Searches for lepton-flavour-violating decays of the Higgs boson into eτ and μτ in \sqrt{s} = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

Abstract This paper presents direct searches for lepton flavour violation in Higgs boson decays, H → eτ and H → μτ, performed using data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The searches are based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy s $$\sqrt{s}$$ = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. Leptonic (τ → ℓνℓντ) and hadronic (τ → hadrons ντ) decays of the τ-lepton are considered. Two background estimation techniques are employed: the MC-template method, based on data-corrected simulation samples, and the Symmetry method, based on exploiting the symmetry between electrons and muons in the Standard Model backgrounds. No significant excess of events is observed and the results are interpreted as upper limits on lepton-flavour-violating branching ratios of the Higgs boson. The observed (expected) upper limits set on the branching ratios at 95% confidence level, B $$\mathcal{B}$$ (H → eτ) < 0.20% (0.12%) and B $$\mathcal{B}$$ (H → μτ ) < 0.18% (0.09%), are obtained with the MC-template method from a simultaneous measurement of potential H → eτ and H → μτ signals. The best-fit branching ratio difference, B $$\mathcal{B}$$ (H → μτ) → B $$\mathcal{B}$$ (H → eτ), measured with the Symmetry method in the channel where the τ-lepton decays to leptons, is (0.25 ± 0.10)%, compatible with a value of zero within 2.5σ

Modelling and computational improvements to the simulation of single vector-boson plus jet processes for the ATLAS experiment

This paper presents updated Monte Carlo configurations used to model the production of single electroweak vector bosons (W, Z/γ∗) in association with jets in proton-proton collisions for the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Improvements pertaining to the electroweak input scheme, parton-shower splitting kernels and scale-setting scheme are shown for multi-jet merged configurations accurate to next-to-leading order in the strong and electroweak couplings. The computational resources required for these set-ups are assessed, and approximations are introduced resulting in a factor three reduction of the per-event CPU time without affecting the physics modelling performance. Continuous statistical enhancement techniques are introduced by ATLAS in order to populate low cross-section regions of phase space and are shown to match or exceed the generated effective luminosity. This, together with the lower per-event CPU time, results in a 50% reduction in the required computing resources compared to a legacy set-up previously used by the ATLAS collaboration. The set-ups described in this paper will be used for future ATLAS analyses and lay the foundation for the next generation of Monte Carlo predictions for single vector-boson plus jets production. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

A search for an unexpected asymmetry in the production of e+μ− and e−μ+ pairs in proton-proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at root s = 13 TeV

This search, a type not previously performed at ATLAS, uses a comparison of the production cross sections for e(+)mu(-) and e(-)mu(+) pairs to constrain physics processes beyond the Standard Model. It uses 139 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data recorded at root s = 13 TeV at the LHC. Targeting sources of new physics which prefer final states containing e(+)mu(-) and e(-)mu(+), the search contains two broad signal regions which are used to provide model-independent constraints on the ratio of cross sections at the 2% level. The search also has two special selections targeting supersymmetric models and leptoquark signatures. Observations using one of these selections are able to exclude, at 95% confidence level, singly produced smuons with masses up to 640 GeV in a model in which the only other light sparticle is a neutralino when the R-parity-violating coupling lambda(23)(1)' is close to unity. Observations using the other selection exclude scalar leptoquarks with masses below 1880 GeV when g(1R)(eu) = g(1R)(mu c) = 1, at 95% confidence level. The limit on the coupling reduces to g(1R)(eu) = g(1R)(mu c) = 0.46 for a mass of 1420 GeV

Search for dark matter produced in association with a Standard Model Higgs boson decaying into b-quarks using the full Run 2 dataset from the ATLAS detector

The production of dark matter in association with Higgs bosons is predicted in several extensions of the Standard Model. An exploration of such scenarios is presented, considering final states with missing transverse momentum and b-tagged jets consistent with a Higgs boson. The analysis uses proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC during Run 2, amounting to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1). The analysis, when compared with previous searches, benefits from a larger dataset, but also has further improvements providing sensitivity to a wider spectrum of signal scenarios. These improvements include both an optimised event selection and advances in the object identification, such as the use of the likelihood-based significance of the missing transverse momentum and variable-radius track-jets. No significant deviation from Standard Model expectations is observed. Limits are set, at 95% confidence level, in two benchmark models with two Higgs doublets extended by either a heavy vector boson Z' or a pseudoscalar singlet a and which both provide a dark matter candidate chi. In the case of the two-Higgs-doublet model with an additional vector boson Z ', the observed limits extend up to a Z' mass of 3 TeV for a mass of 100 GeV for the dark matter candidate. The two-Higgs-doublet model with a dark matter particle mass of 10 GeV and an additional pseudoscalar a is excluded for masses of the a up to 520 GeV and 240 GeV for tan beta = 1 and tan beta = 10 respectively. Limits on the visible cross-sections are set and range from to 0.05 fb to 3.26 fb, depending on the missing transverse momentum and b-quark jet multiplicity requirements

Search for neutral long-lived particles in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV that decay into displaced hadronic jets in the ATLAS calorimeter

