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Measurements of angular distance and momentum ratio distributions in three-jet and $${\text {Z}}$$ + two-jet final states in $${\text {p}}{\text {p}}$$ collisions

Collinear (small-angle) and large-angle, as well as soft and hard radiations are investigated in three-jet and Z + two-jet events collected in proton-proton collisions at the LHC. The normalized production cross sections are measured as a function of the ratio of transverse momenta of two jets and their angular separation. The measurements in the three-jet and Z + two-jet events are based on data collected at a center-of-mass energy of 8TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.8fb -1 . The Z + two-jet events are reconstructed in the dimuon decay channel of the Z boson. The three-jet measurement is extended to include $\sqrt {s}$=13TeV data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.3fb -1 . The results are compared to predictions from event generators that include parton showers, multiple parton interactions, and hadronization. The collinear and soft regions are in general well described by parton showers, whereas the regions of large angular separation are often best described by calculations using higher-order matrix elements.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Determination of the parton distribution functions of the proton using diverse ATLAS data from pp collisions at $$\sqrt{s} = 7$$, 8 and 13 TeV

This paper presents an analysis at next-to-next-to-leading order in the theory of quantum chromodynamics for the determination of a new set of proton parton distribution functions using diverse measurements in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7, 8 and 13 TeV, performed by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, together with deep inelastic scattering data from ep collisions at the HERA collider. The ATLAS data sets considered are differential cross-section measurements of inclusive W ± and Z/γ* boson production, W ± and Z boson production in association with jets, $t\bar{t}$ production, inclusive jet production and direct photon production. In the analysis, particular attention is paid to the correlation of systematic uncertainties within and between the various ATLAS data sets and to the impact of model, theoretical and parameterisation uncertainties. The resulting set of parton distribution functions is called ATLASpdf21.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

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.

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Calibration of the light-flavour jet mistagging efficiency of the b -tagging algorithms with Z+jets events using 139 $\textrm{fb}^{-1}$ of ATLAS proton–proton collision data at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV

The identification of b -jets, referred to as b -tagging, is an important part of many physics analyses in the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider and an accurate calibration of its performance is essential for high-quality physics results. This publication describes the calibration of the light-flavour jet mistagging efficiency in a data sample of proton–proton collision events at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb -1 . The calibration is performed in a sample of Z bosons produced in association with jets. Due to the low mistagging efficiency for light-flavour jets, a method which uses modified versions of the b-tagging algorithms referred to as flip taggers is used in this work. A fit to the jet-flavour-sensitive secondary-vertex mass is performed to extract a scale factor from data, to correct the light-flavour jet mistagging efficiency in Monte Carlo simulations, while simultaneously correcting the b -jet efficiency. With this procedure, uncertainties coming from the modeling of jets from heavy-flavour hadrons are considerably lower than in previous calibrations of the mistagging scale factors, where they were dominant. The scale factors obtained in this calibration are consistent with unity within uncertainties.

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Status of QCD precision predictions for Drell–Yan rapidity distributions

We compute differential distributions for Drell–Yan processes at the LHC and the Tevatron colliders at next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD, including fiducial cuts on the decay leptons in the final state. The comparison of predictions obtained with four different codes shows excellent agreement, once linear power corrections from the fiducial cuts are included in those codes that rely on phase-space slicing subtraction schemes. For Z-boson production we perform a detailed study of the symmetric cuts on the transverse momenta of the decay leptons. Predictions at fixed order in perturbative QCD for those symmetric cuts, typically imposed in experiments, suffer from an instability. We show how this can be remedied by an all-order resummation of the fiducial transverse momentum spectrum, and we comment on the choice of cuts for future experimental analyses.

Alekhin, S. [University of Hamburg (Germany)]↗

Octet scalars shaping LHC distributions in 4-jet final states

We study properties of a hypothetical scalar particle, Θ, which is a color octet and an electroweak singlet. At hadron colliders, Θ is pair produced through its QCD coupling to gluons, so that its mass determines the cross section. It decays at tree level into $q\bar{q}$ through dimension-5 operators, and at one loop into gluons. Thus, the main LHC signature of Θ is a pair of dijets of equal invariant mass. The CMS search in this channel shows a 3.6σ excess over the QCD background for a dijet mass M jj ≈ 0.95 TeV, which can be due to Θ : its production cross section (65 fb for a real scalar) and the acceptance of the CMS event selection applied to pp → ΘΘ → ($q\bar{q}$) ($q\bar{q}$) yield a rate consistent with the excess. Furthermore, the shape of the dσ/dM jj signal is in agreement with the CMS result. Given the data-driven background fit performed by CMS, we find that a complex scalar (whose production rate is twice as large) fits better the data than a real scalar. Besides the pair of dijets, testable LHC signals include a trijet-dijet topology, a $t\bar{t}$ pair plus a dijet resonance, as well as final states involving a Higgs, W or Z boson plus jets.

