ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., et al. (2018). Comparison between simulated and observed LHC beam backgrounds in the ATLAS experiment at E-beam=4 TeV. J. Instrum., 13, P12006–41pp.
Abstract: Results of dedicated Monte Carlo simulations of beam-induced background (BIB) in the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are presented and compared with data recorded in 2012. During normal physics operation this background arises mainly from scattering of the 4 TeV protons on residual gas in the beam pipe. Methods of reconstructing the BIB signals in the ATLAS detector, developed and implemented in the simulation chain based on the FLUKA Monte Carlo simulation package, are described. The interaction rates are determined from the residual gas pressure distribution in the LHC ring in order to set an absolute scale on the predicted rates of BIB so that they can be compared quantitatively with data. Through these comparisons the origins of the BIB leading to different observables in the ATLAS detectors are analysed. The level of agreement between simulation results and BIB measurements by ATLAS in 2012 demonstrates that a good understanding of the origin of BIB has been reached.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., et al. (2019). Search for pair production of Higgs bosons in the b(b)over-barb(b)over-bar final state using proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. J. High Energy Phys., 01(1), 030–49pp.
Abstract: A search for Higgs boson pair production in the bbbb final state is carried out with up to 36.1 fb(-1) of LHC proton-proton collision data collected at s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016. Three benchmark signals are studied: a spin-2 graviton decaying into a Higgs boson pair, a scalar resonance decaying into a Higgs boson pair, and Standard Model non-resonant Higgs boson pair production. Two analyses are carried out, each implementing a particular technique for the event reconstruction that targets Higgs bosons reconstructed as pairs of jets or single boosted jets. The resonance mass range covered is 260-3000 GeV. The analyses are statistically combined and upper limits on the production cross section of Higgs boson pairs times branching ratio to bbbb are set in each model. No significant excess is observed; the largest deviation of data over prediction is found at a mass of 280 GeV, corresponding to 2.3 standard deviations globally. The observed 95% confidence level upper limit on the non-resonant production is 13 times the Standard Model prediction.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo, F. L., et al. (2018). Search for dark matter in events with a hadronically decaying vector boson and missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. J. High Energy Phys., 10(10), 180–58pp.
Abstract: A search for dark matter (DM) particles produced in association with a hadronically decaying vector boson is performed using pp collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1), recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. This analysis improves on previous searches for processes with hadronic decays of W and Z bosons in association with large missing transverse momentum (mono-W/Z searches) due to the larger dataset and further optimization of the event selection and signal region definitions. In addition to the mono-W/Z search, the as yet unexplored hypothesis of a new vector boson Z produced in association with dark matter is considered (mono-Z search). No significant excess over the Standard Model prediction is observed. The results of the mono-W/Z search are interpreted in terms of limits on invisible Higgs boson decays into dark matter particles, constraints on the parameter space of the simplified vector-mediator model and generic upper limits on the visible cross sections for W/Z+DM production. The results of the mono-Z search are shown in the framework of several simplified-model scenarios involving DM production in association with the Z boson.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo, F. L., et al. (2019). Search for invisible Higgs boson decays in vector boson fusion at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Lett. B, 793, 499–519.
Abstract: We report a search for Higgs bosons that are produced via vector boson fusion and subsequently decay into invisible particles. The experimental signature is an energetic jet pair with invariant mass of O(1) TeVand O(100) GeVmissing transverse momentum. The analysis uses 36.1 fb(-1) of pp collision data at root s = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. In the signal region the 2252 observed events are consistent with the background estimation. Assuming a 125 GeV scalar particle with Standard Model cross sections, the upper limit on the branching fraction of the Higgs boson decay into invisible particles is 0.37 at 95% confidence level where 0.28 was expected. This limit is interpreted in Higgs portal models to set bounds on the wimp-nucleon scattering cross section. We also consider invisible decays of additional scalar bosons with masses up to 3 TeV for which the upper limits on the cross section times branching fraction are in the range of 0.3-1.7 pb.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo, F. L., et al. (2018). Search for pair production of heavy vectorlike quarks decaying into hadronic final states in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Rev. D, 98(9), 092005–36pp.
Abstract: A search is presented for the pair production of heavy vectorlike quarks, T (T) over bar or B (B) over bar, that decay into final states with jets and no reconstructed leptons. Jets in the final state are classified using a deep neural network as arising from hadronically decaying W/Z bosons, Higgs bosons, top quarks, or background. The analysis uses data from the ATLAS experiment corresponding to 36.1 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions with a center-of-mass energy of root s = 13 TeV delivered by the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 and 2016. No significant deviation from the Standard Model expectation is observed. Results are interpreted assuming the vectorlike quarks decay into a Standard Model boson and a third-generation-quark, T -> Wb, Ht, Zt or B -> Wt, Hb, Zb, for a variety of branching ratios. At 95% confidence level, the observed (expected) lower limit on the vectorlike B-quark mass for a weak-isospin doublet (B, Y) is 950 (890) GeV, and the lower limits on the masses for the pure decays B -> Hb and T -> Ht, where these results are strongest, arc 1010 (970) GeV and 1010 (1010) GeV, respectively.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo, F. L., et al. (2018). Search for lepton-flavor-violating decays of the Z boson into a r lepton and a light lepton with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Rev. D, 98(9), 092010–31pp.
