This paper presents a study of $Z \to ll\gamma~$decays with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis uses a proton-proton data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb$^{-1}$ collected at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV. Integrated fiducial cross-sections together with normalised differential fiducial cross-sections, sensitive to the kinematics of final-state QED radiation, are obtained. The results are found to be in agreement with state-of-the-art predictions for final-state QED radiation. First measurements of $Z \to ll\gamma\gamma$ decays are also reported.
Unfolded $M(l^{+}\gamma)$ distribution for $Z \to ee\gamma$ process with dressed leptons and bkg subtraction. $M_{ll}>20$ GeV. Nexp.un f. = 63717.4 $\pm$ 252.4, NPowHeg truth =338714.
Unfolded $M(l^{-}\gamma)$ distribution for $Z \to ee\gamma$ process with dressed leptons and bkg subtraction. $M_{ll}>20$ GeV. Nexp.un f. = 63855.8 $\pm$ 252.7 , NPowHeg truth =338708.
Unfolded $M(l^{+}\gamma)$ distribution for $Z \to \mu\mu\gamma$ process with dressed leptons and bkg subtraction. $M_{ll}>20$ GeV. Nexp.un f. = 64809.8 $\pm$ 254.6, NPowHeg truth =634285.
Measurements of the differential production cross-sections of prompt and non-prompt $J/\psi$ and $\psi(2$S$)$ mesons with transverse momenta between 8 and 360 GeV and rapidity in the range $|y|<2$ are reported. Furthermore, measurements of the non-prompt fractions of $J/\psi$ and $\psi(2$S$)$, and the prompt and non-prompt $\psi(2$S$)$-to-$J/\psi$ production ratios, are presented. The analysis is performed using 140 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV $pp$ collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC during the years 2015-2018.
Summary of results for cross-section of prompt $J/\psi$ decaying to a muon pair for 13 TeV data in fb/GeV. Uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.
Summary of results for cross-section of non-prompt $J/\psi$ decaying to a muon pair for 13 TeV data in fb/GeV. Uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.
Summary of results for cross-section of prompt $\psi(2S)$ decaying to a muon pair for 13 TeV data in fb/GeV. Uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.
This paper presents for the first time a precise measurement of the production properties of the Z boson in the full phase space of the decay leptons. The measurement is obtained from proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment in 2012 at $\sqrt s$ = 8 TeV at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb$^{-1}$. The results, based on a total of 15.3 million Z-boson decays to electron and muon pairs, extend and improve a previous measurement of the full set of angular coefficients describing Z-boson decay. The double-differential cross-section distributions in Z-boson transverse momentum p$_T$ and rapidity y are measured in the pole region, defined as 80 $<$ m $<$ 100 GeV, over the range $|y| <$ 3.6. The total uncertainty of the normalised cross-section measurements in the peak region of the p$_T$ distribution is dominated by statistical uncertainties over the full range and increases as a function of rapidity from 0.5-1.0% for $|y| <$ 2.0 to 2-7% at higher rapidities. The results for the rapidity-dependent transverse momentum distributions are compared to state-of-the-art QCD predictions, which combine in the best cases approximate N$^4$LL resummation with N$^3$LO fixed-order perturbative calculations. The differential rapidity distributions integrated over p$_T$ are even more precise, with accuracies from 0.2-0.3% for $|y| <$ 2.0 to 0.4-0.9% at higher rapidities, and are compared to fixed-order QCD predictions using the most recent parton distribution functions. The agreement between data and predictions is quite good in most cases.
Measured $p_T$ cross sections in full-lepton phase space for |y| < 0.4.
Measured $p_T$ cross sections in full-lepton phase space for 0.4 < |y| < 0.8.
Measured $p_T$ cross sections in full-lepton phase space for 0.8 < |y| < 1.2.
The first evidence for the Higgs boson decay to a $Z$ boson and a photon is presented, with a statistical significance of 3.4 standard deviations. The result is derived from a combined analysis of the searches performed by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations with proton-proton collision data sets collected at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) from 2015 to 2018. These correspond to integrated luminosities of around 140 fb$^{-1}$ for each experiment, at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The measured signal yield is $2.2\pm0.7$ times the Standard Model prediction, and agrees with the theoretical expectation within 1.9 standard deviations.
