Measurements of the effect of collisions on transverse beam halo diffusion in the Tevatron and in the LHC

Beam-beam forces and collision optics can strongly affect beam lifetime, dynamic aperture, and halo formation in particle colliders. Extensive analytical and numerical simulations are carried out in the design and operational stage of a machine to quantify these effects, but experimental data is scarce. The technique of small-step collimator scans was applied to the Fermilab Tevatron collider and to the CERN Large Hadron Collider to study the effect of collisions on transverse beam halo dynamics. We describe the technique and present a summary of the first results on the dependence of the halo diffusion coefficient on betatron amplitude in the Tevatron and in the LHC.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to the Proceedings of the ICFA Mini-Workshop on Beam-beam Effects in Hadron Colliders (BB2013), Geneva, Switzerland, 18-22 March 201

Beam halo dynamics and control with hollow electron beams

Experimental measurements of beam halo diffusion dynamics with collimator scans are reviewed. The concept of halo control with a hollow electron beam collimator, its demonstration at the Tevatron, and its possible applications at the LHC are discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, in Proceedings of the 52nd ICFA Advanced Beam Dynamics Workshop on High-Intensity and High-Brightness Hadron Beams (HB2012), Beijing, China, 17-21 September 201

Testing Beam-Induced Quench Levels of LHC Superconducting Magnets

In the years 2009-2013 the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been operated with the top beam energies of 3.5 TeV and 4 TeV per proton (from 2012) instead of the nominal 7 TeV. The currents in the superconducting magnets were reduced accordingly. To date only seventeen beam-induced quenches have occurred; eight of them during specially designed quench tests, the others during injection. There has not been a single beam- induced quench during normal collider operation with stored beam. The conditions, however, are expected to become much more challenging after the long LHC shutdown. The magnets will be operating at near nominal currents, and in the presence of high energy and high intensity beams with a stored energy of up to 362 MJ per beam. In this paper we summarize our efforts to understand the quench levels of LHC superconducting magnets. We describe beam-loss events and dedicated experiments with beam, as well as the simulation methods used to reproduce the observable signals. The simulated energy deposition in the coils is compared to the quench levels predicted by electro-thermal models, thus allowing to validate and improve the models which are used to set beam-dump thresholds on beam-loss monitors for Run 2.Comment: 19 page

Single hadron response measurement and calorimeter jet energy scale uncertainty with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

The uncertainty on the calorimeter energy response to jets of particles is derived for the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). First, the calorimeter response to single isolated charged hadrons is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo simulation using proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of sqrt(s) = 900 GeV and 7 TeV collected during 2009 and 2010. Then, using the decay of K_s and Lambda particles, the calorimeter response to specific types of particles (positively and negatively charged pions, protons, and anti-protons) is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo predictions. Finally, the jet energy scale uncertainty is determined by propagating the response uncertainty for single charged and neutral particles to jets. The response uncertainty is 2-5% for central isolated hadrons and 1-3% for the final calorimeter jet energy scale.Comment: 24 pages plus author list (36 pages total), 23 figures, 1 table, submitted to European Physical Journal

Standalone vertex finding in the ATLAS muon spectrometer

A dedicated reconstruction algorithm to find decay vertices in the ATLAS muon spectrometer is presented. The algorithm searches the region just upstream of or inside the muon spectrometer volume for multi-particle vertices that originate from the decay of particles with long decay paths. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using both a sample of simulated Higgs boson events, in which the Higgs boson decays to long-lived neutral particles that in turn decay to bbar b final states, and pp collision data at √s = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2011

Measurements of Higgs boson production and couplings in diboson final states with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements are presented of production properties and couplings of the recently discovered Higgs boson using the decays into boson pairs, H →γ γ, H → Z Z∗ →4l and H →W W∗ →lνlν. The results are based on the complete pp collision data sample recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 25 fb−1. Evidence for Higgs boson production through vector-boson fusion is reported. Results of combined fits probing Higgs boson couplings to fermions and bosons, as well as anomalous contributions to loop-induced production and decay modes, are presented. All measurements are consistent with expectations for the Standard Model Higgs boson

Measurement of the top quark pair cross section with ATLAS in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV using final states with an electron or a muon and a hadronically decaying τ lepton

A measurement of the cross section of top quark pair production in proton-proton collisions recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is reported. The data sample used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.05 fb -1. Events with an isolated electron or muon and a τ lepton decaying hadronically are used. In addition, a large missing transverse momentum and two or more energetic jets are required. At least one of the jets must be identified as originating from a b quark. The measured cross section, σtt-=186±13(stat.)±20(syst.)±7(lumi.) pb, is in good agreement with the Standard Model prediction

Measurement of the top quark-pair production cross section with ATLAS in pp collisions at \sqrt{s}=7\TeV

A measurement of the production cross-section for top quark pairs(\ttbar) in $pp$ collisions at \sqrt{s}=7 \TeV is presented using data recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events are selected in two different topologies: single lepton (electron $e$ or muon $\mu$) with large missing transverse energy and at least four jets, and dilepton ($ee$, $\mu\mu$ or $e\mu$) with large missing transverse energy and at least two jets. In a data sample of 2.9 pb-1, 37 candidate events are observed in the single-lepton topology and 9 events in the dilepton topology. The corresponding expected backgrounds from non-\ttbar Standard Model processes are estimated using data-driven methods and determined to be $12.2 \pm 3.9$ events and $2.5 \pm 0.6$ events, respectively. The kinematic properties of the selected events are consistent with SM \ttbar production. The inclusive top quark pair production cross-section is measured to be \sigmattbar=145 \pm 31 ^{+42}_{-27} pb where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. The measurement agrees with perturbative QCD calculations.Comment: 30 pages plus author list (50 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, CERN-PH number and final journal adde