This paper presents a search for dark matter in the context of a two-Higgs-doublet model together with an additional pseudoscalar mediator, $a$, which decays into the dark-matter particles. Processes where the pseudoscalar mediator is produced in association with a single top quark in the 2HDM+$a$ model are explored for the first time at the LHC. Several final states which include either one or two charged leptons (electrons or muons) and a significant amount of missing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis is based on proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS experiment at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV during LHC Run2 (2015-2018), corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. No significant excess above the Standard Model predictions is found. The results are expressed as 95% confidence-level limits on the parameters of the signal models considered.
This paper presents a measurement of forward-forward and forward-central dijet azimuthal angular correlations and conditional yields in proton-proton ($pp$) and proton-lead ($p$+Pb) collisions as a probe of the nuclear gluon density in regions where the fraction of the average momentum per nucleon carried by the parton entering the hard scattering is low. In these regions, gluon saturation can modify the rapidly increasing parton distribution function of the gluon. The analysis utilizes 25 pb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ data and 360 $\mu \mathrm{b}^{-1}$ of $p$+Pb data, both at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV, collected in 2015 and 2016, respectively, with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurement is performed in the center-of-mass frame of the nucleon-nucleon system in the rapidity range between $-$4.0 and 4.0 using the two highest transverse momentum jets in each event, with the highest transverse momentum jet restricted to the forward rapidity range. No significant broadening of azimuthal angular correlations is observed for forward-forward or forward-central dijets in $p$+Pb compared to $pp$ collisions. For forward-forward jet pairs in the proton-going direction, the ratio of conditional yields in $p$+Pb collisions to those in $pp$ collisions is suppressed by approximately 20%, with no significant dependence on the transverse momentum of the dijet system. No modification of conditional yields is observed for forward-central dijets.
This paper presents a search for new heavy particles decaying into a pair of top quarks using 139 fb$^{-1}$ of proton--proton collision data recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The search is performed using events consistent with pair production of high-transverse-momentum top quarks and their subsequent decays into the fully hadronic final states. The analysis is optimized for resonances decaying into a $t\bar{t}$ pair with mass above 1.4 TeV, exploiting a dedicated multivariate technique with jet substructure to identify hadronically decaying top quarks using large-radius jets and evaluating the background expectation from data. No significant deviation from the background prediction is observed. Limits are set on the production cross-section times branching fraction for the new $Z'$ boson in a topcolor-assisted-technicolor model. The $Z'$ boson masses below 3.9 and 4.7 TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level for the decay widths of 1% and 3%, respectively.
The fragmentation of high-energy gluons at small opening angles is largely unconstrained by present measurements. Gluon splitting to $b$-quark pairs is a unique probe into the properties of gluon fragmentation because identified $b$-tagged jets provide a proxy for the quark daughters of the initial gluon. In this study, key differential distributions related to the $g\rightarrow b\bar{b}$ process are measured using 33 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV $pp$ collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in 2016. Jets constructed from charged-particle tracks, clustered with the anti-$k_t$ jet algorithm with radius parameter $R = 0.2$, are used to probe angular scales below the $R=0.4$ jet radius. The observables are unfolded to particle level in order to facilitate direct comparisons with predictions from present and future simulations. Multiple significant differences are observed between the data and parton shower Monte Carlo predictions, providing input to improve these predictions of the main source of background events in analyses involving boosted Higgs bosons decaying into $b$-quarks.
A search for the pair production of heavy leptons as predicted by the type-III seesaw mechanism is presented. The search uses proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to 139 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity recorded by the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis focuses on the final state with two light leptons (electrons or muons) of different flavour and charge combinations, with at least two jets and large missing transverse momentum. No significant excess over the Standard Model expectation is observed. The results are translated into exclusion limits on heavy-lepton masses, and the observed lower limit on the mass of the type-III seesaw heavy leptons is 790 GeV at 95% confidence level.
