Search for Higgs bosons decaying into new spin-0 or spin-1 particles in four-lepton final states with the ATLAS detector with 139 fb−1 of pp collision data at √s = 13 TeV

Searches are conducted for new spin-0 or spin-1 bosons using events where a Higgs boson with mass 125 GeV decays into four leptons (ℓ = e, μ). This decay is presumed to occur via an intermediate state which contains two on-shell, promptly decaying bosons: H → XX/ZX → 4ℓ, where the new boson X has a mass between 1 and 60 GeV. The search uses pp collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1 at a centre-of-mass energy s√ = 13 TeV. The data are found to be consistent with Standard Model expectations. Limits are set on fiducial cross sections and on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to decay into XX/ZX, improving those from previous publications by a factor between two and four. Limits are also set on mixing parameters relevant in extensions of the Standard Model containing a dark sector where X is interpreted to be a dark boson

A Case of Relapsing-Remitting Neuroborreliosis? Challenges in the Differential Diagnosis of Recurrent Myelitis

We report the case of a 31-year-old woman with 4 episodes of myelitis with pleocytosis, a positive Borrelia burgdorferi serology with positive antibody indices, and full recovery each time after antibiotic and steroid treatment, suggesting neuroborreliosis. We nevertheless believe that recurrent neuroborreliosis is improbable based on the levels of the chemokine CXCL13 in cerebrospinal fluid and favor the diagnosis of post-infectious autoimmune-mediated transverse myelitis possibly triggered by an initial neuroborreliosis as the cause of the relapses observed in our patient. We demonstrate the diagnostic steps and procedures which were important in the differential diagnosis of this unusual and challenging case

Measurement of Higgs boson decay into b-quarks in associated production with a top-quark pair in pp collisions at √s= 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The associated production of a Higgs boson and a top-quark pair is measured in events characterised by the presence of one or two electrons or muons. The Higgs boson decay into a b-quark pair is used. The analysed data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1, were collected in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider between 2015 and 2018 at a centre-of-mass energy of s√ = 13 TeV. The measured signal strength, defined as the ratio of the measured signal yield to that predicted by the Standard Model, is 0.35+0.36−0.34. This result is compatible with the Standard Model prediction and corresponds to an observed (expected) significance of 1.0 (2.7) standard deviations. The signal strength is also measured differentially in bins of the Higgs boson transverse momentum in the simplified template cross-section framework, including a bin for specially selected boosted Higgs bosons with transverse momentum above 300 GeV

Measurements of Higgs boson production cross-sections in the H → τ+τ− decay channel in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Measurements of the production cross-sections of the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson (H) decaying into a pair of τ-leptons are presented. The measurements use data collected with the ATLAS detector from pp collisions produced at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1. Leptonic (τ → ℓνℓντ) and hadronic (τ → hadrons ντ) decays of the τ-lepton are considered. All measurements account for the branching ratio of H → ττ and are performed with a requirement |yH| < 2.5, where yH is the true Higgs boson rapidity. The cross-section of the pp → H → ττ process is measured to be 2.94 ± 0.21(stat)+0.37−0.32(syst) pb, in agreement with the SM prediction of 3.17 ± 0.09 pb. Inclusive cross-sections are determined separately for the four dominant production modes: 2.65 ± 0.41(stat)+0.91−0.67(syst) pb for gluon-gluon fusion, 0.197 ± 0.028(stat)+0.032−0.026(syst) pb for vector-boson fusion, 0.115 ± 0.058(stat)+0.042−0.040(syst) pb for vector-boson associated production, and 0.033 ± 0.031(stat)+0.022−0.017(syst) pb for top-quark pair associated production. Measurements in exclusive regions of the phase space, using the simplified template cross-section framework, are also performed. All results are in agreement with the SM predictions

Operation and performance of the ATLAS semiconductor tracker in LHC Run 2

The semiconductor tracker (SCT) is one of the tracking systems for charged particles in the ATLAS detector. It consists of 4088 silicon strip sensor modules. During Run 2 (2015–2018) the Large Hadron Collider delivered an integrated luminosity of 156 fb-1 to the ATLAS experiment at a centre-of-mass proton-proton collision energy of 13 TeV. The instantaneous luminosity and pile-up conditions were far in excess of those assumed in the original design of the SCT detector. Due to improvements to the data acquisition system, the SCT operated stably throughout Run 2. It was available for 99.9% of the integrated luminosity and achieved a data-quality efficiency of 99.85%. Detailed studies have been made of the leakage current in SCT modules and the evolution of the full depletion voltage, which are used to study the impact of radiation damage to the modules

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

Search for new phenomena in final states with photons, jets and missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for new phenomena has been performed in final states with at least one isolated high-momentum photon, jets and missing transverse momentum in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 13 TeV. The data, collected by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN LHC, correspond to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1. The experimental results are interpreted in a supersymmetric model in which pair-produced gluinos decay into neutralinos, which in turn decay into a gravitino, at least one photon, and jets. No significant deviations from the predictions of the Standard Model are observed. Upper limits are set on the visible cross section due to physics beyond the Standard Model, and lower limits are set on the masses of the gluinos and neutralinos, all at 95% confidence level. Visible cross sections greater than 0.022 fb are excluded and pair-produced gluinos with masses up to 2200 GeV are excluded for most of the NLSP masses investigated

Dynamics of cholesteric structures in an electric field

Motivated by Lehmann-like rotation phenomena in cholesteric drops we study the transverse drift of two types of cholesteric fingers, which form rotating spirals in thin layers of cholesteric liquid crystal in an ac or dc electric field. We show that electrohydrodynamic effects induced by Carr-Helfrich charge separation or flexoelectric charge generation can describe the drift of cholesteric fingers. We argue that the observed Lehmann-like phenomena can be understood on the same basis.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR