Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta

Search for lepton flavour violating decays of the Higgs boson to eτand eμin proton–proton collisions at √s=8TeV

A direct search for lepton flavour violating decays of the Higgs boson (H) in the H →eτand H →eμchannels is described. The data sample used in the search was collected in proton–proton collisions at √s=8TeVwith the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 19.7fb−1. No evidence is found for lepton flavour violating decays in either final state. Upper limits on the branching fractions, B(H →eτ) <0.69%and B(H →eμ) <0.035%, are set at the 95% confidence level. The constraint set on B(H →eτ)is an order of magnitude more stringent than the existing indirect limits. The limits are used to constrain the corresponding flavour violating Yukawa couplings, absent in the standard model

Measurements of the t(t)over-bar production cross section in lepton plus jets final states in pp collisions at 8 and ratio of 8 to 7 TeV cross sections

Peer reviewe

Measurements of the Upsilon(1S), Upsilon(2S), and Upsilon(3S) differential cross sections in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV

Peer reviewe

Angular coefficients of Z bosons produced in pp collisions at √s=8 TeV and decaying to μ+μ− as a function of transverse momentum and rapidity

Peer reviewe

Erratum to: Comparison of the Z/γ* + jets to γ + jets cross sections in pp collisions at √s = 8

Erratum to: JHEP10(2015)128. ArXiv ePrint: 1505.06520. The online version of the original article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/JHEP10(2015)128

Search for neutral resonances decaying into a Z boson and a pair of b jets or tau leptons

Peer reviewe

The CMS trigger system

This paper describes the CMS trigger system and its performance during Run 1 of the LHC. The trigger system consists of two levels designed to select events of potential physics interest from a GHz (MHz) interaction rate of proton-proton (heavy ion) collisions. The first level of the trigger is implemented in hardware, and selects events containing detector signals consistent with an electron, photon, muon, τ lepton, jet, or missing transverse energy. A programmable menu of up to 128 object-based algorithms is used to select events for subsequent processing. The trigger thresholds are adjusted to the LHC instantaneous luminosity during data taking in order to restrict the output rate to 100 kHz, the upper limit imposed by the CMS readout electronics. The second level, implemented in software, further refines the purity of the output stream, selecting an average rate of 400 Hz for offline event storage. The objectives, strategy and performance of the trigger system during the LHC Run 1 are described

Inclusive and differential measurements of the t(t)over-bar charge asymmetry in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

The charge asymmetry is measured in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of . The data, collected with the CMS experiment at the LHC, correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb−1. Selected events contain an electron or a muon and four or more jets, where at least one jet is identified as originating from b-quark hadronization. The inclusive charge asymmetry is found to be . In addition, differential charge asymmetries as a function of rapidity, transverse momentum, and invariant mass of the system are studied. For the first time at the LHC, the measurements are also performed in a reduced fiducial phase space of top quark pair production, with an integrated result of . All measurements are consistent within two standard deviations with zero asymmetry as well as with the predictions of the standard model