Abstract: First evidence of a structure in the J/psi Lambda invariant mass distribution is obtained from an amplitude analysis of Xi(-)(b) -> J/psi Lambda K- decays. The observed structure is consistent with being due to a charmonium pentaquark with strangeness with a significance of 3.1r including systematic uncertainties and lookelsewhere effect. Its mass and width are determined to be 4458.8 +/- 2.9(-1.1)(+4.7) MeV and 17.3 +/- 6.5(-5.7)(+8.0) MeV, respectively, where the quoted uncertainties are statistical and systematic. The structure is also consistent with being due to two resonances. In addition, the narrow excited Xi(-) states, Xi(-)(1690) and Xi(-)(1820)(-), are seen for the first time in a Xi(-)(b) decay, and their masses and widths are measured with improved precision. The analysis is performed using pp collision data corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 9 fb(-1), collected with the LHCb experiment at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13 TeV.

Abstract: A novel search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson into pairs of long-lived neutral particles, each decaying into a bottom quark pair, is performed using 139 fb(-1)of root s = 13 TeV proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events consistent with the production of a Higgs boson in association with a leptonically decaying Z boson are analysed. Long-lived particle (LLP) decays are reconstructed from inner-detector tracks as displaced vertices with high mass and track multiplicity relative to Standard Model processes. The analysis selection requires the presence of at least two displaced vertices, effectively suppressing Standard Model backgrounds. The residual background contribution is estimated using a data-driven technique. No excess over Standard Model predictions is observed, and upper limits are set on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to LLPs. Branching ratios above 10% are excluded at 95% confidence level for LLP mean proper lifetimes c tau as small as 4 mm and as large as 100 mm. For LLP masses below 40 GeV, these results represent the most stringent constraint in this lifetime regime.

Abstract: A search for pair-produced scalar and vector leptoquarks decaying into quarks and leptons of different generations is presented. It uses the full LHC Run 2 (2015-2018) data set of 139 fb(-1) collected with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 13TeV. Scalar leptoquarks with charge -(1/3) e as well as scalar and vector leptoquarks with charge +(2/3) e are considered. All possible decays of the pair-produced leptoquarks into quarks of the third generation ( t, b) and charged or neutral leptons of the first or second generation ( e, mu, nu) with exactly one electron or muon in the final state are investigated. No significant deviations from the Standard Model expectation are observed. Upper limits on the production cross-section are provided for eight models as a function of the leptoquark mass and the branching ratio of the leptoquark into the charged or neutral lepton. In addition, lower limits on the leptoquark masses are derived for all models across a range of branching ratios. Two of these models have the goal of providing an explanation for the recent B-anomalies. In both models, a vector leptoquark decays into charged and neutral leptons of the second generation with a similar branching fraction. Lower limits of 1980 GeV and 1710 GeV are set on the leptoquark mass for these two models.

Abstract: A search for pair production of third-generation scalar leptoquarks decaying into a top quark and a tau-lepton is presented. The search is based on a dataset of pp collisions at root s = 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1). Events are selected if they have one light lepton (electron or muon) and at least one hadronically decaying tau-lepton, or at least two light leptons. In addition, two or more jets, at least one of which must be identified as containing b-hadrons, are required. Six final states, defined by the multiplicity and flavour of lepton candidates, are considered in the analysis. Each of them is split into multiple event categories to simultaneously search for the signal and constrain several leading backgrounds. The signal-rich event categories require at least one hadronically decaying tau-lepton candidate and exploit the presence of energetic final-state objects, which is characteristic of signal events. No significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed in any of the considered event categories, and 95% CL upper limits are set on the production cross section as a function of the leptoquark mass, for different assumptions about the branching fractions into t tau and b nu. Scalar leptoquarks decaying exclusively into t tau are excluded up to masses of 1.43 TeV while, for a branching fraction of 50% into t tau, the lower mass limit is 1.22 TeV.

Abstract: A search for singly produced vector-like quarks Q, where Q can be either a T quark with charge +2/3 or a Y quark with charge -4/3, is performed in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1), recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2015 and 2016. The analysis targets Q -> Wb decays where the W boson decays leptonically. No significant deviation from the expected Standard Model background is observed. Upper limits are set on the QWb coupling strength and the mixing between the Standard Model sector and a singlet T quark or a Y quark from a (B, Y) doublet or a (T, B, Y) triplet, taking into account the interference effects with the Standard Model background. The upper limits set on the mixing angle are as small as vertical bar sin theta(L)vertical bar = 0.18 for a singlet T quark of mass 800 GeV, vertical bar sin theta(R)vertical bar = 0.17 for a Y quark of mass 800 GeV in a (B, Y) doublet model and vertical bar sin theta(L)vertical bar = 0: 16 for a Y quark of mass 800 GeV in a (T, B, Y) triplet model. Within a (B, Y) doublet model, the limits set on the mixing parameter vertical bar sin theta(R)vertical bar are comparable with the exclusion limits from electroweak precision observables in the mass range between about 900 GeV and 1250 GeV.