Dobrescu, Bogdan A. [Fermi National Accelerator La↗

CJ15 global PDF analysis with new electroweak data from the STAR and SeaQuest experiments

We present updates to a recent CTEQ-Jefferson Lab (CJ) global analysis of parton distribution functions with a new set of electroweak data that provide unique access to quark flavor separation in the proton. In particular, recent W W and Z Z boson measurements from the STAR experiment at RHIC put additional constraints on light quarks and antiquarks near the valence regime. The new measurement of the Drell-Yan lepton pair production ratio in p+p p + p and p+d p + d collisions by the SeaQuest experiment at Fermilab extends the large- x x coverage of the previous E866 experiment and sheds new light on the light antiquarks distribution. In this report, the impact of these new data sets on parton distribution functions will be presented with emphasis given to the flavor asymmetry of the light antiquark sea at large values of the parton momentum x x .

Park, Sanghwa↗

R&D toward a proof-of-principle experiment on optical stochastic cooling at the Fermilab’s IOTA ring

The stochastic-cooling method was invented in the late 70s and played a key role in the accumulation of intense beams of antiprotons for a head-on collision with counter rotating proton beams at 500 GeV in the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) at CERN. Such an improvement led to the discovery of the W and Z bosons in 1983. In brief, stochastic cooling relies on recording information (position) associated with short longitudinal slices within the bunch. The radiation is encoded on a radiofrequency (RF) signal, manipulated and used to correct the bunch slices at a later time.The repetitive correction is applied as the beam circulates in the ring ultimately cool the beam.Stochastic cooling has been successfully implemented in several machines for particle cooling and accumulation. Cooling of bunched beams in proton-(anti)proton colliders was challenging due to the high phase-space density of the bunches but was recently demonstrated at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC).

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Constraining Cross Section and Beam Systematics for Future NOvA Sterile Neutrino Search

he NOvA (NuMI Off-axis $\nu_e$ Appearance) experiment measures neutrino oscillations in a nearly pure muon (anti)neutrino beam over a 810 km baseline. We search for sterile neutrino driven oscillations in both neutral current (NC) and charged current (CC) muon neutrino samples. A deficit of NC interactions at the Far Detector could occur since sterile neutrinos do not couple to the Z boson. A modulation of the muon neutrino disappearance probability is possible due to a new mass splitting. The NuMI beam line is capable of running in forward or reverse horn current modes, which creates a neutrino or antineutrino beam, respectively. Samples collected in forward horn current (FHC) or reverse horn current (RHC) modes are subject to beam optics uncertainties, in addition to cross section and hadron production uncertainties. We explore the ategories. To tackle reduction of cross section uncertainties, we study how splitting the neutral current (NC) samples can impact the systematic reduction and its implications on oscillation parameters, leveraging results from Monte Carlo simulations. Additionally, we look at the possibility of using a $\nu$-on-e scattering sample. The $\nu$-on-e scattering process has minimal cross section uncertainties compared to that of neutrino-nucleus interactions, which can help constrain the overall flux normalizations. Using both the ZHC sample, NC split sample, and $\nu$-on-e scattering sample jointly with FHC samples would reduce the focusing uncertainties and the hadron production uncertainties in the future sterile analysis.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

LHCb: Recent Results and Future Plans

In this overview contribution we introduce the most recent results in high-multiplicity $pp$ and heavy ion collisions obtained by the LHCb experiment, detector developments and plans for the future heavy ion program. Some of the highlights include the study of double charm production, nuclear modification of B-hadrons, quarkonia and Z-bosons in pPb and the suppression of prompt X(3872) hadrons in high multiplicity $pp$ events. On the detector side, we bring to attention the preparation for the upcoming Run III in LHC and the fixed target program.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Signals of a New Gauge Boson from IceCube and Muon g-2

