Motion of CMS detector and mechanical structures during Magnet Cycles and Stability Periods from 2008 to 2013 as observed by the Link Alignment System

Magnet Cycles and Stability Periods of the CMS Experiment are studied with the Alignment Link System data recorded along the 2008-2013 years of operation. The motions of the mechanical structures due to the magnetic field forces are studied and the mechanical stability of the detector during the physics data taking periods is verified.Peer Reviewe

Encapsulation of Lactobacillus plantarum in casein-chitosan microparticles facilitates the arrival to the colon and develops an immunomodulatory effect

The current work describes the capability of casein-chitosan microparticles to encapsulate Lactobacillus plantarum (CECT 220 and WCFS1 strains) and evaluates their ability to target the distal areas of the gut and to stimulate the immune system. Microparticles were prepared by complex coacervation, between sodium caseinate and chitosan in an aqueous suspension of the bacteria, and dried by spray-drying. In order to increase the survival rate of the loaded bacteria, microparticles were cross-linked with one of the following cross-linkers: tripolyphosphate, calcium salts or vanillin. Overall, microparticles displayed a mean size of about 7.5 μm with a bacteria loading of about 11 Log CFU/g, when cross-linked with vanillin (MP-LP-V). For conventional microparticles, the payload was 10.12 Log CFU/g. The storage stability study at 25 ◦C/60% RH, MP-LP-V offered the highest degree of protection without signif- icant modification of the payload in 260 days. Compared with control (aqueous suspension of bacteria), MP-LP-V also displayed a significantly higher degree of protection against probiotic inactivation in simulated gastric and intestinal fluids. In vivo results evidenced that microparticles, orally administered to rats, were able to reach the distal ileum and colon in about 4 h post-administration. Additionally, the effect of the daily administration of 107 CFU/mouse of MP-LP-V, for 3 weeks, induced an immunomodulatory effect characterized by an important enhancement of Th1 and Th17 responses. In conclusion, these microparticles seem to be a promising strategy for increasing survival and efficacy of probiotics, allowing the formulation of cost-effective and more stable and effective probiotic-based nutraceuticals

Performance of photon reconstruction and identification with the CMS detector in proton-proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV

et al.A description is provided of the performance of the CMS detector for photon reconstruction and identification in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV at the CERN LHC. Details are given on the reconstruction of photons from energy deposits in the electromagnetic calorimeter (ECAL) and the extraction of photon energy estimates. The reconstruction of electron tracks from photons that convert to electrons in the CMS tracker is also described, as is the optimization of the photon energy reconstruction and its accurate modelling in simulation, in the analysis of the Higgs boson decay into two photons. In the barrel section of the ECAL, an energy resolution of about 1% is achieved for unconverted or late-converting photons from H→γγ decays. Different photon identification methods are discussed and their corresponding selection efficiencies in data are compared with those found in simulated events.Individuals have received support from the Marie-Curie programme and the European Research Council and EPLANET (European Union); the Leventis Foundation; the A. P. Sloan Foundation; the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office; the Fonds pour la Formation a la Recherche dans l’Industrie et dans l’Agriculture (FRIA-Belgium); the Agentschap voor Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie (IWT-Belgium); the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) of the Czech Republic; the Council of Science and Industrial Research, India; the HOMING PLUS programme of Foundation for Polish Science, cofinanced from European Union, Regional Development Fund; the Compagnia di San Paolo (Torino); the Consorzio per la Fisica (Trieste); MIUR project 20108T4XTM (Italy); the Thalis and Aristeia programmes cofinanced by EU-ESF and the Greek NSRF; and the National Priorities Research Program by Qatar National Research Fund.Peer Reviewe

Measurements of jet multiplicity and differential production cross sections of Z + jets events in proton-proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

et al.Measurements of differential cross sections are presented for the production of a Z boson and at least one hadronic jet in proton-proton collisions at √s=7  TeV, recorded by the CMS detector, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.9  fb−1. The jet multiplicity distribution is measured for up to six jets. The differential cross sections are measured as a function of jet transverse momentum and pseudorapidity for the four highest transverse momentum jets. The distribution of the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta is also measured as a function of the jet multiplicity. The measurements are compared with theoretical predictions at leading and next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD.Individuals have received support from the Marie Curie program and the European Research Council and EPLANET (European Union); the Leventis Foundation; the A. P. Sloan Foundation; the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office; the Fonds pour la Formation à la Recherche dans l’Industrie et dans l’Agriculture (FRIABelgium); the Agentschap voor Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie (IWT-Belgium); the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) of the Czech Republic; the Council of Science and Industrial Research, India; the HOMINGPLUS program of Foundation for Polish Science, cofinanced by the European Union, Regional Development Fund; the Compagnia di San Paolo (Torino); the Consorzio per la Fisica (Trieste); MIUR Grant No. 20108T4XTM (Italy); the Thalis and Aristeia programs cofinanced by EU-ESF and the Greek NSRF; and the National Priorities Research Program by Qatar National Research Fund.Peer Reviewe

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Open Access funded by SCOAP³ - Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics.-- et al.Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb-1. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph+pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat+sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.Individuals have received support from the Marie-Curie programme and the European Research Council and EPLANET (European Union); the Leventis Foundation; the A.P. Sloan Foundation; the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office; the Fonds pour la Formation à la Recherche dans l’Industrie et dans l’Agriculture (FRIA-Belgium); the Agentschap voor Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie (IWTBelgium); the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) of the Czech Republic; the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India; the HOMING PLUS programme of Foundation For Polish Science, cofinanced from European Union, Regional Development Fund; the Compagnia di San Paolo (Torino); the Thalis and Aristeia programmes cofinanced by EU-ESF and the Greek NSRF; and the National Priorities Research Program by Qatar National Research Fund.Funded by SCOAP3.Peer Reviewe

