A search is presented for pair production of a new heavy quark ($Q$) that decays into a $W$ boson and a light quark ($q$) in the final state where one $W$ boson decays leptonically (to an electron or muon plus a neutrino) and the other $W$ boson decays hadronically. The analysis is performed using an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. No evidence of $Q\bar{Q}$ production is observed. New chiral quarks with masses below 690 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level, assuming BR$(Q\to Wq)=1$. Results are also interpreted in the context of vectorlike quark models, resulting in the limits on the mass of a vectorlike quark in the two-dimensional plane of BR$(Q\to Wq)$ versus BR$(Q\to Hq)$.

A search is reported for a light pseudoscalar Higgs boson decaying to a pair of tau leptons, produced in association with a b b-bar pair, in the context of two-Higgs-doublet models. The results are based on pp collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns. Pseudoscalar boson masses between 25 and 80 GeV are probed. No evidence for a pseudoscalar boson is found and upper limits are set on the production cross section times branching fraction to tau pairs between 7 and 39 pb at the 95% confidence level. This excludes pseudoscalar A bosons with masses between 25 and 80 GeV, with standard model-like Higgs boson negative couplings to down-type fermions, produced in association with b b-bar pairs, in Type-II, two-Higgs-doublet models.

A search for neutral Higgs bosons in the minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model (MSSM) decaying to tau-lepton pairs in pp collisions is performed, using events recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 24.6 fb$^{-1}$, with 4.9 fb$^{-1}$ at 7 TeV and 19.7 fb$^{-1}$ at 8 TeV. To enhance the sensitivity to neutral MSSM Higgs bosons, the search includes the case where the Higgs boson is produced in association with a b-quark jet. No excess is observed in the tau-lepton-pair invariant mass spectrum. Exclusion limits are presented in the MSSM parameter space for different benchmark scenarios, $m_\mathrm{h}^\text{max}$, $m_\mathrm{h}^{\text{mod}+}$, $m_\mathrm{h}^{\text{mod}-}$, light-stop, light-stau, $\tau$-phobic, and low-$m_\mathrm{H}$. Upper limits on the cross section times branching fraction for gluon fusion and b-quark associated Higgs boson production are also given.

An analysis of the decay $\Lambda_b \to J/\psi(\to\mu^+\mu^-)\Lambda(\to p \pi^-)$ decay is performed to measure the $\Lambda_b$ polarization and three angular parameters in data from pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 7 and 8 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The $\Lambda_b$ polarization is measured to be 0.00 $\pm$ 0.06 (stat) $\pm$ 0.06 (syst) and the parity-violating asymmetry parameter is determined to be 0.14 $\pm$ 0.14 (stat) $\pm$ 0.10 (syst). The measurements are compared to various theoretical predictions, including those from perturbative quantum chromodynamics.

Measurements of $\mathrm{B}^*_\mathrm{s2}(5840)^0$ and $\mathrm{B}_\mathrm{s1}(5830)^0$ mesons are performed using a data sample of proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.6 fb$^{-1}$, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The analysis studies $P$-wave $\mathrm{B}^0_\mathrm{S}$ meson decays into $\mathrm{B}^{(*)+}\mathrm{K}^-$ and $\mathrm{B}^{(*)0}\mathrm{K}^0_\mathrm{S}$, where the $\mathrm{B}^+$ and $\mathrm{B}^0$ mesons are identified using the decays $\mathrm{B}^+\to\mathrm{J}/\psi\,\mathrm{K}^+$ and $\mathrm{B}^0\to\mathrm{J}/\psi\,\mathrm{K}^*(892)^0$. The masses of the $P$-wave $\mathrm{B}^0_\mathrm{S}$ meson states are measured and the natural width of the $\mathrm{B}^*_\mathrm{s2}(5840)^0$ state is determined. The first measurement of the mass difference between the charged and neutral $\mathrm{B}^*$ mesons is also presented. The $\mathrm{B}^*_\mathrm{s2}(5840)^0$ decay to $\mathrm{B}^0\mathrm{K}^0_\mathrm{S}$ is observed, together with a measurement of its branching fraction relative to the $\mathrm{B}^*_\mathrm{s2}(5840)^0\to\mathrm{B}^+\mathrm{K}^-$ decay.

A search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson to a pair of light pseudoscalar particles a$_1$ is performed under the hypothesis that one of the pseudoscalars decays to a pair of opposite sign muons and the other decays to b$\overline{\mathrm{b}}$. Such signatures are predicted in a number of extensions of the standard model (SM), including next-to-minimal supersymmetry and two-Higgs-doublet models with an additional scalar singlet. The results are based on a data set of proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$, accumulated with the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in 2016 at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. No statistically significant excess is observed with respect to the SM backgrounds in the search region for pseudoscalar masses from 20 GeV to half of the Higgs boson mass. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the product of the production cross section and branching fraction, $\sigma_{\mathrm{h}}\mathcal{B}$(h $\to$ a$_1$ a$_1$ $\to$ $\mu^+\mu^-\mathrm{b}\bar{\mathrm{b}}$), ranging from 5 to 33 fb, depending on the pseudoscalar mass. Corresponding limits on the branching fraction, assuming the SM prediction for $\sigma_{\mathrm{h}}$, are (1$-$7)$\times$ 10$^{-4}$.

