Four-fermion events have been selected in a data sample of 5.8 pb −1 collected with the aleph detector at centre-of-mass energies of 130 and 136 GeV. The final states ℓ + ℓ − q q , ℓ + ℓ − ℓ + ℓ − , ν ν q q , and ν ν ℓ + ℓ − have been examined. Five events are observed in the data, in agreement with the Standard Model predictions of 6.67±0.38 events from four-fermion processes and 0.14 −0.05 +0.19 from background processes.
The yield of charged particles associated with high-$p_{\rm T}$ trigger particles ($8 < p_{\rm T} < 15$ GeV/$c$) is measured with the ALICE detector in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV relative to proton-proton collisions at the same energy. The conditional per-trigger yields are extracted from the narrow jet-like correlation peaks in azimuthal di-hadron correlations. In the 5% most central collisions, we observe that the yield of associated charged particles with transverse momenta $p_{\rm T}> 3$ GeV/$c$ on the away-side drops to about 60% of that observed in pp collisions, while on the near-side a moderate enhancement of 20-30% is found.
Dijet angular distributions from the first LHC pp collisions at center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV have been measured with the ATLAS detector. The dataset used for this analysis represents an integrated luminosity of 3.1 pb-1. Dijet $\chi$ distributions and centrality ratios have been measured up to dijet masses of 2.8 TeV, and found to be in good agreement with Standard Model predictions. Analysis of the $\chi$ distributions excludes quark contact interactions with a compositeness scale $\Lambda$ below 3.4 TeV, at 95% confidence level, significantly exceeding previous limits.
A search for new heavy particles manifested as resonances in two-jet final states is presented. The data were produced in 7 TeV proton-proton collisions by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 315 nb^-1 collected by the ATLAS detector. No resonances were observed. Upper limits were set on the product of cross section and signal acceptance for excited-quark (q*) production as a function of q* mass. These exclude at the 95% CL the q* mass interval 0.30 < mq* < 1.26 TeV, extending the reach of previous experiments.
A search for new phenomena in final states with four or more leptons (electrons or muons) is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb^-1 of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in two signal regions: one that requires moderate values of missing transverse momentum and another that requires large effective mass. The results are interpreted in a simplified model of R-parity-violating supersymmetry in which a 95% CL exclusion region is set for charged wino masses up to 540 GeV. In an R-parity-violating MSUGRA/CMSSM model, values of m_1/2 up to 820 GeV are excluded for 10<tan(beta)<40.
The ATLAS experiment has observed 1995 Z boson candidates in data corresponding to 0.15 inverse nb of integrated luminosity obtained in the 2011 LHC Pb+Pb run at sqrt(s_NN)=2.76 TeV. The Z bosons are reconstructed via di-electron and di-muon decay channels, with a background contamination of less than 3%. Results from the two channels are consistent and are combined. Within the statistical and systematic uncertainties, the per-event Z boson yield is proportional to the number of binary collisions estimated by the Glauber model. The elliptic anisotropy of the azimuthal distribution of the Z boson with respect to the event plane is found to be consistent with zero.
Many extensions of the Standard Model posit the existence of heavy particles with long lifetimes. In this Letter, results are presented of a search for such particles, which decay at a significant distance from their production point, using a final state containing charged hadrons and an associated muon. This analysis uses a data sample of proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s)= 7 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb-1 collected in 2011 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Results are interpreted in the context of R-parity violating supersymmetric scenarios. No events in the signal region are observed and limits are set on the production cross section for supersymmetric particles, multiplied by the square of the branching ratio for a neutralino to decay to charged hadrons and a muon, as a function of the neutralino lifetime. To allow these limits to be used in a variety of models, they are presented for a range of squark and neutralino masses.
A search is presented for dark matter pair production in association with a W or Z boson in pp collisions representing 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity at $\sqrt{s}$=8 TeV using data recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events with a hadronic jet with the jet-mass consistent with a W or Z boson, and with large missing transverse momentum are analyzed. The data are consistent with the Standard Model expectations, and limits are set on the mass scale in effective field theories that describe the interaction of dark matter and Standard Model particles.
A search for Supersymmetry involving the pair production of gluinos decaying via third-generation squarks to the lightest neutralino is reported. It uses an LHC proton--proton dataset at a center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV with an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$ collected with the ATLAS detector in 2015. The signal is searched for in events containing several energetic jets, of which at least three must be identified as $b$-jets, large missing transverse momentum and, potentially, isolated electrons or muons. Large-radius jets with a high mass are also used to identify highly boosted top quarks. No excess is found above the predicted background. For neutralino masses below approximately 700 GeV, gluino masses of less than 1.78 TeV and 1.76 TeV are excluded at the 95% CL in simplified models of the pair production of gluinos decaying via sbottom and stop, respectively. These results significantly extend the exclusion limits obtained with the $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV dataset.
A search is presented for direct top squark pair production using events with at least two leptons including a same-flavour opposite-sign pair with invariant mass consistent with the $Z$ boson mass, jets tagged as originating from $b$-quarks and missing transverse momentum. The analysis is performed with proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2012 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$. No excess beyond the Standard Model expectation is observed. Interpretations of the results are provided in models based on the direct pair production of the heavier top squark state ($\tilde{t}_2$) followed by the decay to the lighter top squark state ($\tilde{t}_1$) via $\tilde{t}_2 \to Z\tilde{t}_1$, and for $\tilde{t}_1$ pair production in natural gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking scenarios where the neutralino ($\tilde{\chi}^0_1$) is the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle and decays producing a $Z$ boson and a gravitino ($\tilde{G}$) via the $\tilde{\chi}^0_1 \to Z\tilde{G}$ process.
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