The production of four top quarks ($\mathrm{t\bar{t}t\bar{t}}$) is studied with LHC proton-proton collision data samples collected by the CMS experiment at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, and corresponding to integrated luminosities of up to 138 fb$^{-1}$. Events that have no leptons (all-hadronic), one lepton, or two opposite-sign leptons (where lepton refers only to prompt electrons or prompt muons) are considered. This is the first $\mathrm{t\bar{t}t\bar{t}}$ measurement that includes the all-hadronic final state. The observed significance of the $\mathrm{t\bar{t}t\bar{t}}$ signal in these final states of 3.9 standard deviations (1.5 expected) provides evidence for $\mathrm{t\bar{t}t\bar{t}}$ production, with a measured cross section of 36 $^{+12}_{-11}$ fb. Combined with earlier CMS results in other final states, the signal significance is 4.0 standard deviations (3.2 expected). The combination returns an observed cross section of 17 $\pm$ 4 (stat) $\pm$ 3 (syst) fb, which is consistent with the standard model prediction.
Measurements of the charge-dependent two-particle angular correlation function in proton-lead (pPb) collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 8.16 TeV and lead-lead (PbPb) collisions at$\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV are reported. The pPb and PbPb datasets correspond to integrated luminosities of 186\nbinv and 0.607 nb$^{-1}$, respectively, and were collected using the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The charge-dependent correlations are characterized by balance functions of same- and opposite-sign particle pairs. The balance functions, which contain information about the creation time of charged particle pairs and the development of collectivity, are studied as functions of relative pseudorapidity ($\Delta \eta$) and relative azimuthal angle ($\Delta \phi$), for various multiplicity and transverse momentum ($p_\mathrm{T}$) intervals. A multiplicity dependence of the balance function is observed in $\Delta \eta$ and $\Delta \phi$ for both systems. The width of the balance functions decreases towards high-multiplicity collisions in the momentum region $\lt$2 GeV, for pPb and PbPb results. No multiplicity dependence is observed at higher transverse momentum. The data are compared with HYDJET, HIJING and AMPT generator predictions, none of which capture completely the multiplicity dependence seen in the data.
The hydrodynamic flow-like behavior of charged hadrons in high-energy lead-lead collisions is studied through multiparticle correlations. The elliptic anisotropy values based on different orders of multiparticle cumulants, $v_{2}\{2k\}$, are measured up to the tenth order ($k$ = 5) as functions of the collision centrality at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV. The data were recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 0.607 nb$^{-1}$. A hierarchy is observed between the coefficients, with $v_{2}\{2\} > v_{2}\{4\} \gtrsim v_{2}\{6\} \gtrsim v_{2}\{8\} \gtrsim v_{2}\{10\}$. Based on these results, centrality-dependent moments for the fluctuation-driven event-by-event $v_{2}$ distribution are determined, including the skewness, kurtosis and, for the first time, superskewness. Assuming a hydrodynamic expansion of the produced medium, these moments directly probe the initial-state geometry in high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions.
We present an observation of photon-photon production of $\tau$ lepton pairs in ultraperipheral lead-lead collisions. The measurement is based on a data sample with an integrated luminosity of 404 $\mu$b$^{-1}$ collected by the CMS experiment at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. The $\gamma\gamma$$\to$$\tau^+\tau^-$ process is observed for $\tau\tau$ events with a muon and three charged hadrons in the final state. The measured fiducial cross section is $\sigma(\gamma\gamma$$\to$$\tau^+\tau^-)$ = 4.8 $\pm$ 0.6 (stat) $\pm$ 0.5 (syst) $\mu$b, in agreement with leading-order QED predictions. Using $\sigma(\gamma\gamma$$\to$$\tau^+\tau^-)$, we estimate a model-dependent value of the anomalous magnetic moment of the $\tau$ lepton of $a_\tau$ = 0.001 $^{+0.055}_{-0.089}$.
The azimuthal anisotropy of $\Upsilon$(1S) mesons in high-multiplicity proton-lead collisions is studied using data collected by the CMS experiment at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 8.16 TeV. The $\Upsilon$(1S) mesons are reconstructed using their dimuon decay channel. The anisotropy is characterized by the second Fourier harmonic coefficients, found using a two-particle correlation technique, in which the $\Upsilon$(1S) mesons are correlated with charged hadrons. A large pseudorapidity gap is used to suppress short-range correlations. Nonflow contamination from the dijet background is removed using a low-multiplicity subtraction method, and the results are presented as a function of $\Upsilon$(1S) transverse momentum. The azimuthal anisotropies are smaller than those found for charmonia in proton-lead collisions at the same collision energy, but are consistent with values found for $\Upsilon$(1S) mesons in lead-lead interactions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV.
