Search for the Standard Model Higgs boson decay to mu(+)mu(-) with the {ATLAS} detector

We acknowledge the support of ANPCyT, Argentina; YerPhI, Armenia; ARC, Australia; BMWF and FWF, Austria; ANAS, Azerbaijan; SSTC, Belarus; CNPq and FAPESP, Brazil; NSERC, NRC and CFI, Canada; CERN; CONICYT, Chile; CAS, MOST and NSFC, China; COL-CIENCIAS, Colombia; MSMT CR, MPO CR and VSC CR, Czech Republic; DNRF, DNSRC and Lundbeck Foundation, Denmark; EPLANET, ERC and NSRF, European Union; IN2P3-CNRS, CEA-DSM/IRFU, France; GNSF, Georgia; BMBF, DFG, HGF, MPG and AvH Foundation, Germany; GSRT and NSRF, Greece; ISF, MINERVA, GIF, I-CORE and Benoziyo Center, Israel; INFN, Italy; MEXT and JSPS, Japan; CNRST, Morocco; FOM and NWO, Netherlands; BRF and RCN, Norway; MNiSW and NCN, Poland; GRICES and FCT, Portugal; MNE/IFA, Romania; MES of Russia and ROSATOM, Russian Federation; JINR; MSTD, Serbia; MSSR, Slovakia; ARRS and MIZS, Slovenia; DST/NRF, South Africa; MINECO, Spain; SRC and Wallenberg Foundation, Sweden; SER, SNSF and Cantons of Bern and Geneva, Switzerland; NSC, Taiwan; TAEK, Turkey; STFC, the Royal Society and Leverhulme Trust, United Kingdom; DOE and NSF, United States of America.A search is reported for Higgs boson decay to mu(+)mu(-) using data with an integrated luminosity of 24.8 fb(-1) collected with the {ATLAS} detector in pp collisions at root s = 7 and 8 {TeV} at the {CERN} Large Hadron Collider. The observed dimuon invariant mass distribution is consistent with the Standard Model background-only hypothesis in the 120-150 {GeV} search range. For a Higgs boson with a mass of 125.5 {GeV}, the observed (expected) upper limit at the 95\% confidence level is 7.0 (7.2) times the Standard Model expectation. This corresponds to an upper limit on the branching ratio {BR}(H -{\textgreater} mu(+)mu(-)) of 1.5 x10(-3). Published by Elsevier B.V.publishersversionpublishe

Descargas luminescentes anómalas com cátodo magnetrão – descargas reactivas

Dissertação apresentada para a obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Engenharia Física, especialidade de Engenharia de Superfícies, pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e TecnologiaO trabalho que se descreve inseriu-se na continuidade do estudo das descargas luminescentes anómalas em cátodos com assistência de campo magnético, desenvolvido na Linha 2 do CEFITEC nos últimos 20 anos. Esses estudos têm incidido na exploração experimental do comportamento das descargas no sentido da sua melhor compreensão e procurando desenvolver modelos semi-empiricos. Simultaneamente a esta linha de orientação têm-se procurado prestar à comunidade e a outros grupos de I&D serviços de investigação aplicada tanto no desenvolvimento de produtos como de dispositivos que utilizem filmes finos de desenho especial ou personalizado. Esta temática continua a nível internacional a revelar-se interessante tanto do ponto vista da modelação Física como das aplicações concretas, em especial na área dos filmes finos. O desenvolvimento de aplicações para a indústria e a integração em projectos internacionais, como o projecto ATLAS, com objectivos que exigiam a construção de sistemas, o estudo de descargas e a obtenção de filmes finos com propriedades pré definidas contribuíram em termos de Engenharia Física para uma aprendizagem em exercício necessária à execução das tarefas específicas descritas nesta tese. Este trabalho decorreu em três fases. Numa primeira fase abordou-se o tema das descargas luminescentes anómalas em cátodo magnetrão e a sua aplicação na produção de filmes finos de TiN em substratos de Aço. Ainda nesta fase efectuou-se a automatização do monocromador SPEX e a sua integração num sistema de aquisição automático. A experiência demonstrou a necessidade de tornar o sistema de aquisição e controlo da descarga mais rápido. Com os dados adquiridos nesta fase planeou-se as alterações ao sistema de cátodo magnetrão oco (SICMO) assim como a aquisição de um espectrómetro de aquisição rápida na base de CCDs. Na segunda fase planearam-se e implementaram-se as alterações ao sistema de cátodo magnetrão oco (SICMO) e o acoplamento de um espectrómetro Avantes de aquisição rápida na base de CCDs num sistema integrado de aquisição simultânea de curvas características da descarga e de espectroscopia óptica de emissão. Foram efectuados estudos das curvas características e de espectroscopia óptica de emissão para três materiais de alvo diferentes e com várias composições da atmosfera de descarga com diferentes misturas de Ar, N2 e C2H2. Produziram-se igualmente filmes finos dos diferentes materiais estudados e a diferentes atmosferas de descarga e a sua composição e estrutura foram analisadas por microscopia de forças atómicas, espectrometria de retrodispersão de Rutherford e difracção de raios-X.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT)- bolsa Ref. SFRH/166971/200

