ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Fassi, F., Ferrer, A., et al. (2014). Search for Invisible Decays of a Higgs Boson Produced in Association with a Z Boson in ATLAS. Phys. Rev. Lett., 112(20), 201802–19pp.
Abstract: A search for evidence of invisible-particle decay modes of a Higgs boson produced in association with a Z boson at the Large Hadron Collider is presented. No deviation from the standard model expectation is observed in 4.5 fb(-1) (20.3 fb(-1)) of 7 (8) TeV pp collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment. Assuming the standard model rate for ZH production, an upper limit of 75%, at the 95% confidence level is set on the branching ratio to invisible-particle decay modes of the Higgs boson at a mass of 125.5 GeV. The limit on the branching ratio is also interpreted in terms of an upper limit on the allowed dark matter-nucleon scattering cross section within a Higgs-portal dark matter scenario. Within the constraints of such a scenario, the results presented in this Letter provide the strongest available limits for low-mass dark matter candidates. Limits are also set on an additional neutral Higgs boson, in the mass range 110 < m(H) < 400 GeV, produced in association with a Z boson and decaying to invisible particles.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Fernandez Martinez, P., et al. (2015). Search for low-scale gravity signatures in multi-jet final states with the ATLAS detector at root s=8 TeV. J. High Energy Phys., 07(7), 032–38pp.
Abstract: A search for evidence of physics beyond the Standard Model in final states with multiple high-transverse-momentum jets is performed using 20.3 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data at root s = 8TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. No significant excess of events beyond Standard Model expectations is observed, and upper limits on the visible cross sections for non-Standard Model production of multi-jet final states are set. A wide variety of models for black hole and string ball production and decay are considered, and the upper limit on the cross section times acceptance is as low as 0.16 fb at the 95% confidence level. For these models, excluded regions are also given as function of the main model parameters.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Ferrer, A., Fiorini, L., et al. (2014). Observation of an Excited B-c(+/-) Meson State with the ATLAS Detector. Phys. Rev. Lett., 113(21), 212004–18pp.
Abstract: A search for excited states of the B-c(+/-) meson is performed using 4.9 fb(-1) of 7 TeV and 19.2 fb(-1) of 8 TeV pp collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. A new state is observed through its hadronic transition to the ground state, with the latter detected in the decayB(c)(+/-) -> J/psi pi(+/-). The state appears in the m(B-c(+/-)pi(+)pi(-)) – m(B-c(+/-)) – 2m(pi(+/-)) mass difference distribution with a significance of 5.2 standard deviations. The mass of the observed state is 6842 +/- 4 +/- 5 MeV, where the first error is statistical and the second is systematic. The mass and decay of this state are consistent with expectations for the second S-wave state of the B-c(+/-) meson, B-c(+/-)(2S).
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Ferrer, A., Fiorini, L., et al. (2012). A search for flavour changing neutral currents in top-quark decays in pp collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at root s=7 TeV. J. High Energy Phys., 09(9), 139–37pp.
Abstract: A search for flavour changing neutral current (FCNC) processes in top-quark decays by the ATLAS Collaboration is presented. Data collected from pp collisions at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 7 TeV during 2011, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.1 fb(-1), were used. A search was performed for top-quark pair-production events, with one top quark decaying through the t -> Zq FCNC (q = u, c) channel, and the other through the Standard Model dominant mode t -> Wb. Only the decays of the Z boson to charged leptons and leptonic W-boson decays were considered as signal. Consequently, the final-state topology is characterised by the presence of three isolated charged leptons, at least two jets and missing transverse momentum from the undetected neutrino. No evidence for an FCNC signal was found. An upper limit on the t -> Zq branching ratio of BR(t -> Zq) < 0.73% is set at the 95% confidence level.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Cerda Alberich, L., Costa, M. J., et al. (2015). Search for flavour-changing neutral current top quark decays t -> Hq in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector. J. High Energy Phys., 12(12), 061–65pp.
Abstract: A search for flavour-changing neutral current decays of a top quark to an up-type quark (q = u; c) and the Standard Model Higgs boson, where the Higgs boson decays to b (b) over bar, is presented. The analysis searches for top quark pair events in which one top quark decays to W b, with the W boson decaying leptonically, and the other top quark decays to Hq. The search is based on pp collisions at root s = 8TeV recorded in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider and uses an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb(-1). Data are analysed in the lepton-plus-jets final state, characterised by an isolated electron or muon and at least four jets. The search exploits the high multiplicity of b quark jets characteristic of signal events, and employs a likelihood discriminant that uses the kinematic differences between the signal and the background, which is dominated by t (t) over bar -> WbWb decays. No significant excess of events above the background expectation is found, and observed (expected) 95% CL upper limits of 0.56% (0.42%) and 0.61% (0.64%) are derived for the t -> Hc and t -> Hu branching ratios respectively. The combination of this search with other ATLAS searches in the H -> gamma gamma and H -> WW*, tau tau decay modes significantly improves the sensitivity, yielding observed (expected) 95% CL upper limits on the t -> Hc and t -> Hu branching ratios of 0.46% (0.25%) and 0.45% (0.29%) respectively. The corresponding combined observed (expected) upper limits on the vertical bar lambda(tcH)vertical bar and vertical bar lambda(tuH)vertical bar couplings are 0.13 (0.10) and 0.13 (0.10) respectively. These are the most restrictive direct bounds on t q H interactions measured so far.
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