Abstract: Differential measurements of charged particle azimuthal anisotropy are presented for lead-lead collisions at root sNN = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, based on an integrated luminosity of approximately 8 μb(-1). This anisotropy is characterized via a Fourier expansion of the distribution of charged particles in azimuthal angle relative to the reaction plane, with the coefficients v(n) denoting the magnitude of the anisotropy. Significant v(2)-v(6) values are obtained as a function of transverse momentum (0.5 < p(T) < 20 GeV), pseudorapidity (|eta| < 2.5), and centrality using an event plane method. The v(n) values for n >= 3 are found to vary weakly with both eta and centrality, and their p(T) dependencies are found to follow an approximate scaling relation, v(n)(1/n)(p(T)) proportional to v(2)(1/2)(p(T)), except in the top 5% most central collisions. A Fourier analysis of the charged particle pair distribution in relative azimuthal angle (Delta phi = phi(a)-phi(b)) is performed to extract the coefficients v(n,n) = < cos n Delta phi >. For pairs of charged particles with a large pseudorapidity gap (|Delta eta = eta(a) – eta(b)| > 2) and one particle with p(T) < 3 GeV, the v(2,2)-v(6,6) values are found to factorize as v(n,n)(p(T)(a), p(T)(b)) approximate to v(n) (p(T)(a))v(n)(p(T)(b)) in central and midcentral events. Such factorization suggests that these values of v(2,2)-v(6,6) are primarily attributable to the response of the created matter to the fluctuations in the geometry of the initial state. A detailed study shows that the v(1,1)(p(T)(a), p(T)(b)) data are consistent with the combined contributions from a rapidity-even v(1) and global momentum conservation. A two-component fit is used to extract the v(1) contribution. The extracted v(1) isobserved to cross zero at pT approximate to 1.0 GeV, reaches a maximum at 4-5 GeV with a value comparable to that for v(3), and decreases at higher p(T).

Abstract: We report a study of final states containing a W boson and hadronic jets, produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. The data were collected with the ATLAS detector at the CERN LHC and comprise the full 2010 data sample of 36 pb(-1). Cross sections are determined using both the electron and muon decay modes of the W boson and are presented as a function of inclusive jet multiplicity, N-jet, for up to five jets. At each multiplicity, cross sections are presented as a function of jet transverse momentum, the scalar sum of the transverse momenta of the charged lepton, missing transverse momentum, and all jets, the invariant mass spectra of jets, and the rapidity distributions of various combinations of leptons and final-state jets. The results, corrected for all detector effects and for all backgrounds such as diboson and top quark pair production, are compared with particle-level predictions from perturbative QCD. Leading-order multiparton event generators, normalized to the next-to-next-to-leading-order total cross section for inclusive W-boson production, describe the data reasonably well for all measured inclusive jet multiplicities. Next-to-leading-order calculations from MCFM, studied here for N-jet <= 2, and BLACKHAT-SHERPA, studied here for N-jet <= 4, are found to be mostly in good agreement with the data.

Abstract: A generic search is presented for a heavy particle decaying to WZ -> lvl'l' (l, l' = e, mu) final states. The data were recorded by the ATLAS detector in root s = 7 TeV pp collisions at the Large Hadron Collider and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 1.02 fb(-1). The transverse mass distribution of the selected WZ candidates is found to be consistent with the standard model expectation. Upper limits on the production cross section times branching ratio are derived using two benchmark models predicting a heavy particle decaying to a WZ pair.

Abstract: A measurement of the cross section for the production of an isolated photon in association with jets in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy root s = 7 TeV is presented. Photons are reconstructed in the pseudorapidity range vertical bar eta(gamma)vertical bar < 1.37 and with a transverse energy E-T(gamma) > 25 GeV. Jets are reconstructed in the rapidity range vertical bar y(jet)vertical bar < 4.4 and with a transverse momentum p(T)(jet) > 20 GeV. The differential cross section d sigma/dE(T)(gamma) is measured, as a function of the photon transverse energy, for three different rapidity ranges of the leading-p(T) jet: vertical bar y(jet)vertical bar < 1.2, 1.2 <= vertical bar y(jet)vertical bar < 2.8 and 2.8 <= vertical bar y(jet)vertical bar < 4.4. For each rapidity configuration the same-sign (eta(gamma)y(jet) >= 0) and opposite-sign (eta(gamma) y(jet) < 0) cases are studied separately. The results are based on an integrated luminosity of 37 pb(-1), collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations are found to be in fair agreement with the data, except for E-T(gamma) <= 45 GeV, where the theoretical predictions overestimate the measured cross sections.

Abstract: A combined search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHC is presented. The data sets used correspond to integrated luminosities from 4.6 fb(-1) to 4.9 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions collected at root s = 7 TeV in 2011. The Higgs boson mass ranges of 111.4 GeV to 116.6 GeV, 119.4 GeV to 122.1 GeV, and 129.2 GeV to 541 GeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level, while the range 120 GeV to 560 GeV is expected to be excluded in the absence of a signal. An excess of events is observed at Higgs boson mass hypotheses around 126 GeV with a local significance of 2.9 standard deviations (sigma). The global probability for the background to produce an excess at least as significant anywhere in the entire explored Higgs boson mass range of 110-600 GeV is estimated to be similar to 15%, corresponding to a significance of approximately 1 sigma.