Gauging the muon lepton flavor minus the tau lepton flavor number, which is a global symmetry of the SM, introduces a new gauge boson Z' upon symmetry breaking. Interestingly, it offers an economical solution to the long-standing g_µ-2 anomaly, confirmed and strengthened by recent measurements at Fermilab. Here, we revisit the impact of such a Z' on the spectrum of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos, as measured by the IceCube experiment. This spectrum has been observed to exhibit a dip-like feature at sub-PeV energies, which could plausibly arise from the physics of the sources themselves, but could also be the consequence of high-energy neutrinos resonantly scattering with the cosmic neutrino background, mediated by a Z' with a mass on the order of m_Z’ ~ 10 MeV. In this study, we calculate the impact of such a Z' on the high-energy neutrino spectrum for a variety of model parameters and source distributions. For couplings that can resolve the g-2 anomaly, we find that this model could self-consistently produce a spectral feature that is consistent with IceCube's measurement, in particular if the neutrinos observed by IceCube predominantly originate from high-redshift sources. We also briefly discuss a possible scenario where Z' could act as a portal to a dark sector.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The Beam Dump eXperiment

Hadronic matter makes about 14% of the known universe. The remaining 86% is Dark Matter (DM). Since it does not interact with the ordinary matter via electromagnetic force, DM is not visible and, to date, it escaped detection. The search for Dark Matter (DM) is one of the hottest topic in modern physics. Despite the increasing number of astrophysical and cosmological observations proving the existence, so far no particle physics experiment has detected DM yet. Up to now, most of the experimental efforts have been focused on the so called WIMP (Weakly Interacting Massive Particle) paradigm, which predicts heavy DM (10 GeV-10 TeV mass range) interacting with Standard Model (SM) particles via the weak force mediators (W or Z bosons). More recently, due to the lack of clear evidence of WIMPs, other models of DM gained the interest of the physics community. These models consider Light DM particles (LDM), in MeV-GeV mass range. Among LDM theories, the Dark Photon theory predicts the existence of a Dark Sector interacting with SM particles via a new massive vector boson (Dark Photon, Heavy Photon or A0), mediator of a new force. This scenario, despite being theoretically well motivated, is remarkably experimentally unexplored. The Beam Dump eXperiment (BDX), is an approved experiment at Jefferson Lab (JLab), aiming to discover the DM predicted witihn the Dark Photon theory. The experiment uses the CEBAF (Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility) 11 GeV electron beam, impinging on the JLab Hall-A beam-dump, to produce a beam of DM particles, detected by a ~ 1 m3 detector made of thallium doped cesium iodide (CsI(Tl)) crystals located ~ 20 m downstream. In order to achieve excellent background rejection, the experimental setup includes active vetos and passive shielding surrounding CsI(Tl) crystals. Given the weakness of the DM-SM interaction, the scattering of a DM particle in the BDX detector is a rare event. Therefore, the characterization of the expected background is a critical aspect of the experiment. Both cosmogenic and penetrating SM particles produced by the beam interaction in the dump contribute to the background of the experiment. While the cosmogenic contribution can be measured during the experiment when the beam is off, beam-related background can only be estimated via Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. Therefore, a careful assessment of possible systematics introduced by the MC is needed. The beam-correlated background characterization was made by measuring the muon flux produced by the interaction of the CEBAF beam with Hall-A dump in a dedicated experimental campaign in spring 2018 [1]. The comparison to the ?ux predicted by MC allowed us to validate the BDX simulation framework. The reach of BDX, i.e. the region that the experiment can probe in the LDM theory parameter space, depends critically on the background rejection capability and signal detection effciency. For this reason, the detector setup was fine-tuned through a dedicated study. The response to LDM and background events was evaluated for different setups and selection cuts. As a result of this procedure, the configuration resulting in the best sensitivity was selected [2]. The reach calculation was performed taking into account the different LDM production mechanisms, including the contribution of secondary particles produced in the beam-dump. In particular, the effect of the secondary positrons annihilation was found to be extremely significant. In the majority of the sensitivity studies, this contribution is neglected, but recent results [3] [4] demonstrated that this process significantly enhances the sensitivity of lepton beam-dump experiments. Currently, the BDX collaboration is focused on the deployment and operation of a small detector, called BDX-MINI, built to perform a preliminary physics measurement searching for LDM at JLab. This test will pave the way to the realization of the full BDX experiment. The measurement is currently ongoing but results are expected by the end of this year. During my PhD I was involved in all aspects of the BDX experiment: design, simulation, prototyping and data analysis. The main results of my work are reported in this thesis. This manuscript is organized as follows: the first Chapter provides an introduction to the theory of LDM, with particular attention to the Dark Photon paradigm; the second Chapter illustrates the BDX experimental setup, the LDM production and detection mechanisms and the expected backgrounds; Chapter 3 and 4 describe, respectively, the BDX-HODO measurement, with a detailed description of the simulations, and the BDX experimental setup and analysis cuts optimization. Chapter 5 reports about BDXMINI detector characterization, calibration and sensitivity estimate. Finally, Chapter 6 describes in detail the calculation of the secondary positron annihilation contribution to the sensitivity of BDX and other electron-beam thick-target experiment.