Abstract: Direct searches for lepton flavor violation in decays of the Z boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHC are presented. Decays of the Z boson into an electron or muon and a hadronically decaying r lepton are considered. The searches are based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions collected by the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1) at a center-of-mass energy of root s = 13 TeV. No statistically significant excess of events above the expected background is observed, and upper limits on the branching ratios of lepton-flavor-violating decays are set at the 95% confidence level: B(Z -> e tau) < 5.8 x 10(-5) and B(Z -> μtau) < 2.4 x 10(-5). This is the first limit on B(Z -> e tau) with ATLAS data. The upper limit on 13(Z -> μtau) is combined with a previous ATLAS result based on 20.3 fb(-1) of proton protoncollision data at a center-of-mass energy of root s = 8 TeV and the combined upper limit at 95% confidence level is B(Z -> μtau) < 1.3 x 10(-5).
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo, F. L., et al. (2018). Search for lepton-flavor violation in different-flavor, high-mass final states in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Rev. D, 98(9), 092008–34pp.
Abstract: A search is performed for a heavy particle decaying into different-flavor, dilepton pairs (e mu, e tau or μtau), using 36.1 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data at root s = 13 TeV collected in 2015-2016 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. No excesses over the Standard Model predictions are observed. Bayesian lower limits at the 95% credibility level are placed on the mass of a Z' boson, the mass of a supersymmetric tau-sneutrino, and on the threshold mass for quantum black-hole production. For the Z' and sneutrino models, upper cross-section limits are converted to upper limits on couplings, which are compared with similar limits from low-energy experiments and which are more stringent for the e tau and μtau modes.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo, F. L., et al. (2018). Search for chargino-neutralino production using recursive jigsaw reconstruction in final states with two or three charged leptons in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Rev. D, 98(9), 092012–42pp.
Abstract: A search for electroweak production of supersymmetric particles is performed in two-lepton and three-lepton final states using recursive jigsaw reconstruction, a technique that assigns reconstructed objects to the most probable hemispheres of the decay trees, allowing one to construct tailored kinematic variables to separate the signal and background. The search uses data collected in 2015 and 2016 by the ATLAS experiment in root s = 13 TeV proton-proton collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1). Chargino-neutralino pair production, with decays via W/Z bosons, is studied in final states involving leptons and jets and missing transverse momentum for scenarios with large and intermediate mass splittings between the parent particle and lightest supersymmetric particle, as well as for the scenario where this mass splitting is close to the mass of the Z boson. The latter case is challenging since the vector bosons are produced with kinematic properties that are similar to those in Standard Model processes. Results are found to be compatible with the Standard Model expectations in the signal regions targeting large and intermediate mass splittings, and chargino-neutralino masses up to 600 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level for a massless lightest supersymmetric particle. Excesses of data above the expected background are found in the signal regions targeting low mass splittings, and the largest local excess amounts to 3.0 standard deviations.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo, F. L., et al. (2018). Search for resonant W Z production in the fully leptonic final state in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Lett. B, 787, 68–88.
Abstract: A search for a heavy resonance decaying into WZ in the fully leptonic channel (electrons and muons) is performed. It is based on proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1). No significant excess is observed over the Standard Model predictions and limits are set on the production cross section times branching ratio of a heavy vector particle produced either in quark-antiquark fusion or through vector-boson fusion. Constraints are also obtained on the mass and couplings of a singly charged Higgs boson, in the Georgi-Machacek model, produced through vector-boson fusion. (C) 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo, F. L., et al. (2018). Combined measurement of differential and total cross sections in the H -> gamma gamma and the H -> ZZ* -> 4l decay channels at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Lett. B, 786, 114–133.
Abstract: A combined measurement of differential and inclusive total cross sections of Higgs boson production is performed using 36.1 fb(-1) of 13 TeV proton-proton collision data produced by the LHC and recorded by the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016. Cross sections are obtained from measured H -> gamma gamma and H -> ZZ* -> 4l event yields, which are combined taking into account detector efficiencies, resolution, acceptances and branching fractions. The total Higgs boson production cross section is measured to be 57.0(-5.9)(+6.0) (stat.) (+4.0)(-3.3) (syst.) pb, in agreement with the Standard Model prediction. Differential cross-section measurements are presented for the Higgs boson transverse momentum distribution, Higgs boson rapidity, number of jets produced together with the Higgs boson, and the transverse momentum of the leading jet. The results from the two decay channels are found to be compatible, and their combination agrees with the Standard Model predictions.
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