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: Knowledge of the material in the ATLAS inner tracking detector is crucial in under-standing the reconstruction of charged-particle tracks, the performance of algorithms that identify jets containing b-hadrons and is also essential to reduce background in searches for exotic particles that can decay within the inner detector volume. Interactions of primary hadrons produced in pp collisions with the material in the inner detector are used to map the location and amount of this material. The hadronic interactions of primary particles may result in secondary vertices, which in this analysis are reconstructed by an inclusive vertex-finding algorithm. Data were collected using minimum-bias triggers by the ATLAS detector operating at the LHC during 2010 at centre-of-mass energy root s = 7 TeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19 nb(-1). Kinematic properties of these secondary vertices are used to study the validity of the modelling of hadronic interactions in simulation. Secondary-vertex yields are compared between data and simulation over a volume of about 0.7m(3) around the interaction point, and agreement is found within overall uncertainties.

Abstract: The ATLAS inner detector comprises three different sub-detectors: the pixel detector, the silicon strip tracker, and the transition-radiation drift-tube tracker. The Insertable B-Layer, a new innermost pixel layer, was installed during the shutdown period in 2014, together with modifications to the layout of the cables and support structures of the existing pixel detector. The material in the inner detector is studied with several methods, using a low-luminosity root s = 13 TeV pp collision sample corresponding to around 2.0 nb(-1) collected in 2015 with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. In this paper, the material within the innermost barrel region is studied using reconstructed hadronic interaction and photon conversion vertices. For the forward rapidity region, the material is probed by a measurement of the efficiency with which single tracks reconstructed from pixel detector hits alone can be extended with hits on the track in the strip layers. The results of these studies have been taken into account in an improved description of the material in the ATLAS inner detector simulation, resulting in a reduction in the uncertainties associated with the charged-particle reconstruction efficiency determined from simulation.

Abstract: This article describes the Laser calibration system of the ATLAS hadronic Tile Calorimeter that has been used during the run 1 of the LHC. First, the stability of the system associated readout electronics is studied. It is found to be stable with variations smaller than 0.6 %. Then, the method developed to compute the calibration constants, to correct for the variations of the gain of the calorimeter photomultipliers, is described. These constants were determined with a statistical uncertainty of 0.3 % and a systematic uncertainty of 0.2 % for the central part of the calorimeter and 0.5 % for the end-caps. Finally, the detection and correction of timing mis-configuration of the Tile Calorimeter using the Laser system are also presented.