Sparticles in Motion - getting to the line in compressed scenarios with the Recursive Jigsaw Reconstruction

The observation of light super-partners from a supersymmetric extension to the Standard Model is an intensely sought-after experimental outcome, providing an explanation for the stabilization of the electroweak scale and indicating the existence of new particles which could be consistent with dark matter phenomenology. For compressed scenarios, where sparticle spectra mass-splittings are small and decay products carry low momenta, dedicated techniques are required in all searches for supersymmetry. In this paper we suggest an approach for these analyses based on the concept of Recursive Jigsaw Reconstruction, decomposing each event into a basis of complementary observables, for cases where strong initial state radiation has sufficient transverse momentum to elicit the recoil of any final state sparticles. We introduce a collection of kinematic observables which can be used to probe compressed scenarios, in particular exploiting the correlation between missing momentum and that of radiative jets. As an example, we study squark and gluino production, focusing on mass-splittings between parent super-particles and their lightest decay products between 25 and 200 GeV, in hadronic final states where there is an ambiguity in the provenance of reconstructed jets

Kinematical variables towards new dynamics at the LHC

At the LHC, many new physics signatures feature the pair-production of massive particles with subsequent direct or cascading decays to weakly-interacting particles, such as SUSY scenarios with conserved conserved R-parity or $H \to W(\ell\nu)W(\ell\nu)$. We present a set of dimension-less variables that can assist the early discovery of processes of this type in conjunction with a set of variables with mass dimension that will expedite the characterization of these processes

Super-Razor and Searches for Sleptons and Charginos at the LHC

Direct searches for electroweak pair production of new particles at the LHC are a difficult proposition, due to the large background and low signal cross sections. We demonstrate how these searches can be improved by a combination of new razor variables and shape analysis of signal and background kinematics. We assume that the pair-produced particles decay to charged leptons and missing energy, either directly or through a W boson. In both cases the final state is a pair of opposite sign leptons plus missing transverse energy. We estimate exclusion reach in terms of sleptons and charginos as realized in minimal supersymmetry. We compare this super-razor approach in detail to analyses based on other kinematic variables, showing how the super-razor uses more of the relevant kinematic information while achieving higher selection efficiency on signals, including cases with compressed spectra.Comment: 33 pages, 33 figure

Electron reconstruction and identification in the ATLAS experiment using the 2015 and 2016 LHC proton–proton collision data at √=13 TeV

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Algorithms used for the reconstruction and identification of electrons in the central region of the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are presented in this paper; these algorithms are used in ATLAS physics analyses that involve electrons in the final state and which are based on the 2015 and 2016 proton–proton collision data produced by the LHC at √ = 13 TeV. The performance of the electron reconstruction, identification, isolation, and charge identification algorithms is evaluated in data and in simulated samples using electrons from → and /→ decays. Typical examples of combinations of electron reconstruction, identification, and isolation operating points used in ATLAS physics analyses are shown

Search for the Production of a Long-Lived Neutral Particle Decaying within the ATLAS Hadronic Calorimeter in Association with a Z Boson from pp Collisions at √s = 13 TeV

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.This Letter presents a search for the production of a long-lived neutral particle (Zd) decaying within the ATLAS hadronic calorimeter, in association with a standard model (SM) Z boson produced via an intermediate scalar boson, where Z→ℓ+ℓ− (ℓ=e, μ). The data used were collected by the ATLAS detector during 2015 and 2016 pp collisions with a center-of-mass energy of √s=13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 ± 0.8   fb−1. No significant excess of events is observed above the expected background. Limits on the production cross section of the scalar boson times its decay branching fraction into the long-lived neutral particle are derived as a function of the mass of the intermediate scalar boson, the mass of the long-lived neutral particle, and its cτ from a few centimeters to one hundred meters. In the case that the intermediate scalar boson is the SM Higgs boson, its decay branching fraction to a long-lived neutral particle with a cτ approximately between 0.1 and 7 m is excluded with a 95% confidence level up to 10% for mZd between 5 and 15 GeV

Sparticles in motion: Analyzing compressed SUSY scenarios with a new method of event reconstruction