Measurement of D∗+/−D^{*+/-} meson production in jets from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper reports a measurement of D*+/- meson production in jets from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement is based on a data sample recorded with the ATLAS detector with an integrated luminosity of 0.30 pb^-1 for jets with transverse momentum between 25 and 70 GeV in the pseudorapidity range |eta| D0pi+, D0 -> K-pi+, and its charge conjugate. The production rate is found to be N(D*+/-)/N(jet) = 0.025 +/- 0.001(stat.) +/- 0.004(syst.) for D*+/- mesons that carry a fraction z of the jet momentum in the range 0.3 < z < 1. Monte Carlo predictions fail to describe the data at small values of z, and this is most marked at low jet transverse momentum.Peer Reviewe

Combined search for the Standard Model Higgs boson using up to 4.9 fb−1^{-1} of pppp collision data at s=7\sqrt{s}=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

A combined search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC using datasets corresponding to integrated luminosities from 1.04 fb-1 to 4.9 fb-1 of pp collisions collected at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV is presented. The Higgs boson mass ranges 112.9-115.5 GeV, 131-238 GeV and 251-466 GeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level (CL), while the range 124-519 GeV is expected to be excluded in the absence of a signal. An excess of events is observed around mH ~ 126 GeV with a local significance of 3.5 standard deviations (sigma). The local significance of H -> gamma gamma, H -> ZZ(*) -> lll'l' and H -> WW(*) -> lvl'v, the three most sensitive channels in this mass range, are 2.8 sigma, 2.1 sigma and 1.4 sigma, respectively. The global probability for the background to produce such a fluctuation anywhere in the explored Higgs boson mass range 110-600 GeV is estimated to be ~1.4% or, equivalently 2.2 sigma.Peer Reviewe

Search for diphoton events with large missing transverse momentum in fb−1^{-1} of 7 TeV proton–proton collision data with the ATLAS detector

A search for diphoton events with large missing transverse momentum has been performed using 1.07 fb^-1 of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector. No excess of events was observed above the Standard Model prediction and 95% Confidence Level (CL) upper limits are set on the production cross section for new physics: sigma < (22-129) fb in the context of a generalised model of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking (GGM) with a bino-like lightest neutralino, sigma < (27-91) fb in the context of a minimal model of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking (SPS8) and (15-27) fb in the context of a specific model with one universal extra dimension (UED). A 95% CL lower limit of 805 GeV, for bino masses above 50 GeV, is set on the GGM gluino mass. Lower limits of 145 TeV and 1.23 TeV are set on the SPS8 breaking scale Lambda and on the UED compactification scale 1/R, respectively. These limits provide the most stringent tests of these models to date.Peer Reviewe

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at s=7\sqrt{s}=7 TeV

The jet energy scale (JES) and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 inverse pb. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0.4 or R=0.6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pt > 20 GeV and pseudorapidities eta 50 GeV after a dedicated correction for this effect. The JES is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pt, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pt jets recoiling against a high-pt jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, providing an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The JES systematic uncertainty determined from a combination of in situ techniques are consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pt jets.Peer Reviewe

Search for events with large missing transverse momentum, jets, and at least two tau leptons in 7 TeV proton–proton collision data with the ATLAS detector

A search for events with large missing transverse momentum, jets, and at least two tau leptons has been performed using 2 fb^-1 of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. No excess above the Standard Model background expectation is observed and a 95% CL visible cross section upper limit for new phenomena is set. A 95% CL lower limit of 32 TeV is set on the GMSB breaking scale Lambda independent of tan(beta). These limits provide the most stringent tests to date in a large part of the considered parameter space.Peer Reviewe

Measurement of the tt-channel single top-quark production cross section in pppp collisions at s=7\sqrt{s}=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

We report a measurement of the cross section of single top-quark production in the t-channel using 1.04 fb^-1 of pp collision data at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Selected events feature one electron or muon, missing transverse momentum, and two or three jets, exactly one of them identified as originating from a b quark. The cross section is measured by fitting the distribution of a multivariate discriminant constructed with a neural network, yielding sigma(t)= 83 +/- 4 (stat.) +20 -19 (syst) pb which is in good agreement with the prediction of the Standard Model. Using the ratio of the measured to the theoretically predicted cross section and assuming that the top-quark-related CKM matrix elements obey the relation |V(tb)| >> |V(ts)|, |V(td)|, the coupling strength at the W-t-b vertex is determined to be |V(tb)| = 1.13 +0.14 -0.13. If it is assumed that |V(tb)| 0.75 is obtained at the 95% confidence level.Peer Reviewe

Search for extra dimensions using diphoton events in 7 TeV proton–proton collisions with the ATLAS detector

Using data recorded in 2011 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider, a search for evidence of extra spatial dimensions has been performed through an analysis of the diphoton final state. The analysis uses data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.12 fb^-1 of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV proton-proton collisions. The diphoton invariant mass spectrum is observed to be in good agreement with the expected Standard Model background. In the large extra dimension scenario of Arkani-Hamed, Dimopoulos and Dvali, the results provide 95% CL lower limits on the fundamental Planck scale between 2.27 and 3.53 TeV, depending on the number of extra dimensions and the theoretical formalism used. The results also set 95% CL lower limits on the lightest Randall-Sundrum graviton mass of between 0.79 and 1.85 TeV, for values of the dimensionless coupling k/\bar{M}_{Pl} varying from 0.01 to 0.1. Combining with previously published ATLAS results from the dielectron and dimuon final states, the 95% CL lower limit on the Randall-Sundrum graviton mass for k/\bar{M}_{Pl} = 0.01 (0.1) is 0.80 (1.95) TeV.Peer Reviewe

Searches for supersymmetry with the ATLAS detector using final states with two leptons and missing transverse momentum in s=7\sqrt{s}=7 TeV proton-proton collisions

Results of three searches are presented for the production of supersymmetric particles decaying into final states with missing transverse momentum and exactly two isolated leptons, e or mu. The analysis uses a data sample collected during the first half of 2011 that corresponds to a total integrated luminosity of 1 fb^-1 of sqrt{s} = 7 TeV proton-proton collisions recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Opposite-sign and same-sign dilepton events are separately studied, with no deviations from the Standard Model expectation observed. Additionally, in opposite- sign events, a search is made for an excess of same-flavour over different-flavour lepton pairs. Effective production cross sections in excess of 9.9 fb for opposite-sign events containing supersymmetric particles with missing transverse momentum greater than 250 GeV are excluded at 95% CL. For same-sign events containing supersymmetric particles with missing transverse momentum greater than 100 GeV, effective production cross sections in excess of 14.8 fb are excluded at 95% CL. The latter limit is interpreted in a simplified weak gaugino production model excluding chargino masses up to 200 GeV.Peer Reviewe