charged-particle transverse momentum and longitudinal momentum fraction are reported for seven bins in collision centrality for $R=0.4$ jets with $p_{{T}}^{\mathrm{jet}}> 100$ GeV. Commensurate minimum $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ values are used for the other radii. Ratios of fragment distributions in each centrality bin to those measured in the most peripheral bin are presented. These ratios show a reduction of fragment yield in central collisions relative to peripheral collisions at intermediate $z$ values, $0.04 \lesssim z \lesssim 0.2$ and an enhancement in fragment yield for $z \lesssim 0.04$. A smaller, less significant enhancement is observed at large $z$ and large $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ in central collisions.
This paper describes a measurement of the $Z/\gamma^*$ boson transverse momentum spectrum using ATLAS proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV at the LHC. The measurement is performed in the $Z/\gamma^* \rightarrow e^+e^-$ and $Z/\gamma^* \rightarrow \mu^+\mu^-$ channels, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb$^{-1}$. Normalized differential cross sections as a function of the $Z/\gamma^*$ boson transverse momentum are measured for transverse momenta up to 800 GeV. The measurement is performed inclusively for $Z/\gamma^*$ rapidities up to 2.4, as well as in three rapidity bins. The channel results are combined, compared to perturbative and resummed QCD calculations and used to constrain the parton shower parameters of Monte Carlo generators.
The paper presents studies of Bose-Einstein Correlations (BEC) for pairs of like-sign charged particles measured in the kinematic range $p_{\rm T}>$ 100 MeV and $|\eta|<$ 2.5 in proton--proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 0.9 and 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The integrated luminosities are approximately 7 $\mu$b$^{-1}$, 190 $\mu$b$^{-1}$ and 12.4 nb$^{-1}$ for 0.9 TeV, 7 TeV minimum-bias and 7 TeV high-multiplicity data samples, respectively. The multiplicity dependence of the BEC parameters characterizing the correlation strength and the correlation source size are investigated for charged-particle multiplicities of up to 240. A saturation effect in the multiplicity dependence of the correlation source size is observed using the high-multiplicity 7 TeV data sample. The dependence of the BEC parameters on the average transverse momentum of the particle pair is also investigated.
Double-differential three-jet production cross-sections are measured in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV using the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The measurements are presented as a function of the three-jet mass $(m_{jjj})$, in bins of the sum of the absolute rapidity separations between the three leading jets $(|Y^\ast|)$. Invariant masses extending up to 5 TeV are reached for $8< |Y^\ast| < 10$. These measurements use a sample of data recorded using the ATLAS detector in 2011, which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.51 fb$^{-1}$. Jets are identified using the anti-$k_t$ algorithm with two different jet radius parameters, R=0.4 and R=0.6. The dominant uncertainty in these measurements comes from the jet energy scale. Next-to-leading-order QCD calculations corrected to account for non-perturbative effects are compared to the measurements. Good agreement is found between the data and the theoretical predictions based on most of the available sets of parton distribution functions, over the full kinematic range, covering almost seven orders of magnitude in the measured cross-section values.
A search for resonant WZ production in the lnul'l' (l, l'= e,mu) decay channel using 20.3 fb-1 of sqrt(s) = 8 TeV pp collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at LHC is presented. No significant deviation from the Standard Model prediction is observed and upper limits on the production cross sections of WZ resonances from an extended gauge model W' and from a simplified model of heavy vector triplets are derived. A corresponding observed (expected) lower mass limit of 1.52 (1.49) TeV is derived for the W' at the 95% confidence level.
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