Search for a low-mass τ−τ+ resonance in association with a bottom quark in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV

A general search is presented for a low-mass ττ resonance produced in association with a bottom quark. The search is based on proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb. The data are consistent with the standard model expectation. Upper limits at 95% confidence level on the cross section times branching fraction are determined for two signal models: a light pseudoscalar Higgs boson decaying to a pair of τ leptons produced in association with bottom quarks, and a low-mass boson X decaying to a τ-lepton pair that is produced in the decay of a bottom-like quark B such that B → bX. Masses between 25 and 70 GeV are probed for the light pseudoscalar boson with upper limits ranging from 250 to 44 pb. Upper limits from 20 to 0.3 pb are set on B masses between 170 and 450 GeV for X boson masses between 20 and 70 GeV.[Figure not available: see fulltext.].Individuals have received support from the Marie-Curie program and the European Research Council and Horizon 2020 Grant, contract Nos. 675440 and 765710 (European Union); the Programa Estatal de Fomento de la Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnica de Excelencia Maria de Maeztu, grant MDM-2015-0509 and the Programa Severo Ochoa del Principado de Asturias

Measurement of the differential Drell-Yan cross section in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV

The CMS collaboration: et al.Measurements of the differential cross section for the Drell-Yan process, based on proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment, are presented. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 2.8 (2.3) fb-1 in the dimuon (dielectron) channel. The total and fiducial cross section measurements are presented as a function of dilepton invariant mass in the range 15 to 3000 GeV, and compared with the perturbative predictions of the standard model. The measured differential cross sections are in good agreement with the theoretical calculations. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].Individuals have received support from the Marie-Curie programme and the European Research Council and Horizon 2020 Grant, contract No. 675440 (European Union); the Programa Estatal de Fomento de la Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnica de Excelencia Maria de Maeztu, grant MDM-2015-0509 and the Programa Severo Ochoa del Principado de Asturias

Measurement and interpretation of differential cross sections for Higgs boson production at √s=13TeV

The CMS Collaboration: et al.Differential Higgs boson (H) production cross sections are sensitive probes for physics beyond the standard model. New physics may contribute in the gluon-gluon fusion loop, the dominant Higgs boson production mechanism at the LHC, and manifest itself through deviations from the distributions predicted by the standard model. Combined spectra for the H→γγ, H→ZZ, and H→bb‾ decay channels and the inclusive Higgs boson production cross section are presented, based on proton-proton collision data recorded with the CMS detector at √s=13TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9fb(-1). The transverse momentum spectrum is used to place limits on the Higgs boson couplings to the top, bottom, and charm quarks, as well as its direct coupling to the gluon field. No significant deviations from the standard model are observed in any differential distribution. The measured total cross section is 61.1±6.0(stat)±3.7(syst)pb, and the precision of the measurement of the differential cross section of the Higgs boson transverse momentum is improved by about 15% with respect to the H→γγ channel alone.Individuals have received support from the Marie-Curie programme and the European Research Council and Horizon 2020 Grant, contract No. 675440 (European Union); the Programa Estatal de Fomento de la Investigación Científica y Técnica de Excelencia María de Maeztu, grant MDM-2015-0509 and the Programa Severo Ochoa del Principado de Asturias

Inclusive search for supersymmetry in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV using razor variables and boosted object identification in zero and one lepton final states

The CMS collaboration: et al.An inclusive search for supersymmetry (SUSY) using the razor variables is performed using a data sample of proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1), collected with the CMS experiment in 2016 at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13 TeV. The search looks for an excess of events with large transverse energy, large jet multiplicity, and large missing transverse momentum. The razor kinematic variables are sensitive to large mass differences between the parent particle and the invisible particles of a decay chain and help to identify the presence of SUSY particles. The search covers final states with zero or one charged lepton and features event categories divided according to the presence of a high transverse momentum hadronically decaying W boson or top quark, the number of jets, the number of b-tagged jets, and the values of the razor kinematic variables, in order to separate signal from background for a broad range of SUSY signatures. The addition of the boosted W boson and top quark categories within the analysis further increases the sensitivity of the search, particularly to signal models with large mass splitting between the produced gluino or squark and the lightest SUSY particle. The analysis is interpreted using simplified models of R-parity conserving SUSY, focusing on gluino pair production and top squark pair production. Limits on the gluino mass extend to 2.0 TeV, while limits on top squark mass reach 1.14 TeV.[Figure not available: see fulltext.].Article funded by SCOAP3. The Secretaria de Estado de Investigacion Desarrollo e Innovacion, Programa Consolider-Ingenio 2010, Plan Estatal de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnica y de Innovacion 2013-2016, Plan de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion 2013-2017 del Principado de Asturias. Individuals have received support from the Marie-Curie programme and the European Research Council and Horizon 2020 Grant, contract No. 675440 (European Union)

Observation of single top quark production in association with a Z Boson in proton-proton collisions at √s =13 TeV

CMS Collaboration: et al.The observation of single top quark production in association with a Z boson and a quark (tZq) is reported. Events from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV containing three charged leptons (either electrons or muons) and at least two jets are analyzed. The data were collected with the CMS detector in 2016 and 2017 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 77.4fb-1. The increased integrated luminosity, a multivariate lepton identification, and a redesigned analysis strategy improve significantly the sensitivity of the analysis compared to previous searches for tZq production. The tZq signal is observed with a significance well over 5 standard deviations. The measured tZq production cross section is σ(pp→tZq→t?+?-q)=111±13(stat)-9+11(syst) fb, for dilepton invariant masses above 30 GeV, in agreement with the standard model expectation