Search for tt¯ resonances in fully hadronic final states in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a search for new heavy particles decaying into a pair of top quarks using 139 fb of proton-proton collision data recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The search is performed using events consistent with pair production of high-transverse-momentum top quarks and their subsequent decays into the fully hadronic final states. The analysis is optimized for resonances decaying into a tt¯ pair with mass above 1.4 TeV, exploiting a dedicated multivariate technique with jet substructure to identify hadronically decaying top quarks using large-radius jets and evaluating the background expectation from data. No significant deviation from the background prediction is observed. Limits are set on the production cross-section times branching fraction for the new Z′ boson in a topcolor-assisted-technicolor model. The Z′ boson masses below 3.9 and 4.7 TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level for the decay widths of 1% and 3%, respectively. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Search for new phenomena in multi-body invariant masses in events with at least one isolated lepton and two jets using √s = 13 TeV proton–proton collision data collected by the ATLAS detector

A search for resonances in events with at least one isolated lepton (e or μ) and two jets is performed using 139 fb of s = 13 TeV proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Deviations from a smoothly falling background hypothesis are tested in three- and four-body invariant mass distributions constructed from leptons and jets, including jets identified as originating from bottom quarks. Model-independent limits on generic resonances characterised by cascade decays of particles leading to multiple jets and leptons in the final state are presented. The limits are calculated using Gaussian shapes with different widths for the invariant masses. The multi-body invariant masses are also used to set 95% confidence level upper limits on the cross-section times branching ratios for the production and subsequent decay of resonances predicted by several new physics scenarios. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

Constraints on Higgs boson properties using WW∗(→ eνμν) jj production in 36.1fb-1 of √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

This article presents the results of two studies of Higgs boson properties using the WW(→ eνμν) jj final state, based on a dataset corresponding to 36.1 fb of s=13 TeV proton–proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The first study targets Higgs boson production via gluon–gluon fusion and constrains the CP properties of the effective Higgs–gluon interaction. Using angular distributions and the overall rate, a value of tan (α) = 0.0 ± 0.4 (stat.) ± 0.3 (syst.) is obtained for the tangent of the mixing angle for CP-even and CP-odd contributions. The second study exploits the vector-boson fusion production mechanism to probe the Higgs boson couplings to longitudinally and transversely polarised W and Z bosons in both the production and the decay of the Higgs boson; these couplings have not been directly constrained previously. The polarisation-dependent coupling-strength scale factors are defined as the ratios of the measured polarisation-dependent coupling strengths to those predicted by the Standard Model, and are determined using rate and kinematic information to be aL=0.91-0.18+0.10(stat.)-0.17+0.09(syst.) and a= 1.2 ± 0.4 (stat.)-0.3+0.2(syst.). These coupling strengths are translated into pseudo-observables, resulting in κVV=0.91-0.18+0.10(stat.)-0.17+0.09(syst.) and ϵVV=0.13-0.20+0.28 (stat.)-0.10+0.08(syst.). All results are consistent with the Standard Model predictions

Performance of the reconstruction of large impact parameter tracks in the inner detector of ATLAS

Searches for long-lived particles (LLPs) are among the most promising avenues for discovering physics beyond the Standard Model at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). However, displaced signatures are notoriously difficult to identify due to their ability to evade standard object reconstruction strategies. In particular, the ATLAS track reconstruction applies strict pointing requirements which limit sensitivity to charged particles originating far from the primary interaction point. To recover efficiency for LLPs decaying within the tracking detector volume, the ATLAS Collaboration employs a dedicated large-radius tracking (LRT) passwith loosened pointing requirements. During Run 2 of the LHC, the LRT implementation produced many incorrectly reconstructed tracks and was therefore only deployed in small subsets of events. In preparation for LHC Run 3, ATLAS has significantly improved both standard and large-radius track reconstruction performance, allowing for LRT to run in all events. This development greatly expands the potential phase-space of LLP searches and streamlines LLP analysis workflows. This paper will highlight the above achievement and report on the readiness of the ATLAS detector for track-based LLP searches in Run 3

Constraints on Higgs boson production with large transverse momentum using H →b b ¯ decays in the ATLAS detector

This paper reports constraints on Higgs boson production with transverse momentum above 1 TeV. The analyzed data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV were recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider from 2015 to 2018 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 136 fb-1. Higgs bosons decaying into bb¯ are reconstructed as single large-radius jets recoiling against a hadronic system and are identified by the experimental signature of two b-hadron decays. The experimental techniques are validated in the same kinematic regime using the Z→bb¯ process. The 95% confidence-level upper limit on the cross section for Higgs boson production with transverse momentum above 450 GeV is 115 fb, and above 1 TeV it is 9.6 fb. The Standard Model cross section predictions for a Higgs boson with a mass of 125 GeV in the same kinematic regions are 18.4 fb and 0.13 fb, respectively

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, 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 0.35−0.34+0.36. 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. [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 208μb and 38μb, respectively, and pp data with a sampled integrated luminosity of 1.17pb 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 |η|<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

Search for new phenomena in three- or four-lepton events in pp collisions at s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search with minimal model dependence for physics beyond the Standard Model in events featuring three or four charged leptons (3ℓ and 4ℓ, ℓ=e,μ) is presented. The analysis aims to be sensitive to a wide range of potential new-physics theories simultaneously. This analysis uses data from pp collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of s=13 TeV and recorded with the ATLAS detector, corresponding to the full Run 2 dataset of 139 fb. The 3ℓ and 4ℓ phase space is divided into 22 event categories according to the number of leptons in the event, the missing transverse momentum, the invariant mass of the leptons, and the presence of leptons originating from a Z-boson candidate. These event categories are analysed independently for the presence of deviations from the Standard Model. No statistically significant deviations from the Standard Model predictions are observed. Upper limits for all signal regions are reported in terms of the visible cross-section

Search for single vector-like B quark production and decay via B -> bH(b(b)over-bar) in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is presented for single production of a vector-like B quark decaying into a Standard Model b-quark and a Standard Model Higgs boson, which decays into a b (b) over bar pair. The search is carried out in 139 fb(-1) of root s = 13 TeV proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC between 2015 and 2018. No significant deviation from the Standard Model background prediction is observed, and mass-dependent exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level are set on the resonance production cross-section in several theoretical scenarios determined by the couplings c(W), c(Z) and c(H) between the B quark and the Standard Model W, Z and Higgs bosons, respectively. For a vector-like B occurring as an isospin singlet, the search excludes values of c(W) greater than 0.45 for a B resonance mass (m(B)) between 1.0 and 1.2 TeV. For 1.2 TeV < m(B)< 2.0 TeV, c(W) values larger than 0.50-0.65 are excluded. If the B occurs as part of a (B, Y) doublet, the smallest excluded c(Z) coupling values range between 0.3 and 0.5 across the investigated resonance mass range 1.0 TeV < m(B)< 2.0 TeV

Search for associated production of a Z boson with an invisibly decaying Higgs boson or dark matter candidates at s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for invisible decays of the Higgs boson as well as searches for dark matter candidates, produced together with a leptonically decaying Z boson, are presented. The analysis is performed using proton−proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, delivered by the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb and recorded by the ATLAS experiment. Assuming Standard Model cross-sections for ZH production, the observed (expected) upper limit on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to invisible particles is found to be 19% (19%) at the 95% confidence level. Exclusion limits are also set for simplified dark matter models and two-Higgs-doublet models with an additional pseudoscalar mediator