Performance of reconstruction and identification of τ leptons decaying to hadrons and vτ in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV

The algorithm developed by the CMS Collaboration to reconstruct and identify τ leptons produced in proton-proton collisions at √s=7 and 8 TeV, via their decays to hadrons and a neutrino, has been significantly improved. The changes include a revised reconstruction of π⁰ candidates, and improvements in multivariate discriminants to separate τ leptons from jets and electrons. The algorithm is extended to reconstruct τ leptons in highly Lorentz-boosted pair production, and in the high-level trigger. The performance of the algorithm is studied using proton-proton collisions recorded during 2016 at √s=13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb¯¹. The performance is evaluated in terms of the efficiency for a genuine τ lepton to pass the identification criteria and of the probabilities for jets, electrons, and muons to be misidentified as τ leptons. The results are found to be very close to those expected from Monte Carlo simulation

Search for gauge-mediated supersymmetry in events with at least one photon and missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV

A search for gauge-mediated supersymmetry (SUSY) in final states with photons and large missing transverse momentum is presented. The data sample of pp collisions at s=13TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1. Data are compared with models in which the lightest neutralino has bino- or wino-like components, resulting in decays to photons and gravitinos, where the gravitinos escape detection. The event selection is optimized for both electroweak (EWK) and strong production SUSY scenarios. The observed data are consistent with standard model predictions, and limits are set in the context of a general gauge mediation model in which gaugino masses up to 980 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level. Gaugino masses below 780 and 950 GeV are excluded in two simplified models with EWK production of mass-degenerate charginos and neutralinos. Stringent limits are set on simplified models based on gluino and squark pair production, excluding gluino (squark) masses up to 2100 (1750) GeV depending on the assumptions made for the decay modes and intermediate particle masses. This analysis sets the highest mass limits to date in the studied EWK models, and in the considered strong production models when the mass difference between the gauginos and the squarks or gluinos is small

Search for excited quarks of light and heavy flavor in γ + jet final states in proton–proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV

A search is presented for excited quarks of light and heavy flavor that decay to γ+jet final states. The analysis is based on data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb⁻¹ collected by the CMS experiment in proton–proton collisions at √s=13TeV at the LHC. A signal would appear as a resonant contribution to the invariant mass spectrum of the γ+jet system, above the background expected from standard model processes. No resonant excess is found, and upper limits are set on the product of the excited quark cross section and its branching fraction as a function of its mass. These are the most stringent limits to date in the γ+jet final state, and exclude excited light quarks with masses below 5.5 TeV and excited b quarks with masses below 1.8 TeV, assuming standard model like coupling strengths

Search for pair production of excited top quarks in the lepton + jets final state

A search is performed for the pair production of spin-3/2 excited top quarks, each decaying to a top quark and a gluon. The search uses the data collected with the CMS detector from proton–proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9  fb−1 . Events are selected by requiring an isolated muon or electron, an imbalance in the transverse momentum, and at least six jets of which exactly two must be compatible with originating from the fragmentation of a bottom quark. No significant excess over the standard model predictions is found. A lower limit of 1.2 TeV is set at 95% confidence level on the mass of the spin-3/2 excited top quark in an extension of the Randall–Sundrum model, assuming a 100% branching fraction of its decay into a top quark and a gluon. These are the best limits to date in a search for excited top quarks and the first at 13 TeV