Abstract: Quantum Chromodynamics, the theory of quarks and gluons, whose interactions can be described by a local SU(3) gauge symmetry with charges called “color quantum numbers”, is reviewed; the goal of this review is to provide advanced Ph.D. students a comprehensive handbook, helpful for their research. When QCD was “discovered” 50 years ago, the idea that quarks could exist, but not be observed, left most physicists unconvinced. Then, with the discovery of charmonium in 1974 and the explanation of its excited states using the Cornell potential, consisting of the sum of a Coulomb-like attraction and a long range linear confining potential, the theory was suddenly widely accepted. This paradigm shift is now referred to as the November revolution. It had been anticipated by the observation of scaling in deep inelastic scattering, and was followed by the discovery of gluons in three-jet events. The parameters of QCD include the running coupling constant, as (Q(2)), that varies with the energy scale Q(2) characterising the interaction, and six quark masses. QCD cannot be solved analytically, at least not yet, and the large value of alpha(s) at low momentum transfers limits perturbative calculations to the high-energy region where Q(2) >>Lambda(QCD) (2) similar or equal to (250 MeV)(2). Lattice QCD (LQCD), numerical calculations on a discretized space-time lattice, is discussed in detail, the dynamics of the QCD vacuum is visualized, and the expected spectra of mesons and baryons are displayed. Progress in lattice calculations of the structure of nucleons and of quantities related to the phase diagram of dense and hot (or cold) hadronic matter are reviewed. Methods and examples of how to calculate hadronic corrections to weak matrix elements on a lattice are outlined. The wide variety of analytical approximations currently in use, and the accuracy of these approximations, are reviewed. Thesemethods range from the Bethe-Salpeter, Dyson-Schwinger coupled relativistic equations, which are formulated in bothMinkowski or Euclidean spaces, to expansions of multi-quark states in a set of basis functions using light-front coordinates, to the AdS/QCD method that imbeds 4-dimensionalQCDin a 5-dimensional deSitter space, allowing confinement and spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking to be described in a novel way. Models that assume the number of colors is very large, i.e. make use of the large Nclimit, give unique insights. Many other techniques that are tailored to specific problems, such as perturbative expansions for high energy scattering or approximate calculations using the operator product expansion are discussed. The very powerful effective field theory techniques that are successful for low energy nuclear systems (chiral effective theory), or for non-relativistic systems involving heavy quarks, or the treatment of gluon exchanges between energetic, collinear partons encountered in jets, are discussed. The spectroscopy of mesons and baryons has played an important historical role in the development of QCD. The famous X,Y,Z states – and the discovery of pentaquarks – have revolutionized hadron spectroscopy; their status and interpretation are reviewed as well as recent progress in the identification of glueballs and hybrids in light-meson spectroscopy. These exotic states add to the spectrum of expected q ($) over barq mesons and qqq baryons. The progress in understanding excitations of light and heavy baryons is discussed. The nucleon as the lightest baryon is discussed extensively, its form factors, its partonic structure and the status of the attempt to determine a three-dimensional picture of the parton distribution. An experimental program to study the phase diagram of QCD at high temperature and density started with fixed target experiments in various laboratories in the second half of the 1980s, and then, in this century, with colliders. QCD thermodynamics at high temperature became accessible to LQCD, and numerical results on chiral and deconfinement transitions and properties of the deconfined and chirally restored form of strongly interacting matter, called the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP), have become very precise by now. These results can now be confronted with experimental data that are sensitive to the nature of the phase transition. There is clear evidence that the QGP phase is created. This phase of QCD matter can already be characterized by some properties that indicate, within a temperature range of a few times the pseudocritical temperature, the medium behaves like a near ideal liquid. Experimental observables are presented that demonstrate deconfinement. High and ultrahigh density QCD matter at moderate and low temperatures shows interesting features and new phases that are of astrophysical relevance. They are reviewed here and some of the astrophysical implications are discussed. Perturbative QCD and methods to describe the different aspects of scattering processes are discussed. The primary partonparton scattering in a collision is calculated in perturbative QCD with increasing complexity. The radiation of soft gluons can spoil the perturbative convergence, this can be cured by resummation techniques, which are also described here. Realistic descriptions of QCD scattering events need to model the cascade of quark and gluon splittings until hadron formation sets in, which is done by parton showers. The full event simulation can be performed with Monte Carlo event

Abstract: Results of a search for new phenomena in events with at least three photons are reported. Data from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb(-1), were collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The observed data are well described by the Standard Model. Limits at the 95 % confidence level on new phenomena are presented based on the rate of events in an inclusive signal region and a restricted signal region targeting the rare decay Z -> 3 gamma, as well as di-photon and tri-photon resonance searches. For a Standard Model Higgs boson decaying to four photons via a pair of intermediate pseudoscalar particles ( a), limits are found to be sigma xBR( h -> aa) xBR(a -> gamma gamma) 2 < 10(-3) sigma(SM) for 10 GeV < m(a) < 62 GeV. Limits are also presented for Higgs boson-like scalars (H) for m(H) > 125 GeV, and for a Z' decaying to three photons via Z' -> a + gamma -> 3 gamma. Additionally, the observed limit on the branching ratio of the Z boson decay to three photons is found to be BR( Z -> 3 gamma) < 2.2 x 10(-6), a result five times stronger than the previous result from LEP.

Abstract: The t (t) over bar + jet + X differential cross-section in proton-proton collisions at 7 TeV centre of mass energy is investigated with respect to its sensitivity to the top quark mass. The analysis includes higher order QCD corrections at NLO. The impact of the renormalization scale (mu(R)), the factorization (mu(F)) scale and of the choice of different proton's PDF (parton distribution function) has been evaluated. In this study it is concluded that differential jet rates offer a promising option for alternative mass measurements of the top quark, with theoretical uncertainties below 1 GeV.

Abstract: The effect of single top production on the study of top quark pair production in future high energy electron-positron colliders is evaluated. The rate of the single top quark production process is sizeable throughout a large range of center-of-mass energies and the final state cannot easily be distinguished from the dominant pair production process. We discuss the impact on the top quark mass extraction from a scan through the pair production threshold and the determination of top quark form factors in the continuum. These results advocate for the exploration of the inclusive e(+) e(-) -> W(+)bW(-)b(-) process, that includes both top quark pair and single top quark production.

Abstract: The luminosity determination for the ATLAS detector at the LHC during Run 2 is presented, with pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy root s = 13TeV. The absolute luminosity scale is determined using van der Meer beam separation scans during dedicated running periods in each year, and extrapolated to the physics data-taking regime using complementary measurements from several luminosity-sensitive detectors. The total uncertainties in the integrated luminosity for each individual year of datataking range from 0.9% to 1.1%, and are partially correlated between years. After standard data-quality selections, the full Run 2 pp data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 140.1 +/- 1.2fb(-1), i.e. an uncertainty of 0.83%. A dedicated sample of low-pileup data recorded in 2017-2018 for precision Standard Model physics measurements is analysed separately, and has an integrated luminosity of 338.1 +/- 3.1pb(-1).