ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Bouchhar, N., Cabrera Urban, S., et al. (2023). Search for excited tau-leptons and leptoquarks in the final state with tau-leptons and jets in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. J. High Energy Phys., 06(6), 199–46pp.
Abstract: A search is reported for excited tau-leptons and leptoquarks in events with two hadronically decaying tau-leptons and two or more jets. The search uses proton-proton (pp) collision data at root s = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment during the Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider in 2015-2018. The total integrated luminosity is 139 fb(-1). The excited tau-lepton is assumed to be produced and to decay via a four-fermion contact interaction into an ordinary tau-lepton and a quark-antiquark pair. The leptoquarks are assumed to be produced in pairs via the strong interaction, and each leptoquark is assumed to couple to a charm or lighter quark and a tau-lepton. No excess over the background prediction is observed. Excited tau-leptons with masses below 2.8 TeV are excluded at 95% CL in scenarios with the contact interaction scale Lambda set to 10 TeV. At the extreme limit of model validity where Lambda is set equal to the excited tau-lepton mass, excited tau-leptons with masses below 4.6 TeV are excluded. Leptoquarks with masses below 1.3 TeV are excluded at 95% CL if their branching ratio to a charm quark and a tau-lepton equals 1. The analysis does not exploit flavour-tagging in the signal region.
|
ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Bouchhar, N., Cabrera Urban, S., et al. (2023). Search for exclusive Higgs and Z boson decays to ωγ and Higgs boson decays to K*γ with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Lett. B, 847, 138292–23pp.
Abstract: Searches for the exclusive decays of the Higgs boson to an omega meson and a photon or a K* meson and a photon can probe flavour-conserving and flavour-violating Higgs boson couplings to light quarks, respectively. Searches for these decays, along with the analogous Z boson decay to an omega meson and a photon, are performed with a pp collision data sample corresponding to integrated luminosities of up to 134 fb(-1) collected at root s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The obtained 95% confidence-level upper limits on the respective branching fractions are B(H -> omega gamma) < 5.5 x 10(-4), B(H -> K*gamma) < 2.2 x 10(-4) and B(Z -> omega gamma) < 3.9 x 10(-6). The limits for H -> omega gamma and Z -> omega gamma) are 370 times and 140 times the Standard Model expected values, respectively. The result for Z -> omega gamma corresponds to a two-orders-of-magnitude improvement over the limit obtained by the DELPHI experiment at LEP.
|
ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Cardillo, F., Castillo Gimenez, V., et al. (2022). Search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson into b(b)over-bar and missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. J. High Energy Phys., 01(1), 063–38pp.
Abstract: A search for the exotic decay of the Higgs boson (H) into a b (b) over bar resonance plus missing transverse momentum is described. The search is performed with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider using 139 fb(-1) of pp collisions at root s = 13 TeV. The search targets events from ZH production in an NMSSM scenario where H -> chi(similar to 0)(2)chi(similar to 0)(1), with chi(similar to 0)(2) -> a chi(similar to 0)(1), where a is a light pseudoscalar Higgs boson and chi(similar to 0)(1,)(2) are the two lightest neutralinos. The decay of the a boson into a pair of b-quarks results in a peak in the dijet invariant mass distribution. The final-state signature consists of two leptons, two or more jets, at least one of which is identified as originating from a b-quark, and missing transverse momentum. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations and upper limits are set on the product of cross section times branching ratio for a three-dimensional scan of the masses of the chi(similar to 0)(2), chi(similar to 0)(1) and a boson.
|
ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Cardillo, F., Castillo Gimenez, V., et al. (2021). Search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson into long-lived particles in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV using displaced vertices in the ATLAS inner detector. J. High Energy Phys., 11(11), 229–41pp.
Abstract: A novel search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson into pairs of long-lived neutral particles, each decaying into a bottom quark pair, is performed using 139 fb(-1)of root s = 13 TeV proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events consistent with the production of a Higgs boson in association with a leptonically decaying Z boson are analysed. Long-lived particle (LLP) decays are reconstructed from inner-detector tracks as displaced vertices with high mass and track multiplicity relative to Standard Model processes. The analysis selection requires the presence of at least two displaced vertices, effectively suppressing Standard Model backgrounds. The residual background contribution is estimated using a data-driven technique. No excess over Standard Model predictions is observed, and upper limits are set on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to LLPs. Branching ratios above 10% are excluded at 95% confidence level for LLP mean proper lifetimes c tau as small as 4 mm and as large as 100 mm. For LLP masses below 40 GeV, these results represent the most stringent constraint in this lifetime regime.
|
ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Cardillo, F., et al. (2023). Search for flavor-changing neutral-current couplings between the top quark and the Z boson with proton-proton collisions at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Rev. D, 108(3), 032019–34pp.
