Abstract: The combination of measurements of the W boson polarization in top quark decays performed by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations is presented. The measurements are based on proton-proton collision data produced at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 20 fb(-1)for each experiment. The measurements used events containing one lepton and having different jet multiplicities in the final state. The results are quoted as fractions of W bosons with longitudinal (F-0), left-handed (F-L), or right-handed (F-R) polarizations. The resulting combined measurements of the polarization fractions are F-0= 0.693 +/- 0.014 and F-L= 0.315 +/- 0.011. The fractionF(R)is calculated from the unitarity constraint to be F-R=-0.008 +/- 0.007. These results are in agreement with the standard model predictions at next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative quantum chromodynamics and represent an improvement in precision of 25 (29)% for F-0(F-L) with respect to the most precise single measurement. A limit on anomalous right-handed vector (V-R), and left- and right-handed tensor (g(L), g(R)) tWb couplings is set while fixing all others to their standard model values. The allowed regions are [-0.11,0.16] for V-R, [-0.08,0.05] for g(L), and [-0.04,0.02] for g(R), at 95% confidence level. Limits on the corresponding Wilson coefficients are also derived.

Abstract: The ATLAS inner detector comprises three different sub-detectors: the pixel detector, the silicon strip tracker, and the transition-radiation drift-tube tracker. The Insertable B-Layer, a new innermost pixel layer, was installed during the shutdown period in 2014, together with modifications to the layout of the cables and support structures of the existing pixel detector. The material in the inner detector is studied with several methods, using a low-luminosity root s = 13 TeV pp collision sample corresponding to around 2.0 nb(-1) collected in 2015 with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. In this paper, the material within the innermost barrel region is studied using reconstructed hadronic interaction and photon conversion vertices. For the forward rapidity region, the material is probed by a measurement of the efficiency with which single tracks reconstructed from pixel detector hits alone can be extended with hits on the track in the strip layers. The results of these studies have been taken into account in an improved description of the material in the ATLAS inner detector simulation, resulting in a reduction in the uncertainties associated with the charged-particle reconstruction efficiency determined from simulation.

Abstract: The ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider has performed searches for new, heavy bosons decaying to WW, WZ and ZZ final states in multiple decay channels using 20.3 fb(-1) of pp collision data at root s = 8 TeV. In the current study, the results of these searches are combined to provide a more stringent test of models predicting heavy resonances with couplings to vector bosons. Direct searches for a charged diboson resonance decaying to WZ in the l nu l'l' (l = mu, e), llq (q) over bar, l nu q (q) over bar and fully hadronic final states are combined and upper limits on the rate of production times branching ratio to the WZ bosons are compared with predictions of an extended gauge model with a heavy W' boson. In addition, direct searches for a neutral diboson resonance decaying to WW and ZZ in the llq (q) over bar, l nu q (q) over bar, and fully hadronic final states are combined and upper limits on the rate of production times branching ratio to the WW and ZZ bosons are compared with predictions for a heavy, spin-2 graviton in an extended Randall-Sundrum model where the Standard Model fields are allowed to propagate in the bulk of the extra dimension. (C) 2016 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V.