The negative profile log-likelihood test statistic, where $\Lambda$ represents the likelihood ratio, as a function of the signal strength $\mu$ derived from the ATLAS data, the CMS data, and the combined result.
A search for Majorana neutrinos in same-sign $WW$ scattering events is presented. The analysis uses $\sqrt{s}= 13$ TeV proton-proton collision data with an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$ recorded during 2015-2018 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis targets final states including exactly two same-sign muons and at least two hadronic jets well separated in rapidity. The modelling of the main backgrounds, from Standard Model same-sign $WW$ scattering and $WZ$ production, is constrained with data in dedicated signal-depleted control regions. The distribution of the transverse momentum of the second-hardest muon is used to search for signals originating from a heavy Majorana neutrino with a mass between 50 GeV and 20 TeV. No significant excess is observed over the background expectation. The results are interpreted in a benchmark scenario of the Phenomenological Type-I Seesaw model. In addition, the sensitivity to the Weinberg operator is investigated. Upper limits at the 95% confidence level are placed on the squared muon-neutrino-heavy-neutrino mass-mixing matrix element $\vert V_{\mu N} \vert^{2}$ as a function of the heavy Majorana neutrino's mass $m_N$, and on the effective $\mu\mu$ Majorana neutrino mass $|m_{\mu\mu}|$.
Observed and expected 95% CL upper limits on the heavy Majorana neutrino mixing element $\vert V_{\mu N} \vert^{2}$ as a function of $m_N$ in the Phenomenological Type-I Seesaw model.
Cutflow for a selection of signal samples used in this analysis. The flavour-aligned scenario (in which $\vert V_{\mu N} \vert^{2}=1$) is considered for heavy Majorana neutrino samples. The event yields include all correction factors applied to simulation, and is normalised to 140 fb$^{-1}$. The `Skim' selection requires 2 baseline muons and 2 jets satisfying the object definitions described in Section 3 and $m_{jj} > 150$ GeV. Uncertainties are statistical only.
A search for heavy right-handed Majorana or Dirac neutrinos $N_{\mathrm{R}}$ and heavy right-handed gauge bosons $W_{\mathrm{R}}$ is performed in events with energetic electrons or muons, with the same or opposite electric charge, and energetic jets. The search is carried out separately for topologies of clearly separated final-state products (``resolved'' channel) and topologies with boosted final states with hadronic and/or leptonic products partially overlapping and reconstructed as a large-radius jet (``boosted'' channel). The events are selected from $pp$ collision data at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS detector at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV. No significant deviations from the Standard Model predictions are observed. The results are interpreted within the theoretical framework of a left-right symmetric model, and lower limits are set on masses in the heavy right-handed $W_{\mathrm{R}}$ boson and $N_{\mathrm{R}}$ plane. The excluded region extends to about $m(W_{\mathrm{R}}) = 6.4$ TeV for both Majorana and Dirac $N_{\mathrm{R}}$ neutrinos at $m(N_{\mathrm{R}})<1$ TeV. $N_{\mathrm{R}}$ with masses of less than 3.5 (3.6) TeV are excluded in the electron (muon) channel at $m(W_{\mathrm{R}})=4.8$ TeV for the Majorana neutrinos, and limits of $m(N_{\mathrm{R}})$ up to 3.6 TeV for $m(W_{\mathrm{R}}) = 5.2$ (5.0) TeV in the electron (muon) channel are set for the Dirac neutrinos. These constitute the most stringent exclusion limits to date for the model considered.
Observed 95% CL exclusion contours in the $(m(W_{R}), m(N_{R}))$ plane in the electron channel for boosted.
Expected 95% CL exclusion contours in the $(m(W_{R}), m(N_{R}))$ plane in the electron channel for boosted.
Observed 95% CL exclusion contours in the $(m(W_{R}), m(N_{R}))$ plane in the muon channel for boosted.
