Engineering topics

Aad, G.

Publications and source records attributed to Aad, G..

At least 181 records · Page 10

DOE OSTI2023

Measurement of the $t\overline{t}$ production cross-section in pp collisions at √s = 5.02 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive top-quark pair tt production cross-section σ tt is measured in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}$ = 5.02 TeV, using 257 pb -1 of data collected in 2017 by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The $t\overline{t}$ cross-section is measured in both the dilepton and single-lepton final states of the $t\overline{t}$ system and then combined.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Search for light long-lived neutral particles that decay to collimated pairs of leptons or light hadrons in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for light long-lived neutral particles with masses in the O(MeV–GeV) range is presented. The analysis targets the production of long-lived dark photons in the decay of a Higgs boson produced via gluon–gluon fusion or in association with a W boson. Events that contain displaced collimated Standard Model fermions reconstructed in the calorimeter or muon spectrometer are selected in 139 fb -1 of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV $pp$ collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Background estimates for contributions from Standard Model processes and instrumental effects are extracted from data. The observed event yields are consistent with the expected background. Exclusion limits are reported on the production cross-section times branching fraction as a function of the mean proper decay length cτ of the dark photon, or as a function of the dark-photon mass and kinetic mixing parameter that quantifies the coupling between the Standard Model and potential hidden (dark) sectors. A Higgs boson branching fraction above 1% is excluded at 95% CL for a Higgs boson decaying into two dark photons for dark-photon mean proper decay lengths between 10 mm and 250 mm and dark photons with masses between 0.4 GeV and 2 GeV.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Search for flavour-changing neutral current interactions of the top quark and the Higgs boson in events with a pair of $τ$-leptons in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for flavour-changing neutral current (FCNC) $tqH$ interactions involving a top quark, another up-type quark ($q = u, c$), and a Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson decaying into a $τ$-lepton pair ($H$ → $τ$ + $τ$ - ) is presented. The search is based on a dataset of pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV that corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb -1 recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Two processes are considered: single top quark FCNC production in association with a Higgs boson ($pp$ → $tH$), and top quark pair production in which one of top quarks decays into $Wb$ and the other decays into $qH$ through the FCNC interactions. The search selects events with two hadronically decaying $τ$-lepton candidates ($τ$ had ) or at least one $τ$ had with an additional lepton ($e, µ$), as well as multiple jets. Event kinematics is used to separate signal from the background through a multivariate discriminant. A slight excess of data is observed with a significance of 2.3$σ$ above the expected SM background, and 95% CL upper limits on the $t → qH$ branching ratios are derived. The observed (expected) 95% CL upper limits set on the $t → cH$ and $t → uH$ branching ratios are 9.4 × 10 -4 (${4.8}^{+2.2}_{-1.4}$ × 10 -4 ) and 6.9 × 10 -4 (${3.5}^{+1.5}_{-1.0}$ × 10 -4 ), respectively. The corresponding combined observed (expected) upper limits on the dimension-6 operator Wilson coefficients in the effective $tqH$ couplings are $C$ $c$φ < 1.35 (0.97) and $C$ $u$φ < 1.16 (0.82).

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Search for Higgs boson pair production in association with a vector boson in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13\,\text {TeV}$ with the ATLAS detector

This paper reports a search for Higgs boson pair (hh) production in association with a vector boson ($W\; {\text {o}r}\; Z$) using 139 fb –1 of proton–proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13\,\text {TeV}$ recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The search is performed in final states in which the vector boson decays leptonically ($W\rightarrow \ell \nu ,\, Z\rightarrow \ell \ell ,\nu \nu$ with $\ell =e, \mu$) and the Higgs bosons each decay into a pair of b-quarks. It targets Vhh signals from both non-resonant hh production, present in the Standard Model (SM), and resonant hh production, as predicted in some SM extensions. A 95% confidence-level upper limit of 183 (87) times the SM cross-section is observed (expected) for non-resonant Vhh production when assuming the kinematics are as expected in the SM. Constraints are also placed on Higgs boson coupling modifiers. For the resonant search, upper limits on the production cross-sections are derived for two specific models: one is the production of a vector boson along with a neutral heavy scalar resonance H, in the mass range 260–1000 GeV, that decays into hh, and the other is the production of a heavier neutral pseudoscalar resonance A that decays into a Z boson and H boson, where the A boson mass is 360–800 GeV and the H boson mass is 260–400 GeV. Constraints are also derived in the parameter space of two-Higgs-doublet models.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Searches for new phenomena in events with two leptons, jets, and missing transverse momentum in 139 fb –1 of √s = 13 TeV $pp$ collisions with the ATLAS detector

Searches for new phenomena inspired by supersymmetry in final states containing an e + e – or μ + μ – pair, jets, and missing transverse momentum are presented. These searches make use of proton–proton collision data with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb –1 , collected during 2015–2018 at a centre-of-mass energy √s = 13 TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Two searches target the pair production of charginos and neutralinos. One uses the recursive-jigsaw reconstruction technique to follow up on excesses observed in 36.1 fb –1 of data, and the other uses conventional event variables. The third search targets pair production of coloured supersymmetric particles (squarks or gluinos) decaying through the next-to-lightest neutralino ($\tilde{χ}$$^{0}_{2}$) via a slepton ($\tilde{ℓ}$) or Z boson into ℓ + ℓ – $\tilde{χ}$$^{0}_{1}$ , resulting in a kinematic endpoint or peak in the dilepton invariant mass spectrum. The data are found to be consistent with the Standard Model expectations. Results are interpreted using simplified models and exclude masses up to 900 GeV for electroweakinos, 1550 GeV for squarks, and 2250 GeV for gluinos.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Cross-section measurements for the production of a Z boson in association with high-transverse-momentum jets in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Cross-section measurements for a $Z$ boson produced in association with high-transverse-momentum jets ($p_T$ ≥ 100 GeV) and decaying into a charged-lepton pair ($e^+$$e^–$, $µ^+$$µ^–$) are presented. The measurements are performed using proton–proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb –1 collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Measurements of angular correlations between the $Z$ boson and the closest jet are performed in events with at least one jet with $p_T$ ≥ 500 GeV. Event topologies of particular interest are the collinear emission of a $Z$ boson in dijet events and a boosted $Z$ boson recoiling against a jet. Fiducial cross sections are compared with state-of-the-art theoretical predictions. The data are found to agree with next-to-nextto-leading-order predictions by NNLOjet and with the next-to-leading-order multi-leg generators MadGraph5_aMC@NLO and Sherpa.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Measurement of electroweak $Z\left(\nu \overline{\nu}\right)\gamma jj$ production and limits on anomalous quartic gauge couplings in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The electroweak production of $Z\left(\nu \overline{\nu}\right)\gamma jj$ in association with two jets is studied in a regime with a photon of high transverse momentum above 150 GeV using proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis uses a data sample with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb –1 collected by the ATLAS detector during the 2015–2018 LHC data-taking period. This process is an important probe of the electroweak symmetry breaking mechanism in the Standard Model and is sensitive to quartic gauge boson couplings via vector-boson scattering. The fiducial $Z\left(\nu \overline{\nu}\right)\gamma jj$ cross section for electroweak production is measured to be ${0.77}_{-0.30}^{+0.34}$ fb and is consistent with the Standard Model prediction. Evidence of electroweak $Z\left(\nu \overline{\nu}\right)\gamma jj$ production is found with an observed significance of 3.2σ for the background-only hypothesis, compared with an expected significance of 3.7σ. The combination of this result with the previously published ATLAS observation of electroweak $Z\left(\nu \overline{\nu}\right)\gamma jj$ production yields an observed (expected) signal significance of 6.3σ (6.6σ). Limits on anomalous quartic gauge boson couplings are obtained in the framework of effective field theory with dimension-8 operators.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Observation of four-top-quark production in the multilepton final state with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents the observation of four-top-quark ($t$$\overline{t}$$t$$\overline{t}$) production in proton-proton collisions at the LHC. The analysis is performed using an integrated luminosity of 140 fb -1 at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected using the ATLAS detector. Events containing two leptons with the same electric charge or at least three leptons (electrons or muons) are selected. Event kinematics are used to separate signal from background through a multivariate discriminant, and dedicated control regions are used to constrain the dominant backgrounds. The observed (expected) significance of the measured $t$$\overline{t}$$t$$\overline{t}$ signal with respect to the standard model (SM) background-only hypothesis is 6.1 (4.3) standard deviations. The $t$$\overline{t}$$t$$\overline{t}$ production cross section is measured to be ${22.5}^{+6.6}_{-5.5}$, consistent with the SM prediction of 12.0 ± 2.4 fb within 1.8 standard deviations. Data are also used to set limits on the three-top-quark production cross section, being an irreducible background not measured previously, and to constrain the top-Higgs Yukawa coupling and effective field theory operator coefficients that affect $t$$\overline{t}$$t$$\overline{t}$ production.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

A search for new resonances in multiple final states with a high transverse momentum Z boson in $\sqrt{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.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Constraints on the Higgs boson self-coupling from single- and double-Higgs production with the ATLAS detector using $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV

Constraints on the Higgs boson self-coupling are set by combining double-Higgs boson analyses in the $b\overline{b}$$b\overline{b}$, $b\overline{b}$$τ^+$$τ^–$ and $b\overline{b}$$γγ$ decay channels with single-Higgs boson analyses targeting the $γγ$, $\overline{Z}$$\overline{Z}$$^*$, $WW^*$, $τ^+$$τ^–$ and $b\overline{b}$ decay channels. The data used in these analyses were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton–proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 126–139 fb –1 . The combination of the double-Higgs analyses sets an upper limit of $μ_{HH}$ < 2.4 at 95% confidence level on the double-Higgs production cross-section normalised to its Standard Model prediction. Combining the single-Higgs and double-Higgs analyses, with the assumption that new physics affects only the Higgs boson self-coupling ($λ_{HHH}$), values outside the interval –0.4 < $κ_λ$ = ($λ_{HHH}$/${λ}_{HHH}^{SM}$) < 6.3 are excluded at 95% confidence level. The combined single-Higgs and doubleHiggs analyses provide results with fewer assumptions, by adding in the fit more coupling modifiers introduced to account for the Higgs boson interactions with the other Standard Model particles. In this relaxed scenario, the constraint becomes –1.4 < $κ_λ$ < 6.1 at 95% CL.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Observation of gauge boson joint-polarisation states in W ± Z production from pp collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Measurements of joint-polarisation states of W and Z gauge bosons in W ± Z production are presented. The data set used corresponds 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 CERN Large Hadron Collider. The W ± Z candidate events are reconstructed using leptonic decay modes of the gauge bosons into electrons and muons. The simultaneous pair-production of longitudinally polarised vector bosons is measured for the first time with a significance of 7.1 standard deviations. The measured joint helicity fractions integrated over the fiducial region are $f$ 00 = 0.067 ± 0.010, $f$ 0T = 0.110 ± 0.029, $f$ T0 = 0.179 ± 0.023 and $f$ TT = 0.644 ± 0.032, in agreement with the next-to-leading-order Standard Model predictions. Individual helicity fractions of the W and Z bosons are also measured and found to be consistent with joint helicity fractions within the expected amounts of correlation. Both the joint and individual helicity fractions are also measured separately in W + Z and W - Z events. Inclusive and differential cross sections for several kinematic observables sensitive to polarisation are presented.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Search for direct pair production of sleptons and charginos decaying to two leptons and neutralinos with mass splittings near the $W$-boson mass in $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the electroweak production of pairs of charged sleptons or charginos decaying into two-lepton final states with missing transverse momentum is presented. Two simplified models of R-parity-conserving supersymmetry are considered: direct pair-production of sleptons ($\sim\atop{\ell}$$\sim\atop{\ell}$), with each decaying into a charged lepton and a $\sim\atop{\chi}$ $^{0}_{1}$ neutralino, and direct pair-production of the lightest charginos ($\sim\atop{\chi}$ $^{±}_{1}$ $\sim\atop{\chi}$ $^{∓}_{1}$), with each decaying into a W-boson and a $\sim\atop{\chi}$ $^{0}_{1}$. The lightest neutralino ($\sim\atop{\chi}$ $^{0}_{1}$) is assumed to be the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP). The analyses target the experimentally challenging mass regions where $m$($\sim\atop{\ell}$) - $m$($\sim\atop{\chi}$ $^{0}_{1}$) and ($m$$\sim\atop{\chi}$ $^{±}_{1}$) – )$m$$\sim\atop{\chi}$ $^{0}_{1}$) are close to the W-boson mass (‘moderately compressed’ regions). The search uses 139 fb –1 of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV proton-proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. No significant excesses over the expected background are observed. Exclusion limits on the simplified models under study are reported in the ($\sim\atop{\ell}$, $\sim\atop{\chi}$ $^{0}_{1}$) and ($\sim\atop{\chi}$ $^{±}_{1}$, $\sim\atop{\chi}$ $^{0}_{1}$) mass planes at 95% confidence level (CL). Sleptons with masses up to 150 GeV are excluded at 95% CL for the case of a mass-splitting between sleptons and the LSP of 50 GeV. Chargino masses up to 140 GeV are excluded at 95% CL for the case of a mass-splitting between the chargino and the LSP down to about 100 GeV.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

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 $ \sqrt{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 $ν\bar{ν}b\bar{b}, l^{+} l^{-} b\bar{b}$, or $ll^{±} νb\bar{b}$ final states, where $\ell$ = e or µ, in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 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 W h 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.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Measurement of the top-quark mass using a leptonic invariant mass in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A measurement of the top-quark mass ($m_t$) in the $t\overline{t}$ → lepton+jets channel is presented, with an experimental technique which exploits semileptonic decays of $b$-hadrons produced in the top-quark decay chain. The distribution of the invariant mass $m_{{\ell}µ}$ of the lepton, $\ell$ (with $\ell$ = $e, µ$), from the $W$-boson decay and the muon, $µ$, originating from the b-hadron decay is reconstructed, and a binned-template profile likelihood fit is performed to extract $m_t$. The measurement is based on data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb –1 of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV $pp$ collisions provided by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded by the ATLAS detector. The measured value of the top-quark mass is $m_t$ = 174.41 ± 0.39 (stat.) ± 0.66 (syst.) ± 0.25 (recoil) GeV, where the third uncertainty arises from changing the Pythia8 parton shower gluon-recoil scheme, used in top-quark decays, to a recently developed setup.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced in top-quark decays using dilepton events at $\sqrt{s}$ = $13$ TeV with the ATLAS experiment

A measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced in top-quark decays is presented, using proton–proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = $13$ TeV. The data were collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb -1 . The measurement is performed selecting $t$$\overline{t}$ events decaying into final states with two charged leptons (electrons or muons) and at least two b-tagged jets. The polarisation is extracted from the differential cross-section distribution of the cos$⁡θ$* variable, where $θ$* is the angle between the momentum direction of the charged lepton from the W boson decay and the reversed momentum direction of the b-quark from the top-quark decay, both calculated in the W boson rest frame. Parton-level results, corrected for the detector acceptance and resolution, are presented for the cos⁡θ* angle. The measured fractions of longitudinal, left- and right-handed polarisation states are found to be $f$ 0 = 0.684 ± 0.005 (stat.) ± 0.014 (syst.), $f$ L = 0.318 ± 0.003 (stat.) ± 0.008 (syst.) and $f$ R = -0.002 ± 0.002 (stat.) ± 0.014 (syst.), in agreement with the Standard Model prediction.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Measurement of the nuclear modification factor of $b$-jets in 5.02 TeV Pb+Pb collisions with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a measurement of b-jet production in Pb+Pb and pp collisions at $\sqrt{sNN}$ = 5.02 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurement uses 260 pb –1 of pp collisions collected in 2017 and 1.4 nb –1 of Pb+Pb collisions collected in 2018. In both collision systems, jets are reconstructed via the anti-$k_t$ algorithm. The b-jets are identified from a sample of jets containing muons from the semileptonic decay of b-quarks using template fits of the muon momentum relative to the jet axis. In pp collisions, b-jets are reconstructed for radius parameters R = 0.2 and R = 0.4, and only R = 0.2 jets are used in Pb+Pb collisions. For comparison, inclusive R = 0.2 jets are also measured using 1.7 nb –1 of Pb+Pb collisions collected in 2018 and the same pp collision data as the b-jet measurement. The nuclear modification factor, $R_{AA}$, is calculated for both b-jets and inclusive jets with R = 0.2 over the transverse momentum range of 80–290 GeV. The nuclear modification factor for b-jets decreases from peripheral to central collisions. The ratio of the b-jet $R_{AA}$ to inclusive jet $R_{AA}$ is also presented and suggests that the $R_{AA}$ for b-jets is larger than that for inclusive jets in central Pb+Pb collisions. The measurements are compared with theoretical calculations and suggest a role for mass and colour-charge effects in partonic energy loss in heavy-ion collisions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Production of $Υ(nS)$ mesons in Pb + Pb and $pp$ collisions at 5.02 TeV

A measurement of the production of vector bottomonium states, $Υ$(1S), $Υ$(2S), and $Υ$(3S), in Pb + Pb and $pp$ collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.02 TeV is presented. The data correspond to integrated luminosities of 1.38 nb –1 of Pb + Pb data collected in 2018, 0.44 nb –1 of Pb + Pb data collected in 2015, and 0.26 fb –1 of $pp$ data collected in 2017 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The measurements are performed in the dimuon decay channel for transverse momentum ${p}_{T}^{μμ}$ < 30 GeV, absolute rapidity |$y^{μμ}$| < 1.5, and Pb + Pb event centrality 0–80%. The production rates of the three bottomonium states in Pb + Pb collisions are compared with those in $pp$ collisions to extract the nuclear modification factors as functions of event centrality, ${p}_{T}^{μμ}$, and $|y^{μμ}|$. In addition, the suppression of the excited states relative to the ground state is studied. The results are compared with theoretical model calculations.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Combination of searches for invisible decays of the Higgs boson using 139 fb –1 of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}$ TeV collected with the ATLAS experiment

Many extensions of the Standard Model predict the production of dark matter particles at the LHC. Sufficiently light dark matter particles may be produced in decays of the Higgs boson that would appear invisible to the detector. This Letter presents a statistical combination of searches for $H$ → invisible decays where multiple production modes of the Standard Model Higgs boson are considered. These searches are performed with the ATLAS detector using 139 fb –1 of proton–proton collisions at a centre–of–mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV at the LHC. In combination with the results at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV and 8 TeV, an upper limit on the $H$ → invisible branching ratio of 0.107 (0.077) at the 95% confidence level is observed (expected). These results are also interpreted in the context of models where the 125 GeV Higgs boson acts as a portal to dark matter, and limits are set on the scattering cross-section of weakly interacting massive particles and nucleons.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