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Aad, G.

Publications and source records attributed to Aad, G..

At least 109 records · Page 6

Search for magnetic monopoles and stable particles with high electric charges in $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

We present a search for magnetic monopoles and high-electric-charge objects using LHC Run 2 $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV proton-proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector. A total integrated luminosity of 138 fb –1 was collected by a specialized trigger. No highly ionizing particle candidate was observed. Considering the Drell-Yan and photon-fusion pair production mechanisms as benchmark models, cross-section upper limits are presented for spin-0 and spin-1/2 magnetic monopoles of magnetic charge 1g D and 2g D and for high-electric-charge objects of electric charge 20 ≤ |z| ≤ 100, for masses between 200 GeV and 4000 GeV. The search improves by approximately a factor of three the previous cross-section limits on the Drell-Yan production of magnetic monopoles and high-electric charge objects. Also, the first ATLAS limits on the photon-fusion pair production mechanism of magnetic monopoles and high-electric-charge objects are obtained.

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Search for non-resonant production of semi-visible jets using Run 2 data in ATLAS

Semi-visible jets, with a significant contribution to the event's missing transverse momentum, can arise in strongly interacting dark sectors. This results in an event topology where one of the jets can be aligned with the direction of the missing transverse momentum. The first search for semi-visible jets produced via a t-channel mediator exchange is presented. The analysis uses proton-proton collisions with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb —1 and a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected with the ATLAS detector during the Run 2 of the LHC. No excess over Standard Model predictions is observed. Assuming a coupling strength of unity between the mediator, a Standard Model quark and a dark quark, mediator masses up to 2.7 TeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level. Upper limits on the coupling strength are also derived.

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Search for heavy long-lived multi-charged particles in the full LHC Run 2 pp collision data at s = 13 TeV using the ATLAS detector

A search for heavy long-lived multi-charged particles is performed using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Data collected in 2015-2018 at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV from pp collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb -1 are examined. Particles producing anomalously high ionization, consistent with long-lived spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ massive particles with electric charges from |q|=2e to |q|=7e are searched for. No statistically significant evidence of such particles is observed, and 95% confidence level cross-section upper limits are calculated and interpreted as the lower mass limits for a Drell-Yan plus photon-fusion production mode. The least stringent limit, 1060 GeV, is obtained for |q|=2e particles, and the most stringent one, 1600 GeV, is for |q|=6e particles.

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Fast b -tagging at the high-level trigger of the ATLAS experiment in LHC Run 3

The ATLAS experiment relies on real-time hadronic jet reconstruction and b-tagging to record fully hadronic events containing b-jets. These algorithms require track reconstruction, which is computationally expensive and could overwhelm the high-level-trigger farm, even at the reduced event rate that passes the ATLAS first stage hardware-based trigger. In LHC Run 3, ATLAS has mitigated these computational demands by introducing a fast neural-network-based b-tagger, which acts as a low-precision filter using input from hadronic jets and tracks. It runs after a hardware trigger and before the remaining high-level-trigger reconstruction. This design relies on the negligible cost of neural-network inference as compared to track reconstruction, and the cost reduction from limiting tracking to specific regions of the detector. In the case of Standard Model HH → bb̅bb̅, a key signature relying on b-jet triggers, the filter lowers the input rate to the remaining high-level trigger by a factor of five at the small cost of reducing the overall signal efficiency by roughly 2%.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Search for exclusive Higgs and Z boson decays to ωγ and Higgs boson decays to K*γ with the ATLAS detector

Searches for the exclusive decays of the Higgs boson to an ω meson and a photon or a Κ * meson and a photon can probe flavour-conserving and flavour-violating Higgs boson couplings to light quarks, respectively. Searches for these decays, along with the analogous Z boson decay to an ω meson and a photon, are performed with a pp collision data sample corresponding to integrated luminosities of up to 134 fb -1 collected at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The obtained 95% confidence-level upper limits on the respective branching fractions are $\mathscr{B}$(H → ω$\gamma$) < 5.5 x 10 -4 , $\mathscr{B}$(H → Κ *$\gamma$) < 2.2 x 10 -4 and $\mathscr{B}$(Z → ω$\gamma$) 3.9 x 10 -6 . The limits for H → ω$\gamma$ and Z → ω$\gamma$ are 370 times and 140 times the Standard Model expected values, respectively. The result for Z → ω$\gamma$ corresponds to a two-orders-of-magnitude improvement over the limit obtained by the DELPHI experiment at LEP.

