Abstract: A search for four-top-quark production, t (t) over bart (t) over bar, is presented. It is based on proton-proton collision data with a center-of-mass energy root s = 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider during the years 2015 and 2016, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1). Data are analyzed in both the single-lepton and opposite-sign dilepton channels, characterized by the presence of one or two isolated electrons or muons with high-transverse momentum and multiple jets. A data-driven method is used to estimate the dominant background from top-quark pair production in association with jets. No significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed. The result is combined with the previous same-sign dilepton and multilepton searches carried out by the ATLAS Collaboration and an observed (expected) upper limit of 5.3 (2.1) times the four-top-quark Standard Model cross section is obtained at 95% confidence level. Additionally, an upper limit on the anomalous four-top-quark production cross section is set in the context of an effective field theory model.

Abstract: A search for new interactions and resonances produced in LHC proton-proton (pp) collisions at a centre-of-mass energy root s = 7 TeV was performed with the ATLAS detector. Using a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 36 pb(-1), dijet mass and angular distributions were measured up to dijet masses of similar to 3.5 TeV and were found to be in good agreement with Standard Model predictions. This analysis sets limits at 95% CL on various models for new physics: an excited quark is excluded for mass between 0.60 and 2.64 TeV, an axigluon hypothesis is excluded for axigluon masses between 0.60 and 2.10 TeV and quantum black holes are excluded in models with six extra space-time dimensions for quantum gravity scales between 0.75 and 3.67 TeV. Production cross section limits as a function of dijet mass are set using a simplified Gaussian signal model to facilitate comparisons with other hypotheses. Analysis of the dijet angular distribution using a novel technique simultaneously employing the dijet mass excludes quark contact interactions with a compositeness scale 3 below 9.5 TeV.

Abstract: A search is reported for the pair production of a new quark b' with at least one b' decaying to a Z boson and a bottom quark. The data, corresponding to 2.0 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity, were collected from pp collisions at root s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Using events with a b-tagged jet and a Z boson reconstructed from opposite-charge electrons, the mass distribution of large transverse momentum b' candidates is tested for an enhancement. No evidence for a b' signal is detected in the observed mass distribution, resulting in the exclusion at a 95% confidence level of b' quarks with masses m(b)' < 400 GeV that decay entirely via b' -> Z + b. In the case of a vectorlike singlet b' mixing solely with the third standard model generation, masses m(b)' < 358 GeV are excluded.

Abstract: A measurement of production cross sections of the Higgs boson in proton-proton collisions is presented in the H -> tau tau decay channel. The analysis is performed using 36.1 fb(-1) of data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at a center-of-mass energy of root s = 13 TeV. All combinations of leptonic (tau -> l v (v) over bar with l = e, mu) and hadronic (tau -> hadrons v) tau decays arc considered. The H -> tau tau signal over the expected background from other Standard Model processes is established with an observed (expected) significance of 4.4 (4.1) standard deviations. Combined with results obtained using data taken at 7 and 8 TeV center-of-mass energies, the observed (expected) significance amounts to 6.4 (5.4) standard deviations and constitutes an observation of H -> tau tau decays. Using the data taken at root s = 13 TeV, the total cross section in the H -> tau tau decay channel is measured to be 3.77(-0.59)(+0.60)(stat)(-0.74)(+0.87) (syst) pb, for a Higgs boson of mass 125 GeV assuming the relative contributions of its production modes as predicted by the Standard Model. Total cross sections in the H -> tau tau decay channel are determined separately for vector-boson-fusion production and gluon-gluon-fusion production to be sigma(VBF)(H -> tau tau) = 0.28 +/- 0.09 (stat)(-0.09)(+0.11) (syst) pb and sigma(ggF)(H -> tau tau) = 3.1 +/- 1.0 (stat)(-1.3)(+1.6) (syst) pb, respectively. Similarly, results of a fit are reported in the framework of simplified template cross sections. All measurements are in agreement with Standard Model expectations.

Abstract: Distributions sensitive to the underlying event are studied in events containing one or more chargedparticle jets produced in pp collisions at root s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). These measurements reflect 800 μb(-1) of data taken during 2010. Jets are reconstructed using the anti-k(t) algorithm with radius parameter R varying between 0.2 and 1.0. Distributions of the charged-particle multiplicity, the scalar sum of the transverse momentum of charged particles, and the average charged-particle p(T) are measured as functions of p(T)(jet) in regions transverse to and opposite the leading jet for 4 GeV < p(T)(jet) < 100 GeV. In addition, the R dependence of the mean values of these observables is studied. In the transverse region, both the multiplicity and the scalar sum of the transverse momentum at fixed p(T)(jet) vary significantly with R, while the average charged- particle transverse momentum has a minimal dependence on R. Predictions from several Monte Carlo tunes have been compared to the data; the predictions from Pythia 6, based on tunes that have been determined using LHC data, show reasonable agreement with the data, including the dependence on R. Comparisons with other generators indicate that additional tuning of soft-QCD parameters is necessary for these generators. The measurements presented here provide a testing ground for further development of the Monte Carlo models.