Abstract: Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections are presented for Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of TeV. The analysis is performed in the H -> gamma gamma decay channel using 20.3 fb(-1) of data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The signal is extracted using a fit to the diphoton invariant mass spectrum assuming that the width of the resonance is much smaller than the experimental resolution. The signal yields are corrected for the effects of detector inefficiency and resolution. The pp -> H -> gamma gamma fiducial cross section is measured to be 43.2 +/- 9.4(stat.) (-aEuro parts per thousand 2.9) (+ 3.2) (syst.) +/- 1.2(lumi)fb for a Higgs boson of mass 125.4GeV decaying to two isolated photons that have transverse momentum greater than 35% and 25% of the diphoton invariant mass and each with absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.37. Four additional fiducial cross sections and two cross-section limits are presented in phase space regions that test the theoretical modelling of different Higgs boson production mechanisms, or are sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. Differential cross sections are also presented, as a function of variables related to the diphoton kinematics and the jet activity produced in the Higgs boson events. The observed spectra are statistically limited but broadly in line with the theoretical expectations.

Abstract: We have been developing a novel radiation tolerant n(+)-in-p silicon microstrip sensor for very high radiation environments, aiming for application in the high luminosity large hadron collider. The sensors are fabricated in 6 in., p-type, float zone wafers, where large area strip sensor designs are laid out together with a number of miniature sensors. Radiation tolerance has been studied with ATLAS07 sensors and with independent structures. The ATLAS07 design was developed into new ATLAS12 designs. The ATLAS12A large-area sensor is made towards an axial strip sensor and the ATLAS12M towards a stereo strip sensor. New features to the ATLAS12 sensors are two dicing lines: standard edge space of 910 pm and slim edge space of 450 pm, a gated punch-through protection structure, and connection of orphan strips in a triangular corner of stereo strips. We report the design of the ATLAS12 layouts and initial measurements of the leakage current after dicing and the resistivity of the wafers.

Abstract: AC coupled silicon strip sensors can be damaged in case of a beam loss due to the possibility of a large charge accumulation in the bulk, developing very high voltages across the coupling capacitors which can destroy them. Punch-through structures are currently used to avoid this problem helping to evacuate the accumulated charge as large voltages are developing. Nevertheless, previous experiments, performed with laser pulses, have shown that these structures can become ineffective in relatively long strips. The large value of the implant resistance can effectively isolate the “far” end of the strip from the punchthrough structure leading to large voltages. We present here our developments to fabricate lowresistance strip sensors to avoid this problem. The deposition of a conducting material in contact with the implants drastically reduces the strip resistance, assuring the effectiveness of the punch-through structures. First devices have been fabricated with this new technology. Initial results with laser tests show the expected reduction in peak voltages on the low resistivity implants. Other aspects of the sensor performance, including the signal formation, are not affected by the new technology.

Abstract: Measurements of two-particle correlation functions and the first five azimuthal harmonics, v(1) to v(5), are presented, using 28 nb(-1) of p + Pb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of root s(NN) = 5.02 TeV measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Significant long-range “ridgelike” correlations are observed for pairs with small relative azimuthal angle (|Delta phi| < pi/3) and back-to-back pairs (|Delta phi| > 2 pi/3) over the transverse momentum range 0.4 < p(T) < 12 GeV and in different intervals of event activity. The event activity is defined by either the number of reconstructed tracks or the total transverse energy on the Pb-fragmentation side. The azimuthal structure of such long-range correlations is Fourier decomposed to obtain the harmonics v(n) as a function of p(T) and event activity. The extracted v(n) values for n = 2 to 5 decrease with n. The v(2) and v(3) values are found to be positive in the measured p(T) range. The v(1) is also measured as a function of p(T) and is observed to change sign around p(T) approximate to 1.5-2.0 GeV and then increase to about 0.1 for pT > 4 GeV. The v(2)(p(T)), v(3)(p(T)), and v(4)(p(T)) are compared to the v(n) coefficients in Pb + Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV with similar event multiplicities. Reasonable agreement is observed after accounting for the difference in the average p(T) of particles produced in the two collision systems.

Abstract: A search is reported for Higgs boson decay to mu(+)mu(-) using data with an integrated luminosity of 24.8 fb(-1) collected with the ATLAS detector in pp collisions at root s = 7 and 8 TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The observed dimuon invariant mass distribution is consistent with the Standard Model background-only hypothesis in the 120-150 GeV search range. For a Higgs boson with a mass of 125.5 GeV, the observed (expected) upper limit at the 95% confidence level is 7.0 (7.2) times the Standard Model expectation. This corresponds to an upper limit on the branching ratio BR(H -> mu(+)mu(-)) of 1.5 x10(-3).