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Luminosity determination in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV using the ATLAS detector at the LHC

The luminosity determination for the ATLAS detector at the LHC during Run 2 is presented, with pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV. The absolute luminosity scale is determined using van der Meer beam separation scans during dedicated running periods in each year, and extrapolated to the physics data-taking regime using complementary measurements from several luminosity-sensitive detectors. The total uncertainties in the integrated luminosity for each individual year of data taking range from 0.9% to 1.1%, and are partially corre lated between years. After standard data-quality selections, the full Run 2 pp data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 140.1 ± 1.2 fb -1 , i.e. an uncertainty of 0.83%. A dedicated sample of low-pileup data recorded in 2017– 2018 for precision Standard Model physics measurements is analysed separately, and has an integrated luminosity of 338.1 ± 3.1 pb -1 .

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Observation of Single-Top-Quark Production in Association with a Photon Using the ATLAS Detector

This Letter reports the observation of single top quarks produced together with a photon, which directly probes the electroweak coupling of the top quark. The analysis uses 139 fb -1 of 13 TeV proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Requiring a photon with transverse momentum larger than 20 GeV and within the detector acceptance, the fiducial cross section is measured to be 688±23(stat) $^{+75}_{-71}$(syst) fb, to be compared with the standard model prediction of 515$^{+36}_{-42}$ fb at next-to-leading order in QCD.

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Measurement of the Sensitivity of Two-Particle Correlations in $\mathcal{pp}$ Collisions to the Presence of Hard Scatterings

A key open question in the study of multiparticle production in high-energy pp collisions is the relationship between the “ridge”—i.e., the observed azimuthal correlations between particles in the underlying event that extend over all rapidities—and hard or semihard scattering processes. In particular, it is not known whether jets or their soft fragments are correlated with particles in the underlying event. To address this question, two-particle correlations are measured in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=13 TeV using data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC, with an integrated luminosity of 15.8 pb -1 , in two different configurations. In the first case, charged particles associated with jets are excluded from the correlation analysis, while in the second case, correlations are measured between particles within jets and charged particles from the underlying event. Second-order flow coefficients, v2, are presented as a function of event multiplicity and transverse momentum. These measurements show that excluding particles associated with jets does not affect the measured correlations. Moreover, particles associated with jets do not exhibit any significant azimuthal correlations with the underlying event, ruling out hard processes contributing to the ridge.

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Search for lepton-flavour violation in high-mass dilepton final states using 139 fb−1 of pp collisions at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is performed for a heavy particle decaying into different-flavour, dilepton final states, using 139 fb − 1 of proton-proton collision data at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ s = 13 TeV collected in 2015–2018 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Final states with electrons, muons and hadronically decaying tau leptons are considered ( eμ , eτ or μτ ). No significant excess over the Standard Model predictions is observed. Upper limits on the production cross-section are set as a function of the mass of a Z ′ boson, a supersymmetric τ -sneutrino, and a quantum black-hole. The observed 95% CL lower mass limits obtained on a typical benchmark model Z ′ boson are 5.0 TeV (e μ ), 4.0 TeV (e τ ), and 3.9 TeV ( μτ ), respectively.

Aad, G.↗

Search for periodic signals in the dielectron and diphoton invariant mass spectra using 139 fb -1 of $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for physics beyond the Standard Model inducing periodic signals in the dielectron and diphoton invariant mass spectra is presented using 139 fb -1 of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV pp collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Novel search techniques based on continuous wavelet transforms are used to infer the frequency of periodic signals from the invariant mass spectra and neural network classifiers are used to enhance the sensitivity to periodic resonances. In the absence of a signal, exclusion limits are placed at the 95% confidence level in the two-dimensional parameter space of the clock work gravity model. Model-independent searches for deviations from the background-only hypothesis are also performed.