Measurements of the azimuthal anisotropy in lead-lead collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} = 5.02$ TeV are presented using a data sample corresponding to 0.49 $\mathrm{nb}^{-1}$ integrated luminosity collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in 2015. The recorded minimum-bias sample is enhanced by triggers for "ultra-central" collisions, providing an opportunity to perform detailed study of flow harmonics in the regime where the initial state is dominated by fluctuations. The anisotropy of the charged-particle azimuthal angle distributions is characterized by the Fourier coefficients, $v_{2}-v_{7}$, which are measured using the two-particle correlation, scalar-product and event-plane methods. The goal of the paper is to provide measurements of the differential as well as integrated flow harmonics $v_{n}$ over wide ranges of the transverse momentum, 0.5 $
The production cross-sections for $W^{\pm}$ and $Z$ bosons are measured using ATLAS data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.0 pb$^{-1}$ collected at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=2.76$ TeV. The decay channels $W \rightarrow \ell \nu$ and $Z \rightarrow \ell \ell $ are used, where $\ell$ can be an electron or a muon. The cross-sections are presented for a fiducial region defined by the detector acceptance and are also extrapolated to the full phase space for the total inclusive production cross-section. The combined (average) total inclusive cross-sections for the electron and muon channels are: \begin{eqnarray} \sigma^{\text{tot}}_{W^{+}\rightarrow \ell \nu}& = & 2312 \pm 26\ (\text{stat.})\ \pm 27\ (\text{syst.}) \pm 72\ (\text{lumi.}) \pm 30\ (\text{extr.})\text{pb} \nonumber, \\ \sigma^{\text{tot}}_{W^{-}\rightarrow \ell \nu}& = & 1399 \pm 21\ (\text{stat.})\ \pm 17\ (\text{syst.}) \pm 43\ (\text{lumi.}) \pm 21\ (\text{extr.})\text{pb} \nonumber, \\ \sigma^{\text{tot}}_{Z \rightarrow \ell \ell}& = & 323.4 \pm 9.8\ (\text{stat.}) \pm 5.0\ (\text{syst.}) \pm 10.0\ (\text{lumi.}) \pm 5.5 (\text{extr.}) \text{pb} \nonumber. \end{eqnarray} Measured ratios and asymmetries constructed using these cross-sections are also presented. These observables benefit from full or partial cancellation of many systematic uncertainties that are correlated between the different measurements.
The production of a prompt photon in association with a $Z$ boson is studied in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV. The analysis uses a data sample with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC from 2015 to 2018. The production cross-section for the process $pp \rightarrow \ell^+\ell^-\gamma+X$ ($\ell = e, \mu$) is measured within a fiducial phase-space region defined by kinematic requirements on the photon and the leptons, and by isolation requirements on the photon. An experimental precision of 2.9% is achieved for the fiducial cross-section. Differential cross-sections are measured as a function of each of six kinematic variables characterising the $\ell^+\ell^-\gamma$ system. The data are compared with theoretical predictions based on next-to-leading-order and next-to-next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations. The impact of next-to-leading-order electroweak corrections is also considered.
The differential cross section for isolated-photon production in $pp$ collisions is measured at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$. The differential cross section is presented as a function of the photon transverse energy in different regions of photon pseudorapidity. The differential cross section as a function of the absolute value of the photon pseudorapidity is also presented in different regions of photon transverse energy. Next-to-leading-order QCD calculations from JETPHOX and SHERPA as well as next-to-next-to-leading-order QCD calculations from NNLOJET are compared with the measurement, using several parameterisations of the proton parton distribution functions. The predictions provide a good description of the data within the experimental and theoretical uncertainties.
A search for the Higgs boson decaying into a photon and a pair of electrons or muons with an invariant mass $m_{\ell\ell} < 30$ GeV is presented. The analysis is performed using 139 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data, produced by the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV and collected by the ATLAS experiment. Evidence for the $H \rightarrow \ell \ell \gamma$ process is found with a significance of 3.2$\sigma$ over the background-only hypothesis, compared to an expected significance of 2.1$\sigma$. The best-fit value of the signal strength parameter, defined as the ratio of the observed signal yield to the one expected in the Standard Model, is $\mu = 1.5 \pm 0.5$. The Higgs boson production cross-section times the $H \rightarrow\ell\ell\gamma$ branching ratio for $m_{\ell\ell} <$ 30 GeV is determined to be 8.7 $^{+2.8}_{-2.7}$ fb.
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