Abstract: A measurement of observables sensitive to spin correlations in tt<overbar></mml:mover> production is presented, using 36.1 fb-1 of pp collision data at <mml:msqrt>s</mml:msqrt>=13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Differential cross-sections are measured in events with exactly one electron and one muon with opposite-sign electric charge as a function of the azimuthal opening angle and the absolute difference in pseudorapidity between the electron and muon candidates in the laboratory frame. The azimuthal opening angle is also measured as a function of the invariant mass of the t<mml:mover accent=“true”>t<mml:mo stretchy=“false”><overbar></mml:mover> system. The measured differential cross-sections are compared to predictions by several NLO Monte Carlo generators and fixed-order calculations. The observed degree of spin correlation is somewhat higher than predicted by the generators used. The data are consistent with the prediction of one of the fixed-order calculations at NLO, but agree less well with higher-order predictions. Using these leptonic observables, a search is performed for pair production of supersymmetric top squarks decaying into Standard Model top quarks and light neutralinos. Top squark masses between 170 and 230 GeV are largely excluded at the 95% confidence level for kinematically allowed values of the neutralino mass.

Abstract: The integrated fiducial cross-section and unfolded differential jet mass spectrum of high transverse momentum Z -> b (b) over bar decays are measured in Z gamma events in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV. The data analysed were collected between 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1). Photons are required to have a transverse momentum p(T) > 175 GeV. The Z -> b (b) over bar decay is reconstructed using a jet with p(T) > 200 GeV, found with the anti-k(t) R = 1.0 jet algorithm, and groomed to remove soft and wide-angle radiation and to mitigate contributions from the underlying event and additional proton-proton collisions. Two different but related measurements are performed using two jet grooming definitions for reconstructing the Z -> b (b) over bar decay: trimming and soft drop. These algorithms differ in their experimental and phenomenological implications regarding jet mass reconstruction and theoretical precision. To identify Zbosons, b-tagged R = 0.2 track-jets matched to the groomed large-R calorimeter jet are used as a proxy for the b-quarks. The signal yield is determined from fits of the data-driven background templates to the different jet mass distributions for the two grooming methods. Integrated fiducial cross-sections and unfolded jet mass spectra for each grooming method are compared with leading-order theoretical predictions. The results are found to be in good agreement with Standard Model expectations within the current statistical and systematic uncertainties.

Abstract: A measurement of the B-0(s) -> J/psi phi decay parameters using 80.5 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity collected with the ATLAS detector from 13 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC is presented. The measured parameters include the CP-violating phase phi(s), the width difference Delta Gamma(s) between the B-s(0) meson mass eigenstates and the average decay width Gamma(s). The values measured for the physical parameters are combined with those from 19.2 fb(-1) of 7 and 8 TeV data, leading to the following: phi(s) = -0.087 +/- 0.036 (stat.) +/- 0.021 (syst.) rad Delta Gamma(s) = 0.0657 +/- 0.0043 (stat.) +/- 0.0037 (syst.) ps(-1) Gamma(s) = 0.6703 +/- 0.0014 (stat.) +/- 0.0018 (syst.) ps(-1) Results for phi(s) and Delta Gamma(s) are also presented as 68% confidence level contours in the phi(s)-Delta Gamma(s) plane. Furthermore the transversity amplitudes and corresponding strong phases are measured. phi(s) and Delta Gamma(s) measurements are in agreement with the Standard Model predictions.

Abstract: The production cross-section of a top quark in association with a W boson is measured using proton-proton collisions at root s = 8 TeV. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb(-1,) and was collected in 2012 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. The analysis is performed in the single-lepton channel. Events are selected by requiring one isolated lepton (electron or muon) and at least three jets. A neural network is trained to separate the tW signal from the dominant t (t) over bar background. The cross-section is extracted from a binned profile maximum-likelihood fit to a two-dimensional discriminant built from the neural-network output and the invariant mass of the hadronically decaying W boson. The measured crosssection is sigma(tW) = 26 +/- 7 pb, in good agreement with the Standard Model expectation.

Abstract: Results of dedicated Monte Carlo simulations of beam-induced background (BIB) in the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are presented and compared with data recorded in 2012. During normal physics operation this background arises mainly from scattering of the 4 TeV protons on residual gas in the beam pipe. Methods of reconstructing the BIB signals in the ATLAS detector, developed and implemented in the simulation chain based on the FLUKA Monte Carlo simulation package, are described. The interaction rates are determined from the residual gas pressure distribution in the LHC ring in order to set an absolute scale on the predicted rates of BIB so that they can be compared quantitatively with data. Through these comparisons the origins of the BIB leading to different observables in the ATLAS detectors are analysed. The level of agreement between simulation results and BIB measurements by ATLAS in 2012 demonstrates that a good understanding of the origin of BIB has been reached.