The energy deposited at very forward rapidities (very forward energy) is a powerful tool for characterising proton fragmentation in pp and p$-$Pb collisions. The correlation of very forward energy with particle production at midrapidity provides direct insights into the initial stages and the subsequent evolution of the collision. Furthermore, the correlation with the production of particles with large transverse momenta at midrapidity provides information complementary to the measurements of the underlying event, which are usually interpreted in the framework of models implementing centrality-dependent multiple parton interactions. Results about very forward energy, measured by the ALICE zero degree calorimeters (ZDCs), and its dependence on the activity measured at midrapidity in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV and in p$-$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}=8.16$ TeV are discussed. The measurements performed in pp collisions are compared with the expectations of three hadronic interaction event generators: PYTHIA 6 (Perugia 2011 tune), PYTHIA 8 (Monash tune), and EPOS LHC. These results provide new constraints on the validity of models in describing the beam remnants at very forward rapidities, where perturbative QCD cannot be used.
Searches for resonant and nonresonant pair-produced Higgs bosons (HH) decaying respectively into ll nu nu, through either W or Z bosons, and bbbar are presented. The analyses are based on a sample of proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 inverse femtobarns. Data and predictions from the standard model are in agreement within uncertainties. For the standard model HH hypothesis, the data exclude at 95% confidence level a product of the production cross section and branching fraction larger than 72 fb, corresponding to 79 times the prediction, consistent with expectations. Constraints are placed on different scenarios considering anomalous couplings, which could affect the rate and kinematics of HH production. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the production cross section of narrow-width spin-0 and spin-2 particles decaying to Higgs boson pairs, the latter produced with minimal gravity-like coupling.
A measurement is presented of the triple-differential dijet cross section at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV using 19.7 inverse femtobarns of data collected with the CMS detector in proton-proton collisions at the LHC. The cross section is measured as a function of the average transverse momentum, half the rapidity separation, and the boost of the two leading jets in the event. The cross section is corrected for detector effects and compared to calculations in perturbative quantum chromodynamics at next-to-leading order accuracy, complemented with electroweak and nonperturbative corrections. New constraints on parton distribution functions are obtained and the inferred value of the strong coupling constant is alpha[S](M[Z]) = 0.1199 +/- 0.0015 (exp) -0.0020 +0.0031 (theo), where M[Z] is the mass of the Z boson.
We report on the measurement of the size of the particle-emitting source from two-baryon correlations with ALICE in high-multiplicity pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV. The source radius is studied with low relative momentum p-p, $\bar{\rm{p}}$-$\bar{\rm{p}}$, p-$\Lambda$ and $\bar{\rm{p}}$-$\bar{\Lambda}$ pairs as a function of the pair transverse mass $m_{\rm{T}}$ considering for the first time in a quantitative way the effect of strong resonance decays. After correcting for this effect, the radii extracted for pairs of different particle species agree. This indicates that protons, antiprotons, $\Lambda$, and $\bar{\Lambda}$ originate from the same source. Within the measured $m_{\rm{T}}$ range (1.1-2.2) GeV/$c^{2}$ the invariant radius of this common source varies between 0.85 and 1.3 fm. These results provide a precise reference for studies of the strong hadron-hadron interactions and for the investigation of collective properties in small colliding systems.
$\Upsilon$ production in p-Pb interactions is studied at the centre-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}$ = 8.16 TeV with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC. The measurement is performed reconstructing bottomonium resonances via their dimuon decay channel, in the centre-of-mass rapidity intervals $2.03 < y_{\rm{cms}} < 3.53$ and $-4.46 < y_{\rm{cms}} < -2.96$, down to zero transverse momentum. In this work, results on the inclusive $\Upsilon(1\rm{S})$ production cross section as a function of rapidity and transverse momentum are presented. The corresponding nuclear modification factor shows a suppression of the $\Upsilon(1\rm{S})$ yields with respect to pp collisions, both at forward and backward rapidity. This suppression is stronger in the low transverse momentum region and shows no significant dependence on the centrality of the interactions. Furthermore, the $\Upsilon(2\rm{S})$ nuclear modification factor is also evaluated, suggesting a suppression similar to that of the $\Upsilon(1\rm{S})$. A first measurement of the $\Upsilon(3\rm{S})$ has also been performed. Finally, results are compared with previous measurements performed by ALICE in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV and with theoretical calculations.
Understanding the role of parton mass and Casimir colour factors in the quantum chromodynamics parton shower represents an important step in characterising the emission properties of heavy quarks. Recent experimental advances in jet substructure techniques have provided the opportunity to isolate and characterise gluon emissions from heavy quarks. In this work, the first direct experimental constraint on the charm-quark splitting function is presented, obtained via the measurement of the groomed shared momentum fraction of the first splitting in charm jets, tagged by a reconstructed ${\rm D}^0$ meson. The measurement is made in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, in the low jet transverse-momentum interval of $15 \leq p_{\rm T}^{\rm jet~ch} < 30$ GeV/$c$ where the emission properties are sensitive to parton mass effects. In addition, the opening angle of the first perturbative emission of the charm quark, as well as the number of perturbative emissions it undergoes, is reported. Comparisons to measurements of an inclusive-jet sample show a steeper splitting function for charm quarks compared with gluons and light quarks. Charm quarks also undergo fewer perturbative emissions in the parton shower, with a reduced probability of large-angle emissions.
A search for exotic Higgs boson decays to light pseudoscalars in the final state of two muons and two $\tau$ leptons is performed using proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV in 2016, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. Masses of the pseudoscalar boson between 15.0 and 62.5 GeV are probed, and no significant excess of data is observed above the prediction of the standard model. Upper limits are set on the branching fraction of the Higgs boson to two light pseudoscalar bosons in different types of two-Higgs-doublet models extended with a complex scalar singlet.
The average total energy as well as its hadronic and electromagnetic components are measured with the CMS detector at pseudorapidities $-$6.6 $<\eta<-$5.2 in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV. The results are presented as a function of the charged particle multiplicity in the region $|\eta|< $2. This measurement is sensitive to correlations induced by the underlying event structure over a very wide pseudorapidity region. The predictions of Monte Carlo event generators commonly used in collider experiments and ultra-high energy cosmic ray physics are compared to the data.
The production of the X(3872) is studied in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using decays to J/psi pi pi, where the J/psi decays to two muons. The data were recorded by the CMS experiment and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. The measurements are performed in a kinematic range in which the X(3872) candidates have a transverse momentum 10 < pt < 50 GeV and rapidity abs(y) < 1.2. The ratio of the X(3872) and psi(2S) cross sections times their branching fractions into J/psi pi pi is measured as a function of pt. In addition, the fraction of X(3872) originating from B decays is determined. From these measurements the prompt X(3872) differential cross section times branching fraction as a function of pt is extracted. The pi pi mass spectrum of the J/psi pi pi system in the X(3872) decays is also investigated.
Measurements of the top quark-antiquark (t t-bar) spin correlations and the top quark polarization are presented for t t-bar pairs produced in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.5 inverse femtobarns collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using events with two oppositely charged leptons (electrons or muons) and two or more jets, where at least one of the jets is identified as originating from a bottom quark. The spin correlations and polarization are measured from the angular distributions of the two selected leptons, both inclusively and differentially, with respect to the invariant mass, rapidity, and transverse momentum of the t t-bar system. The measurements are unfolded to the parton level and found to be in agreement with predictions of the standard model. A search for new physics in the form of anomalous top quark chromo moments is performed. No evidence of new physics is observed, and exclusion limits on the real part of the chromo-magnetic dipole moment and the imaginary part of the chromo-electric dipole moment are evaluated.
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