Abstract: Differential cross-section measurements of Z gamma production in association with hadronic jets are presented, using the full 139 fb(-1) dataset of root s = 13 TeV proton-proton collisions collected by the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the LHC. Distributions are measured using events in which the Z boson decays leptonically and the photon is usually radiated from an initial-state quark. Measurements are made in both one and two observables, including those sensitive to the hard scattering in the event and others which probe additional soft and collinear radiation. Different Standard Model predictions, from both parton-shower Monte Carlo simulation and fixed-order QCD calculations, are compared with the measurements. In general, good agreement is observed between data and predictions from MATRIX and MiNNLOPS, as well as next-to-leading-order predictions from MadGraph5_aMC@NLO and Sherpa.

Abstract: Exclusive production of dielectron pairs, gamma gamma -> e(+) e(-), is studied using L-int = 1.72 nb(-1) of data from ultraperipheral collisions of lead nuclei at root s(NN) = 5.02TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The process of interest proceeds via photon-photon interactions in the strong electromagnetic fields of relativistic lead nuclei. Dielectron production is measured in the fiducial region defined by following requirements: electron transverse momentum p(T)(e) > 2.5 GeV, absolute electron pseudorapidity |eta(e)| < 2.5, dielectron invariant mass m(ee) > 5 GeV, and dielectron transverse momentum p(T)(ee) < 2 GeV. Differential cross-sections are measured as a function of mee, average peT, absolute dielectron rapidity |y(ee)|, and scattering angle in the dielectron rest frame, | cos theta* |, in the inclusive sample, and also with a requirement of no activity in the forward direction. The total integrated fiducial cross-section is measured to be 215 +/- 1(stat.) (+23)(-20)(syst.) +/- 4(lumi.) μb. Within experimental uncertainties the measured integrated cross-section is in good agreement with the QED predictions from the Monte Carlo programs Starlight and SuperChic, confirming the broad features of the initial photon fluxes. The differential cross-sections show systematic differences from these predictions which are more pronounced at high |y(ee)| and | cos theta* | values.

Abstract: In a special run of the LHC with beta star=2.5 km, proton-proton elastic-scattering events were recorded at root s=13 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 340 μb(-1) using the ALFA subdetector of ATLAS in 2016. The elastic cross section was measured differentially in the Mandelstam t variable in the range from -t=2.5 center dot 10(-4) GeV2 to -t=0.46 GeV2 using 6.9 million elastic-scattering candidates. This paper presents measurements of the total cross section sigma(tot), parameters of the nuclear slope, and the rho-parameter defined as the ratio of the real part to the imaginary part of the elastic-scattering amplitude in the limit t -> 0. These parameters are determined from a fit to the differential elastic cross section using the optical theorem and different parameterizations of the t-dependence. The results for sigma(tot) and rho are sigma(tot) (PP -> X ) =104.7 +/- 1.1 mob , rho=0.098 +/- 0.011. The uncertainty in sigma(tot) is dominated by the luminosity measurement, and in rho by imperfect knowledge of the detector alignment and by modelling of the nuclear amplitude.

Abstract: Jet quenching is the process of color-charged partons losing energy via interactions with quark-gluon plasma droplets created in heavy-ion collisions. The collective expansion of such droplets is well described by viscous hydrodynamics. Similar evidence of collectivity is consistently observed in smaller collision systems, including pp and p+ Pb collisions. In contrast, while jet quenching is observed in Pb + Pb collisions, no evidence has been found in these small systems to date, raising fundamental questions about the nature of the system created in these collisions. The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider has measured the yield of charged hadrons correlated with reconstructed jets in 0.36 nb-1 of p+ Pb and 3.6 pb-1 of pp collisions at 5.02 TeV. The yields of charged hadrons with p(T)(ch) > 0.5 GeV near and opposite in azimuth to jets with p(t)(je) T > 30 or 60 GeV, and the ratios of these yields between p+ Pb and pp collisions, IpPb, are reported. The collision centrality of p+ Pb events is categorized by the energy deposited by forward neutrons from the struck nucleus. The IpPb values are consistent with unity within a few percent for hadrons with p(T )(ch)> 4 GeV at all centralities. These data provide new, strong constraints that preclude almost any parton energy loss in central p+ Pb collisions.

Abstract: Measurements and searches performed with the ATLAS detector at the CERN LHC often involve signatures with one or more prompt leptons. Such analyses are subject to 'fake/non-prompt' lepton backgrounds, where either a hadron or a lepton from a hadron decay or an electron from a photon conversion satisfies the prompt-lepton selection criteria. These backgrounds often arise within a hadronic jet because of particle decays in the showering process, particle misidentification or particle interactions with the detector material. As it is challenging to model these processes with high accuracy in simulation, their estimation typically uses data-driven methods. Three methods for carrying out this estimation are described, along with their implementation in ATLAS and their performance.