Abstract: This paper presents direct searches for lepton flavour violation in Higgs boson decays, H -> e tau and H -> μtau, performed using data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The searches are based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy root s = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb(-1). Leptonic (tau -> l nu(l)nu(tau)) and hadronic (tau -> hadrons nu(tau)) decays of the tau-lepton are considered. Two background estimation techniques are employed: the MC-template method, based on data-corrected simulation samples, and the Symmetry method, based on exploiting the symmetry between electrons and muons in the Standard Model backgrounds. No significant excess of events is observed and the results are interpreted as upper limits on lepton-flavour-violating branching ratios of the Higgs boson. The observed (expected) upper limits set on the branching ratios at 95% confidence level, B(H -> e tau) < 0.20% (0.12%) and B(H -> μtau ) < 0.18% (0.09%), are obtained with the MC-template method from a simultaneous measurement of potential H -> e tau and H -> μtau signals. The best-fit branching ratio difference, B(H -> μtau) -> B(H -> e tau), measured with the Symmetry method in the channel where the tau-lepton decays to leptons, is (0.25 0.10)%, compatible with a value of zero within 2.5 sigma.

Abstract: A search for a new heavy scalar or pseudo-scalar Higgs boson (H/A) produced in association with a pair of top quarks, with the Higgs boson decaying into a pair of top quarks (H/A -> t (t) over bar) is reported. The search targets a final state with exactly two leptons with same-sign electric charges or at least three leptons. The analysed dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Two multivariate classifiers are used to separate the signal from the background. No significant excess of events over the Standard Model expectation is observed. The results are interpreted in the context of a type-II two-Higgs-doublet model. The observed (expected) upper limits at 95% confidence level on the t (t) over barH/A production cross-section times the branching ratio of H/A -> t (t) over bar range between 14 (10) fb and 6 (5) fb for a heavy Higgs boson with mass between 400 GeV and 1000 GeV, respectively. Assuming that only one particle, either the scalar H or the pseudo-scalar A, contributes to the t (t) over bart (t) over bar final state, values of tan beta below 1.2 or 0.5 are excluded for a mass of 400 GeV or 1000 GeV, respectively. These exclusion ranges increase to tan beta below 1.6 or 0.6 when both particles are considered.

Abstract: A measurement of the top-quark mass (m(t)) in the t (t) over bar -> lepton+ jets channel is presented, with an experimental technique which exploits semileptonic decays of b-hadrons produced in the top-quark decay chain. The distribution of the invariant mass m(l mu) of the lepton, l (with l = e, mu), from the W-boson decay and the muon, mu, originating from the b-hadron decay is reconstructed, and a binned-template profile likelihood fit is performed to extract mt. The measurement is based on data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1) of root s = 13 TeV pp collisions provided by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded by the ATLAS detector. The measured value of the top-quark mass is mt = 174.41 +/- 0.39 (stat.) +/- 0.66 (syst.) +/- 0.25 (recoil) GeV, where the third uncertainty arises from changing the Pythia8 parton shower gluon-recoil scheme, used in top-quark decays, to a recently developed setup.