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Search for lepton-flavour violation in high-mass dilepton final states using 139 fb –1 of pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is performed for a heavy particle decaying into different-flavour, dilepton final states, using 139 fb –1 of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV collected in 2015–2018 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Final states with electrons, muons and hadronically decaying tau leptons are considered (eμ, eτ or μτ). No significant excess over the Standard Model predictions is observed. Upper limits on the production cross-section are set as a function of the mass of a Z' boson, a supersymmetric τ-sneutrino, and a quantum black-hole. The observed 95% CL lower mass limits obtained on a typical benchmark model Z' boson are 5.0 TeV (eμ), 4.0 TeV (eτ), and 3.9 TeV (μτ), respectively.

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Observation of an Excess of Dicharmonium Events in the Four-Muon Final State with the ATLAS Detector

A search is made for potential $cc\bar{c}\bar{c}$ tetraquarks decaying into a pair of charmonium states in the four muon final state using proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}$=13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb -1 recorded by the ATLAS experiment at LHC. Two decay channels, $J/ψ+J/ψ→4μ$ and $J/ψ+ψ(2S)→4μ$, are studied. Backgrounds are estimated based on a hybrid approach involving Monte Carlo simulations and data-driven methods. Statistically significant excesses with respect to backgrounds dominated by the single parton scattering are seen in the di-J/ψ channel consistent with a narrow resonance at 6.9 GeV and a broader structure at lower mass. A statistically significant excess is also seen in the $J/ψ+ψ$(2S) channel. The fitted masses and decay widths of the structures are reported.

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Observation of the $γγ → ττ$ Process in $\mathrm{Pb + Pb}$ Collisions and Constraints on the $\tau$-Lepton Anomalous Magnetic Moment with the ATLAS Detector

This Letter reports the observation of τ-lepton pair production in ultraperipheral lead-lead collisions, Pb+Pb→Pb(γγ→ττ)Pb, and constraints on the τ-lepton anomalous magnetic moment, a τ . The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1.44 nb -1 of LHC Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ =5.02 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment in 2018. Selected events contain one muon from a τ-lepton decay, an electron or charged-particle track(s) from the other τ-lepton decay, little additional central-detector activity, and no forward neutrons. The γγ→ττ process is observed in Pb+Pb collisions with a significance exceeding 5 standard deviations, and a signal strength of μ ττ =1.03$^{+0.06}_{-0.05}$ assuming the Standard Model value for a τ . To measure a τ , a template fit to the muon transverse-momentum distribution from τ-lepton candidates is performed, using a dimuon (γγ→μμ) control sample to constrain systematic uncertainties. The observed 95% confidence-level interval for aτ is -0.057 < a τ < 0.024.

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Integrated and differential fiducial cross-section measurements for the vector boson fusion production of the Higgs boson in the $H → WW^* → evμv$ decay channel at 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The vector-boson production cross-section for the Higgs boson decay in the H→WW*→eνμν channel is measured as a function of kinematic observables sensitive to the Higgs boson production and decay properties as well as integrated in a fiducial phase space. The analysis is performed using the proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS detector in Run 2 of the LHC at $\sqrt{s}$=13 TeV center-of-mass energy corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb -1 . The different flavor final state is studied by selecting an electron and a muon originating from a pair of W bosons and compatible with the Higgs boson decay. The data are corrected for the effects of detector inefficiency and resolution, and the measurements are compared with different state-of-the-art theoretical predictions. The differential cross-sections are used to constrain anomalous interactions described by dimension-six operators in an Effective Field Theory.

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Measurements of multijet event isotropies using optimal transport with the ATLAS detector

A measurement of novel event shapes quantifying the isotropy of collider events is performed in 140 fb -1 of proton-proton collisions with $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV centre-of-mass energy recorded with the ATLAS detector at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. These event shapes are defined as the Wasserstein distance between collider events and isotropic reference geometries. This distance is evaluated by solving optimal transport problems, using the ‘Energy-Mover’s Distance’. Isotropic references with cylindrical and circular symmetries are studied, to probe the symmetries of interest at hadron colliders. The novel event-shape observables defined in this way are infrared- and collinear-safe, have improved dynamic range and have greater sensitivity to isotropic radiation patterns than other event shapes. The measured event-shape variables are corrected for detector effects, and presented in inclusive bins of jet multiplicity and the scalar sum of the two leading jets’ transverse momenta. The measured distributions are provided as inputs to future Monte Carlo tuning campaigns and other studies probing fundamental properties of QCD and the production of hadronic final states up to the TeV-scale.

