Abstract: A search for the decay of the Higgs boson to a Z boson and a light, pseudoscalar particle, a, decaying respectively to two leptons and to two photons is reported. The search uses the full LHC Run 2 proton-proton collision data at root s = 13 TeV, corresponding to 139 fb-1 collected by the ATLAS detector. This is one of the first searches for this specific decay mode of the Higgs boson, and it probes unexplored parameter space in models with axion-like particles (ALPs) and extended scalar sectors. The mass of the a particle is assumed to be in the range 0.1-33 GeV. The data are analysed in two categories: a merged category where the photons from the a decay are reconstructed in the ATLAS calorimeter as a single cluster, and a resolved category in which two separate photons are detected. The main background processes are from Standard Model Z boson production in association with photons or jets. The data are in agreement with the background predictions, and upper limits on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson decay to Za times the branching ratio a -> yy are derived at the 95% confidence level and they range from 0.08% to 2% depending on the mass of the a particle. The results are also interpreted in the context of ALP models.

Abstract: A search is performed for a heavy particle decaying into different-flavour, dilepton final states, using 139 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data at root s = 13TeV collected in 2015-2018 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Final states with electrons, muons and hadronically decaying tau leptons are considered (e mu, e tau or μtau). No significant excess over the Standard Model predictions is observed. Upper limits on the production cross-section are set as a function of the mass of a Z' boson, a supersymmetric tau-sneutrino, and a quantum black-hole. The observed 95% CL lower mass limits obtained on a typical benchmark model Z' boson are 5.0TeV (e mu), 4.0TeV (e tau), and 3.9TeV (mu tau), respectively.

Abstract: The mass of the Higgs boson is measured in the H -> gamma gamma decay channel, exploiting the high resolution of the invariant mass of photon pairs reconstructed from the decays of Higgs bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy root s = 13 TeV. The dataset was collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider, and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb(-1). The measured value of the Higgs boson mass is 125.17 +/- 0.11 (stat.) +/- 0.09 (syst.) GeV and is based on an improved energy scale calibration for photons, whose impact on the measurement is about four times smaller than in the previous publication. A combination with the corresponding measurement using 7 and 8 TeV pp collision ATLAS data results in a Higgs boson mass measurement of 125.22 +/- 0.11 (stat.) +/- 0.09 (syst.) GeV. With an uncertainty of 1.1 per mille, this is currently the most precise measurement of the mass of the Higgs boson from a single decay channel.

Abstract: A search is presented for the pair production of heavy vector-like B quarks, primarily targeting B quark decays into a W boson and a top quark. The search is based on 36.1 fb(-1) of pp collisions at root s = 13 TeV recorded in 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Data are analysed in the lepton-plus-jets final state, characterised by a high-transverse-momentum isolated electron or muon, large missing transverse momentum, and multiple jets, of which at least one is b-tagged. No significant deviation from the Standard Model expectation is observed. The 95% confidence level lower limit on the B mass is 1350 GeV assuming a 100% branching ratio to Wt. In the SU(2) singlet scenario, the lower mass limit is 1170 GeV. The 100% branching ratio limits are found to be also applicable to heavy vector-like X production, with charge +5/3, that decay into Wt. This search is also sensitive to a heavy vector-like B quark decaying into other final states (Zb and Hb) and thus mass limits on B production are set as a function of the decay branching ratios.

Abstract: ATLAS measurements of the production of muons from heavy-flavor decays in root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV Pb+Pb collisions and root s = 2.76 TeV pp collisions at the LHC are presented. Integrated luminosities of 0.14 nb(-1) and 570 nb(-1) are used for the Pb+Pb and pp measurements, respectively, which are performed over the muon transverse momentum range 4 < pT < 14 GeV and for five Pb+Pb centrality intervals. Backgrounds arising from in-flight pion and kaon decays, hadronic showers, and misreconstructed muons are statistically removed using a template-fitting procedure. The heavy-flavor muon differential cross sections and per-event yields are measured in pp and Pb+Pb collisions, respectively. The nuclear modification factor R-AA obtained from these is observed to be independent of pT, within uncertainties, and to be less than unity, which indicates suppressed production of heavy-flavor muons in Pb+Pb collisions. For the 10% most central Pb+Pb events, the measured R-AA is approximately 0.35. The azimuthal modulation of the heavy-flavor muon yields is also measured and the associated Fourier coefficients v(n) for n = 2, 3, and 4 are given as a function of pT and centrality. They vary slowly with pT and show a systematic variation with centrality which is characteristic of other anisotropy measurements, such as that observed for inclusive hadrons. The measured R-AA and v(n) values are also compared with theoretical calculations.