Search for heavy neutral leptons in decays of W bosons using leptonic and semi-leptonic displaced vertices in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search is performed for long-lived heavy neutral leptons (HNLs), produced through the decay of a W boson along with a muon or electron. Two channels are explored: a leptonic channel, in which the HNL decays into two leptons and a neutrino, and a semi-leptonic channel, in which the HNL decays into a lepton and a charged pion. The search is performed with 140 fb−1 of √ s = 13 TeV proton-proton collision data collected by ATLAS during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider. No excess of events is observed; Dirac-like and Majorana-like HNLs with masses below 14.5 GeV and mixing coeffcients as small as 10−7 are excluded at the 95% confidence level. The results are interpreted under different assumptions on the favour of the leptons from the HNL decays

A search for dark matter produced in association with a dark Higgs boson decaying into a Higgs boson pair in 3b or 4b final states using pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Abstract A search is performed for dark matter particles produced in association with a resonant pair of Higgs bosons using 140 fb −1 of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. This signature is expected in some extensions of the Standard Model predicting the production of dark matter particles, and is interpreted in terms of a dark Higgs model containing a Z′ mediator in which the dark Higgs boson s decays into a pair of Higgs bosons. The dark Higgs boson is reconstructed through final states with at least three b-tagged jets, produced by the pair of Higgs boson decays, in events with significant missing transverse momentum consistent with the presence of dark matter. The observed data are found to be in good agreement with Standard Model predictions, constraining scenarios with dark Higgs boson masses within the range of 250 to 400 GeV and Z′ mediators up to 2.3 TeV.</jats:p

Azimuthal anisotropies of charged particles with high transverse momentum in Pb+Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A measurement is presented of elliptic (v2) and triangular (v3) azimuthal anisotropy coefficients for charged particles produced in Pb+Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV using a dataset corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.44 nb−1 collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2018. The values of v2 and v3 are measured for charged particles over a wide range of transverse momentum (pT), 1–400 GeV, and Pb+Pb collision centrality, 0–60%, using the scalar-product and multiparticle cumulant methods. These methods are sensitive to event-by-event fluctuations and nonflow effects in the measurements of azimuthal anisotropies. Positive values of v2 are observed up to a pT of approximately 100 GeV from both methods across all centrality intervals. Positive values of v3 are observed up to approximately 25 GeV using both methods, though the application of the three-subevent technique to the multiparticle cumulant method leads to significant changes at the highest pT. At high pT (pT 10 GeV), charged particles are dominantly from jet fragmentation. These jets, and hence the measurements presented here, are sensitive to the path-length dependence of parton energy loss in the quark-gluon plasma produced in Pb+Pb collisions

Measurements of the production cross-sections of a Higgs boson in association with a vector boson and decaying into WW* with the ATLAS detector at √s = 13 TeV

Abstract Measurements of the total and differential Higgs boson production cross-sections, via WH and ZH associated production using H → WW * → ℓνℓν and H → WW * → ℓνjj decays, are presented. The analysis uses proton-proton events delivered by the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector between 2015 and 2018. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb −1. The sum of the WH and ZH cross-sections times the H → WW * branching fraction is measured to be $${0.44}_{-0.09}^{+0.10}{\left(\textrm{stat}.\right)}_{-0.05}^{+0.06}\left(\textrm{syst}.\right)$$ 0.44 − 0.09 + 0.10 stat . − 0.05 + 0.06 syst . pb, in agreement with the Standard Model prediction. Higgs boson production is further characterised through measurements of the differential cross-section as a function of the transverse momentum of the vector boson and in the framework of Simplified Template Cross-Sections.</jats:p

A measurement of the high-mass τ τ¯ production cross-section at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector and constraints on new particles and couplings

A bstract The production cross-section of high-mass τ -lepton pairs is measured as a function of the dilepton visible invariant mass, using 140 fb − 1 of $$\sqrt{s}=13$$ s = 13 TeV proton-proton collision data recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The measurement agrees with the predictions of the Standard Model. A fit to the invariant mass distribution is performed as a function of b -jet multiplicity, to constrain the non-resonant production of new particles described by an effective field theory or in models containing leptoquarks or Z′ bosons that couple preferentially to third-generation fermions. The constraints on new particles improve on previous results, and the constraints on effective operators include those affecting the anomalous magnetic moment of the τ -lepton. </jats:p

Measurements and interpretations of W±Z production cross-sections in pp collisions at √s =13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Measurements of integrated and differential cross-sections for W±Z production in proton-proton collisions are presented. The data collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider from 2015 to 2018 at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 13 TeV are used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1. The W±Z candidate events are reconstructed using leptonic decay modes of the gauge bosons into electrons or muons. The integrated cross-section per lepton flavour for the production of W±Z is measured in the detector fiducial region with a relative precision of 4%. The measured value is compared with the Standard Model prediction at a precision of up to next-to-next-to-leading-order in QCD and next-to-leading-order in electroweak. Cross-sections for W+Z and W−Z production and their ratio are presented. The W±Z production is also measured differentially as functions of various kinematic variables, including new observables sensitive to CP-violation effects. All measurements are compared with state-of-the-art Standard Model predictions from fixed-order calculations or Monte Carlo generators based on next-to-leading-order matrix elements interfaced with parton showers. An effective field theory interpretation of the measurements is performed, considering both CP-conserving and CP-violating dimension-6 operators modifying the W±Z production. In the absence of observed deviations from the Standard Model, limits on CP-conserving Wilson coefficients are extracted using the transverse mass of the W±Z system. For CP-violating coefficients a machine learning approach is used to construct an observable with enhanced sensitivity to CP-violation effects