Abstract: A search for flavor-changing neutral-current couplings between a top quark, an up or charm quark, and a Z boson is presented, using proton-proton collision data at root s = 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analyzed data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1). The search targets both single-top- quark events produced as gq -> tZ (with q = u, c) and top-quark-pair events, with one top quark decaying through the t -> Zq channel. The analysis considers events with three leptons (electrons or muons), a b-tagged jet, possible additional jets, and missing transverse momentum. The data are found to be consistent with the background-only hypothesis and 95% confidence-level limits on the t -> Zq branching ratios, assuming only tensor operators of the Standard Model effective field theory framework contribute to the tZq vertices. These are 6.2 x 10(-5) (13 x 10(-5)) for t -> Zu (t -> Zc) for a left-handed tZq coupling, and 6.6 x 10(-5) (12 x 10(-5)) in the case of a right-handed coupling. These results are interpreted as 95% CL upper limits on the strength of the corresponding couplings, yielding limits for |C-uW((13))*| and |C-uB((13))*| (|C-uW((31))| and |C-uB((31))|) of 0.15 (0.16), and limits for |C-uW((23))*| and |C-uB((23))*| (|C-uW((32))| and |C-uB((32))|) of 0.22 (0.21), assuming a new-physics energy scale Lambda(NP) of 1 TeV.
|
ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Cantero, J., et al. (2023). Search for flavour-changing neutral current interactions of the top quark and the Higgs boson in events with a pair of tau-leptons in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. J. High Energy Phys., 06(6), 155–57pp.
Abstract: A search for flavour-changing neutral current (FCNC) tqH interactions involving a top quark, another up-type quark (q = u, c), and a Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson decaying into a tau-lepton pair (H -> tau(+)tau(-)) is presented. The search is based on a dataset of pp collisions at root s = 13 TeV that corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1) recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Two processes are considered: single top quark FCNC production in association with a Higgs boson (pp -> tH), and top quark pair production in which one of top quarks decays into Wb and the other decays into qH through the FCNC interactions. The search selects events with two hadronically decaying tau-lepton candidates (tau(had)) or at least one tau(had) with an additional lepton (e, mu), as well as multiple jets. Event kinematics is used to separate signal from the background through a multivariate discriminant. A slight excess of data is observed with a significance of 2.3 sigma above the expected SM background, and 95% CL upper limits on the t -> qH branching ratios are derived. The observed (expected) 95% CL upper limits set on the t -> cH and t -> uH branching ratios are 9.4x10(-4)(4.8(-1.4)(+2.2) x 10(-4)) and 6.9x10(-4) (3.5(-1.0)(+1.5) x10(-4)), respectively. The corresponding combined observed (expected) upper limits on the dimension-6 operator Wilson coefficients in the effective tqH couplings are C-c phi < 1.35 (0.97) and C-u phi < 1.16 (0.82).
|
ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo, F. L., et al. (2020). Search for flavour-changing neutral currents in processes with one top quark and a photon using 81 fb(-1) of pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS experiment. Phys. Lett. B, 800, 135082–21pp.
Abstract: A search for flavour-changing neutral current (FCNC) events via the coupling of a top quark, a photon, and an up or charm quark is presented using 81 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data taken at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events with a photon, an electron or muon, a b-tagged jet, and missing transverse momentum are selected. A neural network based on kinematic variables differentiates between events from signal and background processes. The data are consistent with the background-only hypothesis, and limits are set on the strength of the tq gamma coupling in an effective field theory. These are also interpreted as 95% CL upper limits on the cross section for FCNC t gamma production via a left-handed (right-handed) tu gamma coupling of 36 fb (78 fb) and on the branching ratio for t -> gamma u of 2.8 x 10(-5) (6.1 x 10(-5)). In addition, they are interpreted as 95% CL upper limits on the cross section for FCNC t gamma production via a left-handed (right-handed) tc.coupling of 40 fb (33 fb) and on the branching ratio for t -> gamma c of 22 x 10(-5) (18 x 10(-5)).
|
ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Akiot, A., Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Bouchhar, N., et al. (2023). Search for flavour-changing neutral tqH interactions with H → γγ in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV using the ATLAS detector. J. High Energy Phys., 12(12), 195–53pp.