We report a new measurement of the production of electrons from open heavy-flavor hadron decays (HFEs) at mid-rapidity ($|y|<$ 0.7) in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=200$ GeV. Invariant yields of HFEs are measured for the transverse momentum range of $3.5 < p_{\rm T} < 9$ GeV/$c$ in various configurations of the collision geometry. The HFE yields in head-on Au+Au collisions are suppressed by approximately a factor of 2 compared to that in $p$+$p$ collisions scaled by the average number of binary collisions, indicating strong interactions between heavy quarks and the hot and dense medium created in heavy-ion collisions. Comparison of these results with models provides additional tests of theoretical calculations of heavy quark energy loss in the quark-gluon plasma.
Ratios of NPE (non-photonic electron) to PHE (photonic electron) as a function of $p_{\rm T}$ in 0-10% central (yellow circles) and 40-80% peripheral (green squares) Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=200$ GeV. Vertical bars represent statistical uncertainties while boxes represent systematic uncertainties. Horizontal bars indicate the bin width.
Invariant yields of electrons from decays of prompt $J/\psi$ (dot-dashed line), $\Upsilon$ (dotted line), Drell-Yan (long dash-dotted line), light vector mesons (long dashed line) and the combined HDE (hadron decayed electron) contribution (solid line), estimated utilizing experimental measurements, theoretical calculations, and PYTHIA and $\rm E_{VT}G_{EN}$ event generators, in 0-10% central Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=200$ GeV. Color bands represent systematic uncertainties.
Invariant yields of electrons from decays of prompt $J/\psi$ (dot-dashed line), $\Upsilon$ (dotted line), Drell-Yan (long dash-dotted line), light vector mesons (long dashed line) and the combined HDE (hadron decayed electron) contribution (solid line), estimated utilizing experimental measurements, theoretical calculations, and PYTHIA and $\rm E_{VT}G_{EN}$ event generators, in 40-80% central Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=200$ GeV. Color bands represent systematic uncertainties.
A search for pair-produced scalar or vector leptoquarks decaying into a $b$-quark and a $\tau$-lepton is presented using the full LHC Run 2 (2015-2018) data sample of 139 fb$^{-1}$ collected with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} =13$ TeV. Events in which at least one $\tau$-lepton decays hadronically are considered, and multivariate discriminants are used to extract the signals. No significant deviations from the Standard Model expectation are observed and 95% confidence-level upper limits on the production cross-section are derived as a function of leptoquark mass and branching ratio $B$ into a $\tau$-lepton and $b$-quark. For scalar leptoquarks, masses below 1460 GeV are excluded assuming $B=100$%, while for vector leptoquarks the corresponding limit is 1650 GeV (1910 GeV) in the minimal-coupling (Yang-Mills) scenario.
Acceptance $\times$ efficiency for the $\tau_\text{lep}\tau_\text{had}$ signal region assuming $\beta$ = 0.5 as a function of m$_\text{LQ}$.
Acceptance $\times$ efficiency for the $\tau_\text{had}\tau_\text{had}$ signal region assuming $\beta$ = 0.5 as a function of m$_\text{LQ}$.
The observed and expected 95% CL upper limits on the scalar LQ pair production cross-sections assuming B = 1 as a function of m$_\text{LQ}$.
A search for a charged Higgs boson, $H^{\pm}$, produced in top-quark decays, $t \rightarrow H^{\pm}b$, is presented. The search targets $H^{\pm}$ decays into a bottom and a charm quark, $H^{\pm} \rightarrow cb$. The analysis focuses on a selection enriched in top-quark pair production, where one top quark decays into a leptonically decaying $W$ boson and a bottom quark, and the other top quark decays into a charged Higgs boson and a bottom quark. This topology leads to a lepton-plus-jets final state, characterised by an isolated electron or muon and at least four jets. The search exploits the high multiplicity of jets containing $b$-hadrons, and deploys a neural network classifier that uses the kinematic differences between the signal and the background. The search uses a dataset of proton-proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV between 2015 and 2018 with the ATLAS detector at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, amounting to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. Observed (expected) 95% confidence-level upper limits between 0.15% (0.09%) and 0.42% (0.25%) are derived for the product of branching fractions $\mathscr{B}(t\rightarrow H^{\pm}b) \times \mathscr{B}(H^{\pm}\rightarrow cb)$ for charged Higgs boson masses between 60 and 160 GeV, assuming the SM production of the top-quark pairs.
