Abstract: The total cross section and differential cross sections for the production of B-c(+/-) mesons, times their branching fraction to J/psi pi(+/-), are measured relative to those for the production of B-+/- mesons, times their branching fraction to J/psi K-+/-. The data used for this study correspond to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb(-1) of pp collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2012 at a center-of-mass energy of root s = 8 TeV. The measurement is performed differentially in bins of transverse momentum p(T) for 13 GeV < p(T)(B-c(+/-)) < 22 GeV and p(T)(B-c(+/-)) > 22 GeV and in bins of rapidity y for vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.75 and 0.75 < vertical bar y vertical bar < 2.3. The relative cross section times branching fraction for the full range p(T) > 13 GeV and vertical bar y vertical bar < 2.3 is (0.34 +/- 0.04(stat) (+0.06)(-0.02 sys) +/- 0.01(lifetime))%. The differential measurements suggest that the production cross section of the B-c(+/-) decreases faster with p(T) than the production cross section of the B-+/-, while no significant dependence on rapidity is observed.

Abstract: Results of a search for the pair production of photon-jets-collimated groupings of photons-in the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. Highly collimated photon-jets can arise from the decay of new, highly boosted particles that can decay to multiple photons collimated enough to be identified in the electromagnetic calorimeter as a single, photonlike energy cluster. Data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.7 fb(-1), were collected in 2015 and 2016. Candidate photon-jet pair production events are selected from those containing two reconstructed photons using a set of identification criteria much less stringent than that typically used for the selection of photons, with additional criteria applied to provide improved sensitivity to photon-jets. Narrow excesses in the reconstructed diphoton mass spectra are searched for. The observed mass spectra are consistent with the Standard Model background expectation. The results are interpreted in the context of a model containing a new, high-mass scalar particle with narrow width, X, that decays into pairs of photon-jets via new, light particles, a. Upper limits are placed on the cross section times the product of branching ratios sigma x B(X -> aa) x B(a -> gamma gamma)(2) for 200 GeV < m(X) < 2 TeV and for ranges of m(a) from a lower mass of 100 MeV up to between 2 and 10 GeV, depending upon m(X). Upper limits are also placed on sigma x B(X -> aa) x B(a -> 3 pi(0))(2) for the same range of m(X) and for ranges of m(a) from a lower mass of 500 MeV up to between 2 and 10 GeV.

Abstract: This paper describes the reconstruction of electrons and photons with the ATLAS detector, employed for measurements and searches exploiting the complete LHC Run 2 dataset. An improved energy clustering algorithm is introduced, and its implications for the measurement and identification of prompt electrons and photons are discussed in detail. Corrections and calibrations that affect performance, including energy calibration, identification and isolation efficiencies, and the measurement of the charge of reconstructed electron candidates are determined using up to 81 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data collected at root s = 13 TeV between 2015 and 2017.

Abstract: A search is performed for a long-lived particle decaying into a final state that includes a pair of muons of opposite-sign electric charge, using proton-proton collision data collected at root s = 13 TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 32.9 fb(-1). No significant excess over the Standard Model expectation is observed. Limits at 95% confidence level on the lifetime of the long-lived particle are presented in models of new phenomena including gauge-mediated supersymmetry or decay of the Higgs boson, H, to a pair of dark photons, Z(D). Lifetimes in the range c tau = 1-2400 cm are excluded, depending on the parameters of the model. In the supersymmetric model, the lightest neutralino is the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle, with a relatively long lifetime due to its weak coupling to the gravitino, the lightest supersymmetric particle. The lifetime limits are determined for very light gravitino mass and various assumptions for the neutralino mass in the range 300-1000 GeV. In the dark photon model, the lifetime limits are interpreted as exclusion contours in the plane of the coupling between the Z(D) and the Standard Model Z boson versus the Z(D) mass (in the range 20-60 GeV), for various assumptions for the H -> Z(D)Z(D) branching fraction.

Abstract: The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider employs a two-level trigger system to record data at an average rate of 1 kHz from physics collisions, starting from an initial bunch crossing rate of 40 MHz. During the LHC Run 2 (2015-2018), the ATLAS trigger system operated successfully with excellent performance and flexibility by adapting to the various run conditions encountered and has been vital for the ATLAS Run-2 physics programme For proton-proton running, approximately 1500 individual event selections were included in a trigger menu which specified the physics signatures and selection algorithms used for the data-taking, and the allocated event rate and bandwidth. The trigger menu must reflect the physics goals for a given data collection period, taking into account the instantaneous luminosity of the LHC and limitations from the ATLAS detector readout, online processing farm, and offline storage. This document discusses the operation of the ATLAS trigger system during the nominal proton-proton data collection in Run 2 with examples of special data-taking runs. Aspects of software validation, evolution of the trigger selection algorithms during Run 2, monitoring of the trigger system and data quality as well as trigger configuration are presented.