Marsicano, Luca↗

CJ15 global PDF analysis with new electroweak data from the STAR and SeaQuest experiments

We present updates to a recent CTEQ-Jefferson Lab (CJ) global analysis of parton distribution functions with a new set of electroweak data that provide unique access to quark flavor separation in the proton. In particular, recent W and Z boson measurements from the STAR experiment at RHIC put additional constraints on light quarks and antiquarks near the valence regime. The new measurement of the Drell-Yan lepton pair production ratio in p+p and p+d collisions by the SeaQuest experiment at Fermilab extends the large-x coverage of the previous E866 experiment and sheds new light on the light antiquarks distribution. In this report, the impact of these new data sets on parton distribution functions will be presented with emphasis given to the flavor asymmetry of the light antiquark sea at large values of the parton momentum x.

Park, Sanghwa↗

Search for rare decays of the Z and Higgs bosons to a J / ψ or ψ(2S) meson and a photon in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV

A search is presented for rare decays of the Z and Higgs bosons to a photon and a J∕ψ or a ψ(2S) meson, with the charmonium state subsequentially decaying to a pair of muons. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 123 fb −1 of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. No evidence for branching fractions of these rare decay channels larger than predicted in the standard model is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set: $\mathcal{B}$(H → J∕ψγ ) < 2.6 × 10 −4 , $\mathcal{B}$(H → ψ(2S)γ ) < 9.9 × 10 −4 , $\mathcal{B}$(Z → J∕ψγ ) < 0.6 × 10 −6 , and $\mathcal{B}$(Z → ψ(2S)γ ) < 1.3 × 10 −6 . The ratio of the Higgs boson coupling modifiers 𝜅 c ∕𝜅 γ is constrained to be in the interval (−157, +199) at 95% confidence level. Assuming 𝜅 γ = 1, this interval becomes (−166, +208).

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

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↗

Search for heavy resonances and quantum black holes in eμ, eτ, and μτ final states in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV

A search is reported for heavy resonances and quantum black holes decaying into eμ, eτ, and μτ final states in proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC during 2016–2018 at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb -1 . The eμ, eτ, and μτ invariant mass spectra are reconstructed, and no evidence is found for physics beyond the standard model. Upper limits are set at 95% confidence level on the product of the cross section and branching fraction for lepton flavor violating signals. Three benchmark signals are studied: resonant τ sneutrino production in R parity violating supersymmetric models, heavy Z' gauge bosons with lepton flavor violating decays, and nonresonant quantum black hole production in models with extra spatial dimensions. Resonant τ sneutrinos are excluded for masses up to 4.2TeV in the eμ channel, 3.7TeV in the eτ channel, and 3.6TeV in the μτ channel. A Z' boson with lepton flavor violating couplings is excluded up to a mass of 5.0TeV in the eμ channel, up to 4.3Te V in the eτ channel, and up to 4.1TeV in the μτ channel. Quantum black holes in the benchmark model are excluded up to the threshold mass of 5.6TeV in the eμ channel, 5.2TeV in the eτ channel, and 5.0TeV in the μτ channel. In addition, model-independent limits are extracted to allow comparisons with other models for the same final states and similar event selection requirements. The results of these searches provide the most stringent limits available from collider experiments for heavy particles that undergo lepton flavor violating decays.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