Abstract: A search for Higgs-boson pair production in the bbbb final state is carried out with 3.2 fb(-1) of protonproton collision data collected at root s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. The data are consistent with the estimated background and are used to set upper limits on the production cross section of Higgs-boson pairs times branching ratio to bbbb for both nonresonant and resonant production. In the case of resonant production of Kaluza-Klein gravitons within the Randall-Sundrum model, upper limits in the 24 to 91 fb range are obtained for masses between 600 and 3000 GeV, at the 95% confidence level. The production cross section times branching ratio for nonresonant Higgs-boson pairs is also constrained to be less than 1.22 pb, at the 95% confidence level.

Abstract: This Letter presents a measurement of the inelastic proton-proton cross section using 60 μb(-1) of pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy root s of 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Inelastic interactions are selected using rings of plastic scintillators in the forward region (2.07 <vertical bar eta vertical bar < 3.86) of the detector. A cross section of 68.1 +/- 1.4 mb is measured in the fiducial region. xi = M-X(2) > s > 10(-6), where M-X is the larger invariant mass of the two hadronic systems separated by the largest rapidity gap in the event. In this xi range the scintillators are highly efficient. For diffractive events this corresponds to cases where at least one proton dissociates to a system with M-X > 13 GeV. The measured cross section is compared with a range of theoretical predictions. When extrapolated to the full phase space, a cross section of 78.1 +/- 2.9 mb is measured, consistent with the inelastic cross section increasing with center-of-mass energy.

Abstract: A measurement of the inclusive pp -> t (t) over bar + X production cross section in the tau + jets final state using only the hadronic decays of the tau lepton is presented. The measurement is performed using 20.2 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data recorded at a center-of-mass energy of root s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The cross section is measured via a counting experiment by imposing a set of selection criteria on the identification and kinematic variables of the reconstructed particles and jets, and on event kinematic variables and characteristics. The production cross section is measured to be sigma(t (t) over bar) = 239 +/- 29 pb, which is in agreement with the measurements in other final states and the theoretical predictions at this center-of-mass energy.

Abstract: A measurement of the production cross section for two isolated photons in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of root s = 8 TeV is presented. The results are based on an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb(-1) recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The measurement considers photons with pseudorapidities satisfying vertical bar eta(gamma)vertical bar< 1.37 or 1.56 <vertical bar eta(gamma)vertical bar< 2.37 and transverse energies of respectively E-T,1(gamma) > 40 GeV and E-T,2(gamma) > 30 GeV for the two leading photons ordered in transverse energy produced in the interaction. The background due to hadronic jets and electrons is subtracted using data-driven techniques. The fiducial cross sections are corrected for detector effects and measured differentially as a function of six kinematic observables. The measured cross section integrated within the fiducial volume is 16.8 +/- 0.8 pb. The data are compared to fixed-order QCD calculations at next-to-leading-order and next-to-next-to-leading-order accuracy as well as next-to-leading-order computations including resummation of initial-state gluon radiation at next-to-next-to-leading logarithm or matched to a parton shower, with relative uncertainties varying from 5% to 20%.

Abstract: ATLAS measurements of two-particle correlations are presented for root s = 5.02 and 13 TeV pp collisions and for root(NN)-N-s = 5.02 TeV p + Pb collisions at the LHC. The correlation functions are measured as a function of relative azimuthal angle Delta phi, and pseudorapidity separation Delta eta, using charged particles detected within the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.5. Azimuthal modulation in the long-range component of the correlation function, with | Delta eta| > 2, is studied using a template fitting procedure to remove a “back-to-back” contribution to the correlation function that primarily arises from hard-scattering processes. In addition to the elliptic, cos(2 Delta phi), modulation observed in a previous measurement, the pp correlation functions exhibit significant cos(3 Delta phi) and cos(4 Lambda phi) modulation. The Fourier coefficients v(n),(n) associated with the cos (n Lambda phi) modulation of the correlation functions for n = 2-4 are measured as a function of charged-particle multiplicity and charged-particle transverse momentum. The Fourier coefficients are observed to be compatible with cos(n phi) modulation of per-event singleparticle azimuthal angle distributions. The single-particle Fourier coefficients vn are measured as a function of charged-particle multiplicity, and charged-particle transverse momentum for n = 2-4. The integrated luminosities used in this analysis are, 64 nb(-1) for the root s = 13 TeV pp data, 170 nb(-1) for the root s = 5.02 TeV pp data, and 28 nb(-1) for the root(NN)-N-s = 5.02 TeV p + Pb data.