Search for events with one displaced vertex from long-lived neutral particles decaying into hadronic jets in the ATLAS muon spectrometer in pp collisions at √s =13 TeV

A search for events with one displaced vertex from long-lived particles using data collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is presented, using 140     fb − 1 of proton-proton collision data at s = 13     TeV recorded in 2015–2018. The search employs techniques for reconstructing vertices of long-lived particles decaying into hadronic jets in the muon spectrometer displaced between 3 m and 14 m from the primary interaction vertex. The observed number of events is consistent with the expected background and limits for several benchmark signals are determined. A scalar-portal model and a Higgs-boson-portal baryogenesis model are considered. A dedicated analysis channel is employed to target Z-boson associated long-lived particle production, including an axionlike particle and a dark photon model. For the Higgs boson model, branching fractions above 1% are excluded at 95% confidence level for long-lived particle proper decay lengths ranging from 5 cm to 40 m. For the photophobic axionlike particle model considered, this search produces the strongest limits to date for proper decay lengths greater than O ( 10 )     cm . </jats:p

Probing the Higgs boson CP properties in vector-boson fusion production in the H → τ+τ− channel with the ATLAS detector

A bstract The CP properties of the Higgs boson are studied in the vector-boson fusion production mode. The analysis exploits the decay mode of the Higgs boson into two τ -leptons using 140 fb − 1 of proton-proton collision data at $$\sqrt{s}=13$$ s = 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Results are obtained using the Optimal Observable method. CP-violating interactions between the Higgs boson and electroweak gauge bosons are considered in the effective field theory framework, with the interaction strength described in the HISZ basis by $$\overset{\sim }{d}$$ d ~ , and in the Warsaw basis by $${c}_{H\overset{\sim }{W}}$$ c H W ~ , $${c}_{H\overset{\sim }{B}}$$ c H B ~ , and $${c}_{H\overset{\sim }{W}B}$$ c H W ~ B . No deviations relative to the Standard Model are observed, and limits are obtained on the strength parameters. The $$\overset{\sim }{d}$$ d ~ parameter is constrained to the interval [−0 . 012 , 0 . 044] at the 95% confidence level while $${c}_{H\overset{\sim }{W}}$$ c H W ~ is constrained to [−0 . 24 , 0 . 83], when considering both linear and quadratic effects of physics beyond the Standard Model. </jats:p

Search for the production of a Higgs boson in association with a single top quark in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

International audienceA search for the production of a Higgs boson in association with a single top quark, $tH$, is presented. The analysis uses proton--proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $140\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ at a centre-of-mass energy of $13$ TeV, collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The search targets Higgs-boson decays into $b\bar{b}$, $WW^{*}$, $ZZ^{*}$, and $ττ$, accompanied by an isolated lepton (electron or muon) from the top-quark decay. Multivariate techniques are employed to enhance the separation between signal and background processes. The observed signal strength, $μ_{tH}$, defined as the ratio between the measured cross-section and the predicted Standard Model value, is $μ_{tH}~=~8.1~\pm~2.6~\mathrm{(stat.)}~\pm~2.0~\mathrm{(syst.)}$. The significance of the observed (expected) signal above the background-only expectation is $2.8$ ($0.4$) standard deviations. The corresponding observed (expected) upper limit at the 95% confidence level on the $tH$ cross-section is found to be $13.9$ ($6.1$) times the value predicted by the Standard Model. An interpretation with an inverted sign of the top-quark Yukawa coupling is performed, and the signal strength and corresponding limit are reported

Evidence for longitudinally polarized W Bosons in the electroweak production of same-sign W Boson pairs in association with two jets in pp Collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This Letter reports the first evidence of electroweak production of same-sign W boson pairs where at least one of the W bosons is longitudinally polarized and the most stringent constraint to date for the production of two longitudinally polarized same-sign W bosons. The dataset used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 140  fb^{-1} of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected with the ATLAS detector during run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider. The study is performed in final states including two same-sign leptons (electrons or muons), missing transverse momentum, and at least two jets with a large invariant mass and a large rapidity difference. Two independent fits are performed targeting the production of same-sign W bosons with at least one, or two longitudinally polarized W bosons. The observed (expected) significance of the production with at least one longitudinally polarized W boson is 3.3 (4.0) standard deviations. An observed (expected) 95% confidence level upper limit of 0.45 (0.70) fb is reported on the fiducial production cross section of two longitudinally polarized same-sign W bosons