Measurements are presented of the lifetimes of the B$^0$, B$^0_\mathrm{s}$, $\Lambda^0_\mathrm{b}$, and B$_\mathrm{c}^+$ hadrons using the decay channels B$^0\to$ J/$\psi$K*(892)$^0$, B$^0\to$J/$\psi$K$^0_\mathrm{S}$, B$^0_\mathrm{s}\to$J/$\psi \pi^+\pi^-$, B$^0_\mathrm{s}\to$J/$\psi\phi$(1020), $\Lambda^0_\mathrm{b}\to$J/$\psi\Lambda^0$, and B$_\mathrm{c}\to$J/$\psi\pi^+$. The data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb$^{-1}$, was collected by the CMS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 8 TeV. The B$^0$ lifetime is measured to be 453.0 $\pm$ 1.6 (stat) $\pm$ 1.8 (syst) $\mu$m in J/$\psi$K*(892)$^0$ and 457.8 $\pm$ 2.7 (stat) $\pm$ 2.8 (syst) $\mu$m in J/$\psi$K$^0_\mathrm{S}$, which results in a combined measurement of $c\tau_{\mathrm{B}^0} =$ 454.1 $\pm$ 1.4 (stat) $\pm$ 1.7 (syst) $\mu$m. The effective lifetime of the B$^0_\mathrm{s}$ meson is measured in two decay modes, with contributions from different amounts of the heavy and light eigenstates. This results in two different measured lifetimes: $c\tau_{\mathrm{B}^0_\mathrm{s} \to \mathrm{J}/\psi \pi^+\pi^-} =$ 502.7 $\pm$ 10.2 (stat) $\pm$ 3.4 (syst) $\mu$m and $c\tau_{\mathrm{B}^0_\mathrm{s} \to \mathrm{J}/\psi\phi(1020)} =$ 443.9 $\pm$ 2.0 (stat) $\pm$ 1.5 (syst) $\mu$m. The $\Lambda^0_\mathrm{b}$ lifetime is found to be 443.9 $\pm$ 8.2 (stat) $\pm$ 2.8 (syst) $\mu$m. The precision from each of these channels is as good as or better than previous measurements. The B$_\mathrm{c}^+$ lifetime, measured with respect to the B$^+$ to reduce the systematic uncertainty, is 162.3 $\pm$ 7.8 (stat) $\pm$ 4.2 (syst) $\pm$ 0.1 $(\tau_{\mathrm{B}^+})$ $\mu$m. All results are in agreement with current world-average values.

A study of the $\mathrm{B}^{+} \rightarrow \mathrm{J}/\psi \bar{\Lambda} \mathrm{p}$ decay is reported, using proton-proton collision data collected at $\sqrt{s}= 8~\mathrm{TeV}$ by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $19.6~\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$. The ratio of branching fractions $\frac{{\cal B}(\mathrm{B}^{+} \rightarrow \mathrm{J}/\psi \bar{\Lambda} \mathrm{p})}{{\cal B}(\mathrm{B}^{+} \rightarrow \mathrm{J}/\psi \mathrm{K}^{*+})}$ is measured to be $1.054\pm0.057~\text{(stat)} \pm0.028~\text{(syst)}\pm0.011({\cal B})\%$, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, and the third reflects the uncertainties in the world-average branching fractions. The invariant mass distributions of $\mathrm{J}/\psi \bar{\Lambda}$, $\mathrm{J}/\psi \mathrm{p}$, and $\bar{\Lambda} \mathrm{p}$ systems produced in the $\mathrm{B}^{+} \rightarrow \mathrm{J}/\psi \bar{\Lambda} \mathrm{p}$ decay are investigated and found to be inconsistent with the pure phase space hypothesis. The analysis is extended by using a model-independent angular amplitude analysis, which shows that the inclusion of contributions from excited kaons in the $\bar{\Lambda} \mathrm{p}$ system does improve the description of the observed invariant mass distributions.

Signals consistent with the B$^+_\mathrm{c}$(2S) and B$^{*+}_\mathrm{c}$(2S) states are observed in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV, in an event sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$, collected by the CMS experiment during the 2016, 2017, and 2018 LHC running periods. These excited $\bar{\mathrm{b}}$c states are observed in the B$^+_\mathrm{c}\pi^+\pi^-$ invariant mass spectrum, with the ground state B$^+_\mathrm{c}$ reconstructed through its decay to J/$\psi\,\pi^+$. The two states are well resolved from each other and are observed with a significance exceeding five standard deviations. The mass of the B$^+_\mathrm{c}$(2S) meson is measured to be 6871.0 $\pm$ 1.2 (stat) $\pm$ 0.8 (syst) $\pm$ 0.8 (B$^+_\mathrm{c}$) MeV, where the last term corresponds to the uncertainty in the world-average B$^+_\mathrm{c}$ mass.

The observation of the $\Lambda_\mathrm{b}^0 \to$J/$\psi \Lambda \phi$ decay is reported using proton-proton collision data collected at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 60 fb$^{-1}$. The ratio of the branching fractions $\mathcal{B}(\Lambda_\mathrm{b}^0 \to$J/$\psi \Lambda \phi)/\mathcal{B}(\Lambda_\mathrm{b}^0\to\psi \Lambda)$ is measured to be (8.26$\pm$0.90 (stat) $\pm$ 0.68 (syst) $\pm$ 0.11 $(\mathcal{B}))\times $10$^{-2}$, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, and the last uncertainty reflects the uncertainties in the world-average branching fractions of $\phi$ and $\psi$(2S) decays to the reconstructed final states.