The observed 95% CL upper limits on $\mathscr{B}=\mathscr{B}(t\rightarrow H^{\pm}b) \times \mathscr{B}(H^{\pm}\rightarrow cb)$ as a function of $m_{H^{\pm}}$ and the expectation (dashed) under the background-only hypothesis. The inner green and outer yellow shaded bands show the $\pm 1\sigma$ and $\pm 2\sigma$ uncertainties of the expected limits. The exclusion limits are presented for $m_{H^{\pm}}$ between 60 and 160 GeV with 10 GeV $m_{H^{\pm}}$ spacing and linear interpolation between adjacent mass points. Superimposed on the upper limits, the predictions from the 3HDM are shown, corresponding to three benchmark values for the parameters $X$, $Y$, and $Z$
Pre-fit event yields in each of the nine analysis regions. The $H^{\pm}$ signal yields for $m_{H^{\pm}}=130$ GeV and $m_{H^{\pm}}=70$ GeV are normalised to $\mathscr{B}_{\mathrm{ref}}=1\%$. The quoted uncertainties are the sum in quadrature of statistical and systematic uncertainties of the yields, computed taking into account correlations among processes resulting from the data-based $t\bar{t}$ correction procedure.
Post-fit yields in each of the nine analysis regions considered. The total prediction is shown after the fit to data under the signal-plus-background hypothesis assuming $H^{\pm}$ signal with $m_{H^{\pm}}=130$ GeV. The predicted yileds for the $H^{\pm}$ signal with $m_{H^{\pm}}=70$ GeV are also shown for reference. The best fit-values of $\mathscr{B}$ for $H^{\pm}$ signal with $m_{H^{\pm}}=130$ GeV and $m_{H^{\pm}}=70$ GeV are 0.16% and 0.07% respectively. The quoted uncertainties are the sum in quadrature of statistical and systematic uncertainties of the yields, computed taking into account correlations among nuisance parameters and among processes.
This paper presents direct searches for lepton flavour violation in Higgs boson decays, $H\rightarrow e\tau$ and $H\rightarrow\mu\tau$, performed using data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The searches are based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. Leptonic ($\tau \rightarrow \ell \nu_\ell \nu_\tau$) and hadronic ($\tau \rightarrow $ hadrons $ \nu_\tau$) decays of the $\tau$-lepton are considered. Two background estimation techniques are employed: the MC-template method, based on data-corrected simulation samples, and the Symmetry method, based on exploiting the symmetry between electrons and muons in the Standard Model backgrounds. No significant excess of events is observed and the results are interpreted as upper limits on lepton-flavour-violating branching ratios of the Higgs boson. The observed (expected) upper limits set on the branching ratios at 95% confidence level, $\mathcal{B}(H\rightarrow e\tau)<0.20\%$ (0.12%) and $\mathcal{B}(H\rightarrow \mu\tau)<0.18\%$ (0.09%), are obtained with the MC-template method from a simultaneous measurement of potential $H \rightarrow e\tau$ and $H \rightarrow\mu\tau$ signals. The best-fit branching ratio difference, $\mathcal{B}(H\rightarrow \mu\tau)- \mathcal{B}(H\rightarrow e\tau)$, measured with the Symmetry method in the channel where the $\tau$-lepton decays to leptons, is (0.25 $\pm$ 0.10)%, compatible with a value of zero within 2.5$\sigma$.
Fit results of the simultaneous measurements of the $H\to e\tau$ and $H\to \mu\tau$ signals (2POI) showing upper limits at 95% C.L. on the LFV branching ratios of the Higgs boson $H\to e\tau$. The results from standalone channel/categories fits are compared with the results of the combined fit.
Fit results of the simultaneous measurements of the $H\to e\tau$ and $H\to \mu\tau$ signals (2POI) showing upper limits at 95% C.L. on the LFV branching ratios of the Higgs boson $H\to e\tau$. The results from standalone channel/categories fits are compared with the results of the combined fit.
Fit results of the simultaneous measurements of the $H\to e\tau$ and $H\to \mu\tau$ signals (2POI) showing best-fit values of the LFV branching ratios of the Higgs boson $\hat{B}$($H\to e\tau$). The results from standalone channel/categories fits are compared with the results of the combined fit.
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