Abstract: This paper describes a search for beyond the Standard Model decays of the Higgs boson into a pair of new spin-0 particles subsequently decaying into b-quark pairs, H -> aa (b (b) over bar)(b (b) over bar), using proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at center-of-mass energy root s = 13 TeV. This search focuses on the range 15 GeV <= m(a) <= 30 GeV, where the decay products are collimated; it is complementary to a previous search in the same final state targeting the range 20 GeV <= m(a) <= 60 GeV, where the decay products are well separated. A novel strategy for the identification of the a -> b (b) over bar decays is deployed to enhance the efficiency for topologies with small separation angles. The search is performed with 36 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity collected in 2015 and 2016 and sets upper limits on the production cross section of H -> as -> (b (b) over bar)(b (b) over bar), where the Higgs boson is produced in association with a Z boson.

Abstract: A search for dark matter in association with a Higgs boson decaying to two photons is presented. This study is based on data collected with the ATLAS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess over the expected background is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the visible cross section for beyond the Standard Model physics processes, and the production cross section times branching fraction of the Standard Model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in association with missing transverse momentum in three different benchmark models. Limits at 95% confidence level are also set on the observed signal in two-dimensional mass planes. Additionally, the results are interpreted in terms of 90% confidence-level limits on the dark-matternucleon scattering cross section, as a function of the dark-matter particle mass, for a spin-independent scenario.

Abstract: A search for the supersymmetric partners of quarks and gluons (squarks and gluinos) in final states containing hadronic jets and missing transverse momentum, but no electrons or muons, is presented. The data used in this search were recorded in 2015 and 2016 by the ATLAS experiment in root s = 13 TeV proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1). The results are interpreted in the context of various models where squarks and gluinos are pair produced and the neutralino is the lightest supersymmetric particle. An exclusion limit at the 95% confidence level on the mass of the gluino is set at 2.03 TeV for a simplified model incorporating only a gluino and the lightest neutralino, assuming the lightest neutralino is massless. For a simplified model involving the strong production of mass-degenerate first-and second-generation squarks, squark masses below 1.55 TeVare excluded if the lightest neutralino is massless. These limits substantially extend the region of supersymmetric parameter space previously excluded by searches with the ATLAS detector.

Abstract: The ZZ production cross section in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV center-of-mass energy is measured using 3.2 fb(-1) of data recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The considered Z boson candidates decay to an electron or muon pair of mass 66-116 GeV. The cross section is measured in a fiducial phase space reflecting the detector acceptance. It is also extrapolated to a total phase space for Z bosons in the same mass range and of all decay modes, giving 16.7(-2.0)(+2.2) (stat)(-0.7)(+0.9) (syst)(-0.7)(+1.0) (lumi) pb. The results agree with standard model predictions.

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.