The first observation of the production of W$^\pm$W$^\pm$ bosons from double parton scattering processes using same-sign electron-muon and dimuon events in proton-proton collisions is reported. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$ recorded at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV using the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. Multivariate discriminants are used to distinguish the signal process from the main backgrounds. A binned maximum likelihood fit is performed to extract the signal cross section. The measured cross section for production of same-sign W bosons decaying leptonically is 80.7 $\pm$ 11.2 (stat) $^{+9.5}_{-8.6}$ (syst) $\pm$ 12.1 (model) fb, whereas the measured fiducial cross section is 6.28 $\pm$ 0.81 (stat) $\pm$ 0.69 (syst) $\pm$ 0.37 (model) fb. The observed significance of the signal is 6.2 standard deviations above the background-only hypothesis.
A search is presented for high-mass exclusive diphoton production via photon-photon fusion in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV in events where both protons survive the interaction. The analysis utilizes data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 103 fb$^{-1}$ collected in 2016-2018 with the central CMS detector and the CMS and TOTEM precision proton spectrometer (PPS). Events that have two photons with high transverse momenta ($p_\mathrm{T}^\gamma > $ 100 GeV), back-to-back in azimuth, and with a large diphoton invariant mass ($m_{\gamma\gamma} \gt$ 350 GeV) are selected. To remove the dominant inclusive diphoton backgrounds, the kinematic properties of the protons detected in PPS are required to match those of the central diphoton system. Only events having opposite-side forward protons detected with a fractional momentum loss between 0.035 and 0.15 (0.18) for the detectors on the negative (positive) side of CMS are considered. One exclusive diphoton candidate is observed for an expected background of 1.1 events. Limits at 95% confidence level are derived for the four-photon anomalous coupling parameters $\lvert\zeta_1\rvert \lt$ 0.073 TeV$^{-4}$ and $\lvert\zeta_2\rvert \lt$ 0.15 TeV$^{-4}$, using an effective field theory. Additionally, upper limits are placed on the production of axion-like particles with coupling strength to photons $f^{-1}$ that varies from 0.03 TeV$^{-1}$ to 1 TeV$^{-1}$ over the mass range from 500 to 2000 GeV.
The first study of the shapes of jets arising from bottom (b) quarks in heavy ion collisions is presented. Jet shapes are studied using charged hadron constituents as a function of their radial distance from the jet axis. Lead-lead (PbPb) collision data at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV were recorded by the CMS detector at the LHC, with an integrated luminosity of 1.69 nb$^{-1}$. Compared to proton-proton collisions, a redistribution of the energy in b jets to larger distances from the jet axis is observed in PbPb collisions. This medium-induced redistribution is found to be substantially larger for b jets than for inclusive jets.
Two-particle Bose-Einstein momentum correlation functions are studied for charged-hadron pairs in lead-lead collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV. The data sample, containing 4.27 $\times$$10^{9}$ minimum bias events corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.607 nb$^{-1}$, was collected by the CMS experiment in 2018. The experimental results are discussed in terms of a Lévy-type source distribution. The parameters of this distribution are extracted as functions of particle pair average transverse mass and collision centrality. These parameters include the Lévy index or shape parameter ($\alpha$), the Lévy scale parameter ($R$), and the correlation strength parameter ($\lambda$). The source shape, characterized by $\alpha$, is found to be neither Cauchy nor Gaussian, implying the need for a full Lévy analysis. Similarly to what was previously found for systems characterized by Gaussian source radii, a hydrodynamical scaling is observed for the Lévy $R$ parameter. The $\lambda$ parameter is studied in terms of the core-halo model.
Measurements of the elliptic ($v_2$) and triangular ($v_3$) azimuthal anisotropy coefficients are presented for D$^0$ mesons produced in b hadron decays (nonprompt D$^0$ mesons) in lead-lead collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV. The results are compared with previously published charm meson anisotropies measured using prompt D$^0$ mesons. The data were collected with the CMS detector in 2018 with an integrated luminosity of 0.58 nb$^{-1}$. Azimuthal anisotropy is sensitive to the interactions of quarks with the hot and dense medium created in heavy ion collisions. Comparing results for prompt and nonprompt D$^0$ mesons can assist in understanding the mass dependence of these interactions. The nonprompt results show lower magnitudes of $v_2$ and $v_3$ and weaker dependences on the meson transverse momentum and collision centrality than those found for prompt D$^0$ mesons. The results are in agreement with theoretical predictions that include a mass dependence in the interactions of quarks with the medium.