ATLAS Trigger Performance and Initial Running

An efficient trigger will be crucial to charged Higgs boson searches at the LHC. The ATLAS trigger will need to achieve a rejection factor of about 10^7 against random proton-proton collisions, and still be able to efficiently select signal events. Commissioning of the ATLAS trigger is progressing well, and much has already been done using cosmic rays and by replaying simulated physics events through the system. Detailed plans have been developed for commissioning with single LHC beams and the first collisions. The evolution of the ATLAS trigger towards stable running will be discussed in view of the searches for the charged Higgs boson. In particular, the determination of the trigger efficiency will be discussed, both in the case of the inclusive lepton triggers and the combined triggers needed for charged Higgs boson searches

Absence of Normalizable Time-periodic Solutions for The Dirac Equation in Kerr-Newman-dS Black Hole Background

We consider the Dirac equation on the background of a Kerr-Newman-de Sitter black hole. By performing variable separation, we show that there exists no time-periodic and normalizable solution of the Dirac equation. This conclusion holds true even in the extremal case. With respect to previously considered cases, the novelty is represented by the presence, together with a black hole event horizon, of a cosmological (non degenerate) event horizon, which is at the root of the possibility to draw a conclusion on the aforementioned topic in a straightforward way even in the extremal case.Comment: 12 pages. AMS styl

Quantum properties of the Dirac field on BTZ black hole backgrounds

We consider a Dirac field on a $(1 + 2)$-dimensional uncharged BTZ black hole background. We first find out the Dirac Hamiltonian, and study its self-adjointness properties. We find that, in analogy to the Kerr-Newman-AdS Dirac Hamiltonian in $(1+3)$ dimensions, essential self-adjointness on $C_0^{\infty}(r_+,\infty)^2$ of the reduced (radial) Hamiltonian is implemented only if a suitable relation between the mass $\mu$ of the Dirac field and the cosmological radius $l$ holds true. The very presence of a boundary-like behaviour of $r=\infty$ is at the root of this problem. Also, we determine in a complete way qualitative spectral properties for the non-extremal case, for which we can infer the absence of quantum bound states for the Dirac field. Next, we investigate the possibility of a quantum loss of angular momentum for the $(1 + 2)$-dimensional uncharged BTZ black hole. Unlike the corresponding stationary four-dimensional solutions, the formal treatment of the level crossing mechanism is much simpler. We find that, even in the extremal case, no level crossing takes place. Therefore, no quantum loss of angular momentum via particle pair production is allowed.Comment: 19 pages; IOP styl

The repulsive nature of naked singularities from the point of view of Quantum Mechanics

We use the Dirac equation coupled to a background metric to examine what happens to quantum mechanical observables like the probability density and the radial current in the vicinity of a naked singularity of the Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m type. We find that the wave function of the Dirac particle is regular in the point of the singularity. We show that the probability density is exactly zero at the singularity reflecting quantum-mechanically the repulsive nature of the naked singularity. Furthermore, the surface integral of the radial current over a sphere in the vicinity of the naked singularity turns out to be also zero.Comment: 11 page

Measurement of the quasi-elastic axial vector mass in neutrino-oxygen interactions

The weak nucleon axial-vector form factor for quasi-elastic interactions is determined using neutrino interaction data from the K2K Scintillating Fiber detector in the neutrino beam at KEK. More than 12,000 events are analyzed, of which half are charged-current quasi-elastic interactions nu-mu n to mu- p occurring primarily in oxygen nuclei. We use a relativistic Fermi gas model for oxygen and assume the form factor is approximately a dipole with one parameter, the axial vector mass M_A, and fit to the shape of the distribution of the square of the momentum transfer from the nucleon to the nucleus. Our best fit result for M_A = 1.20 \pm 0.12 GeV. Furthermore, this analysis includes updated vector form factors from recent electron scattering experiments and a discussion of the effects of the nucleon momentum on the shape of the fitted distributions.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, 6 table

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Search for chargino-neutralino production with mass splittings near the electroweak scale in three-lepton final states in √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry through the pair production of electroweakinos with mass splittings near the electroweak scale and decaying via on-shell W and Z bosons is presented for a three-lepton final state. The analyzed proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13  TeV were collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb−1. A search, emulating the recursive jigsaw reconstruction technique with easily reproducible laboratory-frame variables, is performed. The two excesses observed in the 2015–2016 data recursive jigsaw analysis in the low-mass three-lepton phase space are reproduced. Results with the full data set are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on simplified models of chargino-neutralino pair production for masses up to 345 GeV

Measurements of Higgs boson production and couplings in diboson final states with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements are presented of production properties and couplings of the recently discovered Higgs boson using the decays into boson pairs, H →γ γ, H → Z Z∗ →4l and H →W W∗ →lνlν. The results are based on the complete pp collision data sample recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 25 fb−1. Evidence for Higgs boson production through vector-boson fusion is reported. Results of combined fits probing Higgs boson couplings to fermions and bosons, as well as anomalous contributions to loop-induced production and decay modes, are presented. All measurements are consistent with expectations for the Standard Model Higgs boson

Standalone vertex finding in the ATLAS muon spectrometer

A dedicated reconstruction algorithm to find decay vertices in the ATLAS muon spectrometer is presented. The algorithm searches the region just upstream of or inside the muon spectrometer volume for multi-particle vertices that originate from the decay of particles with long decay paths. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using both a sample of simulated Higgs boson events, in which the Higgs boson decays to long-lived neutral particles that in turn decay to bbar b final states, and pp collision data at √s = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2011

Measurement of the top quark pair cross section with ATLAS in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV using final states with an electron or a muon and a hadronically decaying τ lepton

A measurement of the cross section of top quark pair production in proton-proton collisions recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is reported. The data sample used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.05 fb -1. Events with an isolated electron or muon and a τ lepton decaying hadronically are used. In addition, a large missing transverse momentum and two or more energetic jets are required. At least one of the jets must be identified as originating from a b quark. The measured cross section, σtt-=186±13(stat.)±20(syst.)±7(lumi.) pb, is in good agreement with the Standard Model prediction