Abstract: Measurements of fiducial cross sections for the electroweak production of two jets in association with a Z-boson are presented. The measurements are performed using 20.3 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data collected at a centre-of-mass energy of = 8 TeV by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The electroweak component is extracted by a fit to the dijet invariant mass distribution in a fiducial region chosen to enhance the electroweak contribution over the dominant background in which the jets are produced via the strong interaction. The electroweak cross sections measured in two fiducial regions are in good agreement with the Standard Model expectations and the background-only hypothesis is rejected with significance above the 5 sigma level. The electroweak process includes the vector boson fusion production of a Z-boson and the data are used to place limits on anomalous triple gauge boson couplings. In addition, measurements of cross sections and differential distributions for inclusive Z-boson-plus-dijet production are performed in five fiducial regions, each with different sensitivity to the electroweak contribution. The results are corrected for detector effects and compared to predictions from the Sherpa and Powheg event generators.

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.

Abstract: The jet energy scale (JES) and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jetsmeasured with the ATLAS detector using proton-proton collision data with a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 7 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb(-1). Jets are reconstructed from energy deposits forming topological clusters of calorimeter cells using the anti-kt algorithmwith distance parameters R = 0.4 or R = 0.6, and are calibrated using MC simulations. A residual JES correction is applied to account for differences between data and MC simulations. This correction and its systematic uncertainty are estimated using a combination of in situ techniques exploiting the transverse momentum balance between a jet and a reference object such as a photon or a Z boson, for 20 <= p(T)(jet) < 1000 GeV and pseudorapidities vertical bar eta vertical bar < 4.5. The effect of multiple proton-proton interactions is corrected for, and an uncertainty is evaluated using in situ techniques. The smallest JES uncertainty of less than 1% is found in the central calorimeter region (vertical bar eta vertical bar| < 1.2) for jets with 55 = p(T)(jet) < 500 GeV. For central jets at lower p(T), the uncertainty is about 3%. A consistent JES estimate is found using measurements of the calorimeter response of single hadrons in proton-proton collisions and test-beam data, which also provide the estimate for p(T)(jet) > 1 TeV. The calibration of forward jets is derived from dijet p(T) balance measurements. The resulting uncertainty reaches its largest value of 6% for low-p(T) jets at vertical bar eta vertical bar| = 4.5. Additional JES uncertainties due to specific event topologies, such as close-by jets or selections of event samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks or gluons, are also discussed. The magnitude of these uncertainties depends on the event sample used in a given physics analysis, but typically amounts to 0.5-3%.