A search for decays of pair-produced neutral long-lived particles (LLPs) is presented using 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2015–2018 at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Dedicated techniques were developed for the reconstruction of displaced jets produced by LLPs decaying hadronically in the ATLAS hadronic calorimeter. Two search regions are defined for different LLP kinematic regimes. The observed numbers of events are consistent with the expected background, and limits for several benchmark signals are determined. For a SM Higgs boson with a mass of 125 GeV, branching ratios above 10% are excluded at 95% confidence level for values of c times LLP mean proper lifetime in the range between 20 mm and 10 m depending on the model. Upper limits are also set on the cross-section times branching ratio for scalars with a mass of 60 GeV and for masses between 200 GeV and 1 TeV. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Measurement of the nuclear modification factor for muons from charm and bottom hadrons in Pb+Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Heavy-flavour hadron production provides information about the transport properties and microscopic structure of the quark-gluon plasma created in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions. A measurement of the muons from semileptonic decays of charm and bottom hadrons produced in Pb+Pb and pp collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider is presented. The Pb+Pb data were collected in 2015 and 2018 with sampled integrated luminosities of 208 mu b(-1) and 38 mu b(-1), respectively, and pp data with a sampled integrated luminosity of 1.17 pb(-1) were collected in 2017. Muons from heavy-flavour semileptonic decays are separated from the light-flavour hadronic background using the momentum imbalance between the inner detector and muon spectrometer measurements, and muons originating from charm and bottom decays are further separated via the muon track's transverse impact parameter. Differential yields in Pb+Pb collisions and differential cross sections in pp collisions for such muons are measured as a function of muon transverse momentum from 4 GeV to 30 GeV in the absolute pseudorapidity interval vertical bar eta vertical bar &lt; 2. Nuclear modification factors for charm and bottom muons are presented as a function of muon transverse momentum in intervals of Pb+Pb collision centrality. The bottom muon results are the most precise measurement of b quark nuclear modification at low transverse momentum where reconstruction of B hadrons is challenging. The measured nuclear modification factors quantify a significant suppression of the yields of muons from decays of charm and bottom hadrons, with stronger effects for muons from charm hadron decays

Measurement of the polarisation of single top quarks and antiquarks produced in the t-channel at √s = 13 TeV and bounds on the tWb dipole operator from the ATLAS experiment

A simultaneous measurement of the three components of the top-quark and top-antiquark polarisation vectors in t-channel single-top-quark production is presented. This analysis is based on data from proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1, collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Selected events contain exactly one isolated electron or muon, large missing transverse momentum and exactly two jets, one being b-tagged. Stringent selection requirements are applied to discriminate t-channel single-top-quark events from the background contributions. The top-quark and top-antiquark polarisation vectors are measured from the distributions of the direction cosines of the charged-lepton momentum in the top-quark rest frame. The three components of the polarisation vector for the selected top-quark event sample are Px′ = 0.01 ± 0.18, Py′ = −0.029 ± 0.027, Pz′ = 0.91 ± 0.10 and for the top-antiquark event sample they are Px′ = −0.02 ± 0.20, Py′ = −0.007 ± 0.051, Pz′ = 0.79 ± 0.16. Normalised differential cross-sections corrected to a fiducial region at the stable-particle level are presented as a function of the charged-lepton angles for top-quark and top-antiquark events inclusively and separately. These measurements are in agreement with Standard Model predictions. The angular differential cross-sections are used to derive bounds on the complex Wilson coefficient of the dimension-six OtW operator in the framework of an effective field theory. The obtained bounds are CtW ∈ [−0.9, 1.4] and CitW ∈ [−0.8, 0.2], both at 95% confidence level. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Measurements of azimuthal anisotropies of jet production in Pb+ Pb collisions at sNN =5.02 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The azimuthal variation of jet yields in heavy-ion collisions provides information about the path-length dependence of the energy loss experienced by partons passing through the hot, dense nuclear matter known as the quark-gluon plasma. This paper presents the azimuthal anisotropy coefficients v2, v3, and v4 measured for jets in Pb+Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurement uses data collected in 2015 and 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.2 nb-1. The vn values are measured as a function of the transverse momentum of the jets between 71 and 398 GeV and the event centrality. A nonzero value of v2 is observed in all but the most central collisions. The value of v2 is largest for jets with lower transverse momentum, with values up to 0.05 in mid-central collisions. A smaller, nonzero value of v3 of approximately 0.01 is measured with no significant dependence on jet pT or centrality, suggesting that fluctuations in the initial state play a small but distinct role in jet energy loss. No significant deviation of v4 from zero is observed in the measured kinematic region

Search for flavour-changing neutral-current interactions of a top quark and a gluon in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is presented for the production of a single top quark via left-handed flavour-changing neutral-current (FCNC) interactions of a top quark, a gluon and an up or charm quark. Two production processes are considered: u+ g→ t and c+ g→ t. The analysis is based on proton–proton collision data taken at a centre-of-mass energy of 13&nbsp;TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139&nbsp;fb- 1. Events with exactly one electron or muon, exactly one b-tagged jet and missing transverse momentum are selected, resembling the decay products of a singly produced top quark. Neural networks based on kinematic variables differentiate between events from the two signal processes and events from background processes. The measured data are consistent with the background-only hypothesis, and limits are set on the production cross-sections of the signal processes: σ(u+g→t)×B(t→Wb)×B(W→ℓν)&lt;3.0pb and σ(c+g→t)×B(t→Wb)×B(W→ℓν)&lt;4.7pb at the 95% confidence level, with B(W→ ℓν) = 0.325 being the sum of branching ratios of all three leptonic decay modes of the W boson. Based on the framework of an effective field theory, the cross-section limits are translated into limits on the strengths of the tug and tcg couplings occurring in the theory: |CuGut|/Λ2&lt;0.057TeV- 2 and |CuGct|/Λ2&lt;0.14TeV- 2. These bounds correspond to limits on the branching ratios of FCNC-induced top-quark decays: B(t→ u+ g) &lt; 0.61 × 10 - 4 and B(t→ c+ g) &lt; 3.7 × 10 - 4