Search for heavy resonances decaying into a Z or W boson and a Higgs boson in final states with leptons and b-jets in 139 fb−1 of pp collisions at s√ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This article presents a search for new resonances decaying into a Z or W boson and a 125 GeV Higgs boson h, and it targets the νν¯¯¯bb¯¯, ℓ+ℓ−bb¯¯, or ℓ±νbb¯¯ final states, where ℓ = e or μ, in proton-proton collisions at s√ = 13 TeV. The data used correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1 collected by the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the LHC at CERN. The search is conducted by examining the reconstructed invariant or transverse mass distributions of Zh or Wh candidates for evidence of a localised excess in the mass range from 220 GeV to 5 TeV. No significant excess is observed and 95% confidence-level upper limits between 1.3 pb and 0.3 fb are placed on the production cross section times branching fraction of neutral and charged spin-1 resonances and CP-odd scalar bosons. These limits are converted into constraints on the parameter space of the Heavy Vector Triplet model and the two-Higgs-doublet model

Inclusive-photon production and its dependence on photon isolation in pp collisions at s√ = 13 TeV using 139 fb−1 of ATLAS data

Measurements of differential cross sections are presented for inclusive isolated-photon production in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV provided by the LHC and using 139 fb−1 of data recorded by the ATLAS experiment. The cross sections are measured as functions of the photon transverse energy in different regions of photon pseudorapidity. The photons are required to be isolated by means of a fixed-cone method with two different cone radii. The dependence of the inclusive-photon production on the photon isolation is investigated by measuring the fiducial cross sections as functions of the isolation-cone radius and the ratios of the differential cross sections with different radii in different regions of photon pseudorapidity. The results presented in this paper constitute an improvement with respect to those published by ATLAS earlier: the measurements are provided for different isolation radii and with a more granular segmentation in photon pseudorapidity that can be exploited in improving the determination of the proton parton distribution functions. These improvements provide a more in-depth test of the theoretical predictions. Next-to-leading-order QCD predictions from JETPHOX and SHERPA and next-to-next-to-leading-order QCD predictions from NNLOJET are compared to the measurements, using several parameterisations of the proton parton distribution functions. The measured cross sections are well described by the fixed-order QCD predictions within the experimental and theoretical uncertainties in most of the investigated phase-space region

Measurements of Zγ+jets differential cross sections in pp collisions at s√ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Differential cross-section measurements of Zγ production in association with hadronic jets are presented, using the full 139 fb−1 dataset of s√ = 13 TeV proton–proton collisions collected by the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the LHC. Distributions are measured using events in which the Z boson decays leptonically and the photon is usually radiated from an initial-state quark. Measurements are made in both one and two observables, including those sensitive to the hard scattering in the event and others which probe additional soft and collinear radiation. Different Standard Model predictions, from both parton-shower Monte Carlo simulation and fixed-order QCD calculations, are compared with the measurements. In general, good agreement is observed between data and predictions from MATRIX and MiNNLOPS, as well as next-to-leading-order predictions from MADGRAPH5_AMC@NLO and SHERPA

Measurement of the Higgs boson mass in the H → ZZ⁎ → 4ℓ decay channel using 139 fb−1 of √s = 13 TeV pp collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC

The mass of the Higgs boson is measured in the H → Z Z∗ → 4 decay channel. The analysis uses proton– proton collision data from the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector between 2015 and 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1. The measured value of the Higgs boson mass is 124.99 ± 0.18(stat.) ± 0.04(syst.) GeV. In final states with muons, this measurement benefits from an improved momentum-scale calibration relative to that adopted in previous publications. The measurement also employs an analytic model that takes into account the invariant-mass resolution of the four-lepton system on a per-event basis and the output of a deep neural network discriminating signal from background events. This measurement is combined with the corresponding measurement using 7 and 8 TeV pp collision data, resulting in a Higgs boson mass of 124.94 ± 0.17(stat.) ± 0.03(syst.) GeV

Search for a new Z′ gauge boson in 4μ events with the ATLAS experiment

This paper presents a search for a new Z′ vector gauge boson with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider using pp collision data collected at s√ = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1. The new gauge boson Z′ is predicted by Lμ − Lτ models to address observed phenomena that can not be explained by the Standard Model. The search examines the four-muon (4μ) final state, using a deep learning neural network classifier to separate the Z′ signal from the Standard Model background events. The di-muon invariant masses in the 4μ events are used to extract the Z′ resonance signature. No significant excess of events is observed over the predicted background. Upper limits at a 95% confidence level on the Z′ production cross-section times the decay branching fraction of pp → Z′μμ → 4μ are set from 0.31 to 4.3 fb for the Z′ mass ranging from 5 to 81 GeV. The corresponding common coupling strengths, gZ′, of the Z′ boson to the second and third generation leptons above 0.003 – 0.2 have been excluded

