Abstract: A search is presented for a heavy resonance Y decaying into a Standard Model Higgs boson H and a new particle X in a fully hadronic final state. The full Large Hadron Collider run 2 dataset of proton-proton collisions at root s =13 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector from 2015 to 2018 is used and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1). The search targets the high Y-mass region, where the H and X have a significant Lorentz boost in the laboratory frame. A novel application of anomaly detection is used to define a general signal region, where events are selected solely because of their incompatibility with a learned background-only model. It is constructed using a jet-level tagger for signal-model-independent selection of the boosted X particle, representing the first application of fully unsupervised machine learning to an ATLAS analysis. Two additional signal regions are implemented to target a benchmark X decay into two quarks, covering topologies where the X is reconstructed as either a single large-radius jet or two small-radius jets. The analysis selects Higgs boson decays into bb, and a dedicated neural-network-based tagger provides sensitivity to the boosted heavy-flavor topology. No significant excess of data over the expected background is observed, and the results are presented as upper limits on the production cross section sigma(pp -> Y -> XH -> qqbb) for signals with m(Y) between 1.5 and 6 TeV and m(X) between 65 and 3000 GeV.

Abstract: This Letter reports the observation of tau-lepton-pair production in ultraperipheral lead-lead collisions Pb + Pb -> Pb(gamma gamma -> tau tau)Pb and constraints on the tau-lepton anomalous magnetic moment a(tau). The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1.44 nb(-1) of LHC Pb + Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-s = 5.02 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment in 2018. Selected events contain one muon from a t-lepton decay, an electron or charged-particle track(s) from the other tau-lepton decay, little additional central-detector activity, and no forward neutrons. The gamma gamma -> tau tau process is observed in Pb + Pb collisions with a significance exceeding 5 standard deviations and a signal strength of mu(tau tau) = 1.03(-0.05)(+0.06) assuming the standard model value for a(tau). To measure a(tau), a template fit to the muon transverse-momentum distribution from tau-lepton candidates is performed, using a dimuon (gamma gamma -> μmu) control sample to constrain systematic uncertainties. The observed 95% confidence-level interval for a(tau) is -0.057 < a(tau) < 0.024.

Abstract: A test of CP invariance in Higgs boson production via vector-boson fusion has been performed in the H -> gamma gamma channel using 139 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data at root s = 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The optimal observable method is used to probe the CP structure of interactions between the Higgs boson and electroweak gauge bosons, as described by an effective field theory. No sign of CP violation is observed in the data. Constraints are set on the parameters describing the strength of the CP-odd component in the coupling between the Higgs boson and the electroweak gauge bosons in two effective field theory bases: (d) over tilde in the HISZ basis and c(H (W) over tilde) in the Warsaw basis. The results presented are the most stringent constraints on CP violation in the coupling between Higgs and weak bosons. The 95% C.L. constraint on (d) over tilde is derived for the first time and the 95% C.L. constraint on c(H (W) over tilde) has been improved by a factor of 5 compared to the previous measurement.

Abstract: A search for pair production of doubly charged Higgs bosons (H-+/-+/-), each decaying into a pair of prompt, isolated, and highly energetic leptons with the same electric charge, is presented. The search uses a proton-proton collision data sample at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1) recorded by the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This analysis focuses on same-charge leptonic decays, H-+/-+/- -> l(+/-)l'(+/-) where l, l' = e, mu, tau, in two-, three-, and four-lepton channels, but only considers final states which include electrons or muons. No evidence of a signal is observed. Corresponding upper limits on the production cross-section of a doubly charged Higgs boson are derived, as a function of its mass m(H-+/-+/-), at 95% confidence level. Assuming that the branching ratios to each of the possible leptonic final states are equal, B(H-+/-+/- -> e(+/-)e(+/-)) = B(H-+/-+/- -> e(+/-)mu(+/-)) = B(H-+/-+/- -> mu(+/-)mu(+/-)) = B(H-+/-+/- -> e(+/-)tau(+/-)) = B(H-+/-+/- -> mu(+/-)tau(+/-)) = B(H-+/-+/- -> tau(+/-)tau(+/-)) = 1/6, the observed (expected) lower limit on the mass of a doubly charged Higgs boson is 1080GeV(1065 GeV) within the left-right symmetric type-II seesaw model, which is the strongest limit to date produced by the ATLAS Collaboration. Additionally, this paper provides the first direct test of the Zee-Babu neutrino mass model at the LHC, yielding an observed (expected) lower limit of m(H-+/-+/-) = 900 GeV (880 GeV).

Abstract: Searches are conducted for new spin-0 or spin-1 bosons using events where a Higgs boson with mass 125 GeV decays into four leptons (l = e, mu). This decay is presumed to occur via an intermediate state which contains two on-shell, promptly decaying bosons: H -> XX/ZX 4l, where the new boson X has a mass between 1 and 60 GeV. The search uses pp collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1) at a centre-of-mass energy root s = 13 TeV. The data are found to be consistent with Standard Model expectations. Limits are set on fiducial cross sections and on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to decay into XX/ZX, improving those from previous publications by a factor between two and four. Limits are also set on mixing parameters relevant in extensions of the Standard Model containing a dark sector where X is interpreted to be a dark boson.