Abstract: A search for flavour-changing neutral interactions involving the top quark, the Higgs boson and an up-type quark q ( q = c, u) is presented. The proton-proton collision data set used, with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1), was collected at root s = 13TeV by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Both the decay process t -> qH in tt production and the production process pp. tH, with the Higgs boson decaying into two photons, are investigated. No significant excess is observed and upper limits are set on the t. cH and the t. uH branching ratios of 4.3x10(-4) and 3.8x10(-4), respectively, at the 95% confidence level, while the expected limits in the absence of signal are 4.7x10(-4) and 3.9x10(-4). Combining this search with ATLAS searches in the H. t+ t- and H. b <overline> b final states yields observed (expected) upper limits on the t -> cH branching ratio of 5.8 x 10(-4) (3.0 x 10(-4)) at the 95% confidence level. The corresponding observed (expected) upper limit on the t -> uH branching ratio is 4.0 x 10(-4) (2.4 x 10(-4)).
|
ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Cantero, J., et al. (2023). Search for flavour-changing neutral-current couplings between the top quark and the photon with the ATLAS detector at root s=13 TeV. Phys. Lett. B, 842, 137379–22pp.
Abstract: This letter documents a search for flavour-changing neutral currents (FCNCs), which are strongly sup-pressed in the Standard Model, in events with a photon and a top quark with the ATLAS detector. The analysis uses data collected in pp collisions at & RADIC;s =13 TeV during Run 2 of the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb-1. Both FCNC top-quark production and decay are considered. The final state consists of a charged lepton, missing transverse momentum, a b-tagged jet, one high-momentum photon and possibly additional jets. A multiclass deep neural network is used to classify events either as signal in one of the two categories, FCNC production or decay, or as background. No significant ex-cess of events over the background prediction is observed and 95% CL upper limits are placed on the strength of left-and right-handed FCNC interactions. The 95% CL bounds on the branching fractions for the FCNC top-quark decays, estimated (expected) from both top-quark production and decay, are B(t & RARR; u & gamma; ) < 0.85 (0.88+0.37 -0.25) x 10-5 and B(t & RARR; c & gamma; ) < 4.2 (3.40+1.35-0.95) x 10-5 for a left-handed tq & gamma; cou-pling, and B(t & RARR; u & gamma; ) < 1.2 (1.20+0.50 -0.33) x10-5 and B(t & RARR; c & gamma; ) < 4.5 (3.70+1.47 -1.03) x10-5 for a right-handed coupling.
|
ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amos, K. R., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Cardillo, F., et al. (2022). Search for flavour-changing neutral-current interactions of a top quark and a gluon in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Eur. Phys. J. C, 82(4), 334–35pp.
Abstract: A search is presented for the production of a single top quark via left-handed flavour-changing neutralcurrent (FCNC) interactions of a top quark, a gluon and an up or charm quark. Two production processes are considered: u + g -> t and c + g -> t. The analysis is based on proton-proton collision data taken at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1). Events with exactly one electron or muon, exactly one b-tagged jet and missing transverse momentum are selected, resembling the decay products of a singly produced top quark. Neural networks based on kinematic variables differentiate between events from the two signal processes and events from background processes. The measured data are consistent with the background-only hypothesis, and limits are set on the production cross-sections of the signal processes: sigma(u + g -> t) x B(t -> Wb) x B(W -> l nu) < 3.0 pb and sigma(c + g -> t) xB(t -> Wb) xB(W -> l nu) < 4.7pb at the 95% confidence level, with B(W -> l nu) = 0.325 being the sum of branching ratios of all three leptonic decay modes of the W boson. Based on the framework of an effective field theory, the cross-section limits are translated into limits on the strengths of the tug and tcg couplings occurring in the theory: vertical bar C-uG(ut)vertical bar Lambda(2) < 0.057 TeV-2 and vertical bar C-uG(ct)vertical bar Lambda(2) < 0.14 TeV-2. These bounds correspond to limits on the branching ratios of FCNC-induced top-quark decays: B(t -> u + g) < 0.61 x 10(-4) and B(t -> c + g) < 3.7 x 10(-4).
|