Search for boosted diphoton resonances in the 10 to 70 GeV mass range using 138 fb−1 of 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for diphoton resonances in the mass range between 10 and 70 GeV with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is presented. The analysis is based on pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1 at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded from 2015 to 2018. Previous searches for diphoton resonances at the LHC have explored masses down to 65 GeV, finding no evidence of new particles. This search exploits the particular kinematics of events with pairs of closely spaced photons reconstructed in the detector, allowing examination of invariant masses down to 10 GeV. The presented strategy covers a region previously unexplored at hadron colliders because of the experimental challenges of recording low-energy photons and estimating the backgrounds. No significant excess is observed and the reported limits provide the strongest bound on promptly decaying axion-like particles coupling to gluons and photons for masses between 10 and 70 GeV

Evidence for the charge asymmetry in pp → tt¯ production at s√ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Inclusive and differential measurements of the top–antitop (tt¯) charge asymmetry Att¯C and the leptonic asymmetry Aℓℓ¯C are presented in proton–proton collisions at s√ = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement uses the complete Run 2 dataset, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1, combines data in the single-lepton and dilepton channels, and employs reconstruction techniques adapted to both the resolved and boosted topologies. A Bayesian unfolding procedure is performed to correct for detector resolution and acceptance effects. The combined inclusive tt¯ charge asymmetry is measured to be Att¯C = 0.0068 ± 0.0015, which differs from zero by 4.7 standard deviations. Differential measurements are performed as a function of the invariant mass, transverse momentum and longitudinal boost of the tt¯ system. Both the inclusive and differential measurements are found to be compatible with the Standard Model predictions, at next-to-next-to-leading order in quantum chromodynamics perturbation theory with next-to-leading-order electroweak corrections. The measurements are interpreted in the framework of the Standard Model effective field theory, placing competitive bounds on several Wilson coefficients

Search for third-generation vector-like leptons in pp collisions at s√ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for vector-like leptons in multilepton (two, three, or four-or-more electrons plus muons) final states with zero or more hadronic τ-lepton decays is presented. The search is performed using a dataset corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. To maximize the separation of signal and background, a machine-learning classifier is used. No excess of events is observed beyond the Standard Model expectation. Using a doublet vector-like lepton model, vector-like leptons coupling to third-generation Standard Model leptons are excluded in the mass range from 130 GeV to 900 GeV at the 95% confidence level, while the highest excluded mass is expected to be 970 GeV

Charged-hadron production in pp, p+Pb, Pb+Pb, and Xe+Xe collisions at sNN−−−√ = 5 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

This paper presents measurements of charged-hadron spectra obtained in pp, p+Pb, and Pb+Pb collisions at s√ or sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV, and in Xe+Xe collisions at sNN−−−√ = 5.44 TeV. The data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC have total integrated luminosities of 25 pb−1, 28 nb−1, 0.50 nb−1, and 3 μb−1, respectively. The nuclear modification factors RpPb and RAA are obtained by comparing the spectra in heavy-ion and pp collisions in a wide range of charged-particle transverse momenta and pseudorapidity. The nuclear modification factor RpPb shows a moderate enhancement above unity with a maximum at pT ≈ 3 GeV; the enhancement is stronger in the Pb-going direction. The nuclear modification factors in both Pb+Pb and Xe+Xe collisions feature a significant, centrality-dependent suppression. They show a similar distinct pT-dependence with a local maximum at pT ≈ 2 GeV and a local minimum at pT ≈ 7 GeV. This dependence is more distinguishable in more central collisions. No significant |η|-dependence is found. A comprehensive comparison with several theoretical predictions is also provided. They typically describe RAA better in central collisions and in the pT range from about 10 to 100 GeV

A search for new resonances in multiple final states with a high transverse momentum Z boson in s√ = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A generic search for resonances is performed with events containing a Z boson with transverse momentum greater than 100 GeV, decaying into e+e− or μ+μ−. The analysed data collected with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider correspond to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1. Two invariant mass distributions are examined for a localised excess relative to the expected Standard Model background in six independent event categories (and their inclusive sum) to increase the sensitivity. No significant excess is observed. Exclusion limits at 95% confidence level are derived for two cases: a model-independent interpretation of Gaussian-shaped resonances with the mass width between 3% and 10% of the resonance mass, and a specific heavy vector triplet model with the decay mode W′ → ZW → ℓℓqq