Impact of QED radiative corrections on Parton Distribution Functions

The level of precision achieved by the experimental measurements at the LHC requires the inclusion of higher order electroweak effects to the processes of $pp$ scattering. In particular the photon-induced process $\gamma\gamma \to \ell^+\ell^-$ make a significant contribution ($\sim 10 \%$) to the dilepton invariant mass distribution. To evaluate the cross-section of this process one need to know the parton distribution function (PDF) of the photon in the proton $\gamma (x,\mu^2)$. The aim of the current study is to investigate the impact of QED corrections on PDFs and describe the implementation of QED-modified evolution equations into beta release of new version of {\tt QCDNUM} program. The {\tt APPLGRID} interface to {\tt SANC} Monte Carlo generator for fast evaluation of photon-induced cross-section is also outlined. The results were cross-checked with {\tt partonevolution} program, {\tt MRST2004QED} PDF set and {\tt APFEL} program. The described developments are planned to include into {\tt HERAFitter} package and can be used to determine the photon PDF using new data from the LHC experiments

Probing the photonic content of the proton using photon-induced dilepton production in p+Pbp+\textrm{Pb} collisions at the LHC

We propose a new experimental method to probe the photon parton distribution function inside the proton (photon PDF) at LHC energies. The method is based on the measurement of dilepton production from the $\gamma p\rightarrow\ell^+\ell^-+X$ reaction in proton--lead collisions. These experimental conditions guarantee a clean environment, both in terms of reconstruction of the final state and in terms of possible background. We firstly calculate the cross sections for this process with collinear photon PDFs, where we identify optimal choice of the scale, in analogy to deep inelastic scattering kinematics. We then perform calculations including the transverse-momentum dependence of the probed photon. Finally we estimate rates of the process for the existing LHC data samples

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements