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 light long-lived neutral particles with masses in the O(MeV-GeV) range is presented. The analysis targets the production of long-lived dark photons in the decay of a Higgs boson produced via gluon-gluon fusion or in association with a W boson. Events that contain displaced collimated Standard Model fermions reconstructed in the calorimeter or muon spectrometer are selected in 139 fb(-1) of p s = 13TeV pp collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Background estimates for contributions from Standard Model processes and instrumental effects are extracted from data. The observed event yields are consistent with the expected background. Exclusion limits are reported on the production cross-section times branching fraction as a function of the mean proper decay length c tau of the dark photon, or as a function of the dark-photon mass and kinetic mixing parameter that quantifies the coupling between the Standard Model and potential hidden (dark) sectors. A Higgs boson branching fraction above 1% is excluded at 95% CL for a Higgs boson decaying into two dark photons for dark-photon mean proper decay lengths between 10 mm and 250 mm and dark photons with masses between 0.4 GeV and 2 GeV.

Abstract: The electroweak production of Z(v (v) over bar)gamma in association with two jets is studied in a regime with a photon of high transverse momentum above 150 GeV using proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis uses a data sample with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1) collected by the ATLAS detector during the 2015-2018 LHC data-taking period. This process is an important probe of the electroweak symmetry breaking mechanism in the Standard Model and is sensitive to quartic gauge boson couplings via vector-boson scattering. The fiducial Z( v (v) over bar)gamma jj cross section for electroweak production is measured to be 0.77(-0.30)(+0.34) fb and is consistent with the Standard Model prediction. Evidence of electroweak Z( v (v) over bar)gamma jj production is found with an observed significance of 3.2 sigma for the background-only hypothesis, compared with an expected significance of 3.7 sigma. The combination of this result with the previously published ATLAS observation of electroweak Z(v (v) over bar)gamma jj production yields an observed (expected) signal significance of 6.3 sigma (6.6 sigma). Limits on anomalous quartic gauge boson couplings are obtained in the framework of effective field theory with dimension-8 operators.

Abstract: A dedicated sample of Large Hadron Collider proton-proton collision data at centre-of-mass energy s= 8 TeV is used to study inclusive single diffractive dissociation, pp -> X p. The intact final-state proton is reconstructed in the ATLAS ALFA forward spectrometer, while charged particles from the dissociated system X are measured in the central detector components. The fiducial range of the measurement is -4.0 < log(10)xi < -1.6 and 0.016 < |t| < 0.43 GeV2, where xi is the proton fractional energy loss and t is the squared four-momentum transfer. The total cross section integrated across the fiducial range is 1.59 +/- 0.13 mb. Cross sections are also measured differentially as functions of xi, t, and increment eta, a variable that characterises the rapidity gap separating the proton and the system X . The data are consistent with an exponential t dependence, d sigma/dt proportional to e(Bt) with slope parameter B = 7.65 +/- 0.34 GeV-2. Interpreted in the framework of triple Regge phenomenology, the xi dependence leads to a pomeron intercept of alpha(0) = 1.07 +/- 0.09.

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.