A Method to Estimate the Boson Mass and to Optimise Sensitivity to Helicity Correlations of tau+tau- Final States

In proton-proton collisions at LHC energies, Z and low mass Higgs bosons would be produced with high and predominantly longitudinal boost with respect to the beam axis. This note describes a new analysis tool devised to handle this situation in cases when such bosons decay to a pair of tau-leptons. The tool reconstructs the rest frame of the tau+tau- pair by finding the boost that minimises the acollinearity between the visible tau decay products. In most cases this gives a reasonable approximation to the rest frame of the decaying boson. It is shown how the reconstructed rest frame allows for a new method of mass estimation. Also a considerable gain in sensitivity to helicity correlations is obtained by analysing the tau-jets in the reconstructed frame instead of using the laboratory momenta and energies, particularly when both tau-leptons decay hadronically.Comment: 13 pages, method extended with 3D boost finde

Radiation hard 3D silicon pixel sensors for use in the ATLAS detector at the HL-LHC

The High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) upgrade requires the planned Inner Tracker (ITk) of the ATLAS detector to tolerate extremely high radiation doses. Specifically, the innermost parts of the pixel system will have to withstand radiation fluences above 1 × 1016 neqcm-2. Novel 3D silicon pixel sensors offer a superior radiation tolerance compared to conventional planar pixel sensors, and are thus excellent candidates for the innermost parts of the ITk. This paper presents studies of 3D pixel sensors with pixel size 50 × 50 μm2 mounted on the RD53A prototype readout chip. Following a description of the design and fabrication steps, Test Beam results are presented for unirradiated as well as heavily irradiated sensors. For particles passing at perpendicular incidence, it is shown that average efficiencies above 96% are reached for sensors exposed to fluences of 1 × 1016 neqcm-2 when biased to 80 V.publishedVersio

Charged-particle multiplicities in pppp interactions at s\sqrt{s} = 900 GeV measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

The first measurements from proton-proton collisions recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC are presented. Data were collected in December 2009 using a minimum-bias trigger during collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 900 GeV. The charged-particle multiplicity, its dependence on transverse momentum and pseudorapidity, and the relationship between mean transverse momentum and charged-particle multiplicity are measured for events with at least one charged particle in the kinematic range |eta|500 MeV. The measurements are compared to Monte Carlo models of proton-proton collisions and to results from other experiments at the same centre-of-mass energy. The charged-particle multiplicity per event and unit of pseudorapidity at eta = 0 is measured to be 1.333 +/- 0.003 (stat.) +/- 0.040 (syst.), which is 5-15% higher than the Monte Carlo models predict.publishedVersio

Novel 3D Pixel Sensors for the Upgrade of the ATLAS Inner Tracker

The ATLAS experiment will undergo a full replacement of its inner detector to face the challenges posed by the High Luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC). The new Inner Tracker (ITk) will have to deal with extreme particle fluences. Due to its superior radiation hardness the 3D silicon sensor technology has been chosen to instrument the innermost pixel layer of ITk, which is the most exposed to radiation damage. Three foundries (CNM, FBK, and SINTEF), have developed and fabricated novel 3D pixel sensors to meet the specifications of the new ITk pixel detector. These are produced in a single-side technology on either Silicon On Insulator (SOI) or Silicon on Silicon (Si-on-Si) bonded wafers by etching both n- and p-type columns from the same side. With respect to previous generations of 3D sensors they feature thinner active substrates and smaller pixel cells of 50 × 50 and 25 × 100 µm2. This paper reviews the main design and technological issues of these novel 3D sensors, and presents their characterization before and after exposure to large radiation doses close to the one expected for the innermost layer of ITk. The performance of pixel modules, where the sensors are interconnected to the recently developed RD53A chip prototype for HL-LHC, has been investigated in the laboratory and at beam tests. The results of these measurements demonstrate the excellent radiation hardness of this new generation of 3D pixel sensors that enabled the project to proceed with the pre-production for the ITk tracker.publishedVersio

Search for resonances decaying into photon pairs in 139 fb−1 of pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Searches for new resonances in the diphoton final state, with spin 0 as predicted by theories with an extended Higgs sector and with spin 2 using a warped extra-dimension benchmark model, are presented using 139 fb−1 of √ s =13 TeV pp collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. No significant deviation from the Standard Model is observed and upper limits are placed on the production cross-section times branching ratio to two photons as a function of the resonance mass.publishedVersio

Measurement of the b-hadron production cross section using decays to D*+ μ − X final states in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The b-hadron production cross section is measured with the ATLAS detector in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV, using 3.3 pb−1 of integrated luminosity, collected during the 2010 LHC run. The b-hadrons are selected by partially reconstructing D*+μ−X final states. Differential cross sections are measured as functions of the transverse momentum and pseudorapidity. The measured production cross section for a b-hadron with pT > 9 GeV and |η| < 2.5 is 32.7±0.8(stat.)+4.5−6.8(syst.) μb, higher than the next-to-leadingorder QCD predictions but consistent within the experimental and theoretical uncertainties

Measurement of the production cross section of prompt J/ψ mesons in association with a W ± boson in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The process pp → W ± J/ψ provides a powerful probe of the production mechanism of charmonium in hadronic collisions, and is also sensitive to multiple parton interactions in the colliding protons. Using the 2011 ATLAS dataset of 4.5 fb−1 of s√ = 7 TeV pp collisions at the LHC, the first observation is made of the production of W ± + prompt J/ψ events in hadronic collisions, using W ± → μν μ and J/ψ → μ + μ −. A yield of 27.4+7.5−6.5 W ± + prompt J/ψ events is observed, with a statistical significance of 5.1σ. The production rate as a ratio to the inclusive W ± boson production rate is measured, and the double parton scattering contribution to the cross section is estimated.publishedVersio

Search for heavy lepton resonances decaying to a ZZ boson and a lepton in pppp collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for heavy leptons decaying to a $Z$ boson and an electron or a muon is presented. The search is based on $pp$ collision data taken at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$, Three high-transverse-momentum electrons or muons are selected, with two of them required to be consistent with originating from a $Z$ boson decay. No significant excess above Standard Model background predictions is observed, and 95% confidence level limits on the production cross section of high-mass trilepton resonances are derived. The results are interpreted in the context of vector-like lepton and type-III seesaw models. For the vector-like lepton model, most heavy lepton mass values in the range 114-176 GeV are excluded. For the type-III seesaw model, most mass values in the range 100-468 GeV are excluded

Measurement of Branching Fractions of B0 Decays to K1(1270)+ pi- and K1(1400)+ pi-

We present a measurement of the branching fraction of neutral B meson decaying to final states containing a K1 meson, i.e. K{sub 1}(1270) and K{sub 1}(1400), and a charged pion. The data, collected with the BABAR detector at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, represent 454 million B{bar B} pairs produced in e{sup +}e{sup -} annihilation. We measure the branching fraction {Beta}(B{sup 0} {yields} K{sub 1}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}) = (31.0 {+-} 2.7 {+-} 6.9) x 10{sup -6}, where the first error quoted is statistical and the second is systematic. In the framework of the K-matrix formalism used to describe these decays, we also set limits on the ratio of the production constants for the K{sub 1}(1270){sup +} and K{sub 1}(1400){sup +} mesons in B{sup 0} decays