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Evidence of off-shell Higgs boson production from ZZ leptonic decay channels and constraints on its total width with the ATLAS detector

This Letter reports on a search for off-shell production of the Higgs boson using 139 fb —1 of $pp$ collision data at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The signature is a pair of $\overline{Z}$ bosons, with contributions from both the production and subsequent decay of a virtual Higgs boson and the interference of that process with other processes. The two observable final states are $\overline{Z}$ $\overline{Z}$ → 4$\ell$ and $\overline{Z}$ $\overline{Z}$ → 2$\ell$2$ν$ with $\ell$ = $e$ or $μ$. In the $\overline{Z}$ $\overline{Z}$ → 4$\ell$ final state, a dense Neural Network is used to enhance analysis sensitivity with respect to matrix element-based discrimination. The backgroundonly hypothesis is rejected with an observed (expected) significance of 3.3 (2.2) standard deviations, representing experimental evidence for off-shell Higgs boson production. Assuming that no new particles enter the production of the virtual Higgs boson, its total width can be deduced from the measurement of its off-shell production cross-section. The measured total width of the Higgs boson is ${4.5}_{—2.5}^{+3.3}$ MeV, and the observed (expected) upper limit on the total width is found to be 10.5 (10.9) MeV at 95% confidence level.

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Search for a new heavy scalar particle decaying into a Higgs boson and a new scalar singlet in final states with one or two light leptons and a pair of τ -leptons with the ATLAS detector

A search for a new heavy scalar particle X decaying into a Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson and a new singlet scalar particle S is presented. The search uses a proton-proton (pp) collision data sample with an integrated luminosity of 140 fb -1 recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The most sensitive mass parameter space is explored in X mass ranging from 500 to 1500 GeV, with the corresponding S mass in the range 200–500 GeV. The search selects events with two hadronically decaying τ-lepton candidates from H → τ + τ - decays and one or two light leptons (ℓ = e, μ) from S → VV (V = W, Z) decays while the remaining V boson decays hadronically or to neutrinos. A multivariate discriminant based on event kinematics is used to separate the signal from the background. No excess is observed beyond the expected SM background and 95% confidence level upper limits between 72 fb and 542 fb are derived on the cross-section σ(pp → X → SH) assuming the same SM-Higgs boson-like decay branching ratios for the S → VV decay. Upper limits on the visible cross-sections σ(pp → X → SH → WWττ) and σ(pp → X → SH → ZZττ) are also set in the ranges 3–26 fb and 6–33 fb, respectively.

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Search for leptoquarks decaying into the bτ final state in pp collisions at $\sqrt{\textrm{s}}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for leptoquarks decaying into the $bτ$ final state is performed using Run 2 proton-proton collision data from the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb —1 at $\sqrt{\textrm{s}}$ = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector. The benchmark models considered in this search are vector leptoquarks with electric charge of 2/3e and scalar leptoquarks with an electric charge of 4/3e. No significant excess above the Standard Model prediction is observed, and 95% confidence level upper limits are set on the cross-section times branching fraction of leptoquarks decaying into bτ. For the vector leptoquark production two models are considered: the Yang-Mills and Minimal coupling models. In the Yang-Mills (Minimal coupling) scenario, vector leptoquarks with a mass below 1.58 (1.35) TeV are excluded for a gauge coupling of 1.0 and below 2.05 (1.99) TeV for a gauge coupling of 2.5. In the case of scalar leptoquarks, masses below 1.28 (1.53) TeV are excluded for a Yukawa coupling of 1.0 (2.5). Finally, an interpretation of the results with minimal model dependence is performed for each of the signal region categories, and limits on the visible cross-section for beyond the Standard Model processes are provided.

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