The observation of light superpartners from a supersymmetric extension to the Standard Model is an intensely sought-after experimental outcome, providing an explanation for the stabilization of the electroweak scale and indicating the existence of new particles which could be consistent with dark matter phenomenology. For compressed scenarios, where sparticle spectra mass splittings are small and decay products carry low momenta, dedicated techniques are required in all searches for supersymmetry. In this paper we suggest an approach for these analyses based on the concept of recursive jigsaw reconstruction, decomposing each event into a basis of complementary observables, for cases where strong initial state radiation has sufficient transverse momentum to elicit the recoil of any final state sparticles. We introduce a collection of kinematic observables which can be used to probe compressed scenarios, in particular exploiting the correlation between missing momentum and that of radiative jets. As an example, we study squark and gluino production, focusing on mass-splittings between parent superparticles and their lightest decay products between 25 and 200 GeV, in hadronic final states where there is an ambiguity in the provenance of reconstructed jets

Higgs look-alikes at the LHC

The discovery of a Higgs particle is possible in a variety of search channels at the LHC. However the true identity of any putative Higgs boson will at first remain ambiguous, until one has experimentally excluded other possible assignments of quantum numbers and couplings. We quantify to what degree one can discriminate a Standard Model Higgs boson from "look-alikes" at, or close to, the moment of discovery at the LHC. We focus on the fully-reconstructible "golden" decay mode to a pair of Z bosons and a four-lepton final state, simulating sPlot-weighted samples of signal and background events. Considering both on-shell and off-shell Z's, we show how to utilize the full decay information from the events, including the distributions and correlations of the five relevant angular variables. We demonstrate how the finite phase space acceptance of any LHC detector sculpts the decay distributions, a feature neglected in previous studies. We use likelihood ratios to discriminate a Standard Model Higgs from look-alikes with other spins or nonstandard parity, CP, or form factors. For a benchmark resonance mass of 200 GeV/c^2, we achieve a median expected discrimination significance of 3 sigma with as few as 19 events, and even better discrimination for the off-shell decays of a 145 GeV/c^2 resonance.Comment: 39 pages, 55 figures, typos fixed, figures added, and minor clarification

Observation of electroweak W ± Z boson pair production in association with two jets in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.An observation of electroweak W ± Z production in association with two jets in proton–proton collisions is presented. The data collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 and 2016 at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 13 TeV are used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1. Events containing three identified leptons, either electrons or muons, and two jets are selected. The electroweak production of W ± Z bosons in association with two jets is measured with an observed significance of 5.3 standard deviations. A fiducial cross-section for electroweak production including interference effects and for a single leptonic decay mode is measured to be σW Zjj−EW = 0.57 +0.14−0.13 (stat.) +0.07−0.06 (syst.) fb. Total and differential fiducial cross-sections of the sum of W ± Zjj electroweak and strong productions for several kinematic observables are also measured

Measurement of prompt photon production in √sNN = 8.16 TeV p + Pb collisions with ATLAS

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.The inclusive production rates of isolated, prompt photons in p + Pb collisions at √sNN = 8.16 TeV are studied with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider using a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 165 nb−1 recorded in 2016. The cross-section and nuclear modification factor RpPb are measured as a function of photon transverse energy from 20 GeV to 550 GeV and in three nucleon–nucleon centre-of-mass pseudorapidity regions, (−2.83,−2.02), (−1.84, 0.91), and (1.09, 1.90). The cross-section and RpPb values are compared with the results of a next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculation, with and without nuclear parton distribution function modifications, and with expectations based on a model of the energy loss of partons prior to the hard scattering. The data disfavour a large amount of energy loss and provide new constraints on the parton densities in nuclei

Study of the hard double-parton scattering contribution to inclusive four-lepton production in pp collisions at √s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.The inclusive production of four isolated charged leptons in pp collisions is analysed for the presence of hard double-parton scattering, using 20.2 fb−1 of data recorded in the ATLAS detector at the LHC at centre-of-mass energy √s = 8 TeV. In the four-lepton invariant-mass range of 80 < m4 < 1000 GeV, an artificial neural network is used to enhance the separation between single- and double-parton scattering based on the kinematics of the four leptons in the final state. An upper limit on the fraction of events originating from double-parton scattering is determined at 95% confidence level to be fDPS = 0.042, which results in an estimated lower limit on the effective cross section at 95% confidence level of 1.0 mb