Abstract: A search is presented for displaced production of Higgs bosons or Z bosons, originating from the decay of a neutral long-lived particle (LLP) and reconstructed in the decay modes H -& gamma;& gamma; and Z -ee. The analysis uses the full Run 2 dataset of proton-proton collisions delivered by the LHC at an energy of p1/4 13 TeV between 2015 and 2018 and recorded by the ATLAS detector, corresponding to an ffiffi s integrated luminosity of 139 fb-1. Exploiting the capabilities of the ATLAS liquid argon calorimeter to precisely measure the arrival times and trajectories of electromagnetic objects, the analysis searches for the signature of pairs of photons or electrons which arise from a common displaced vertex and which arrive after some delay at the calorimeter. The results are interpreted in a gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking model with pair-produced Higgsinos that decay to LLPs, and each LLP subsequently decays into either a Higgs boson or a Z boson. The final state includes at least two particles that escape direct detection, giving rise to missing transverse momentum. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation. The results are used to set upper limits on the cross section for Higgsino pair production, up to a & chi;& SIM;01 mass of 369 (704) GeV for decays with 100% branching ratio of & chi; & SIM;01 to Higgs (Z) bosons for a & chi;& SIM;01 lifetime of 2 ns. A model-independent limit is also set on the production of pairs of photons or electrons with a significant delay in arrival at the calorimeter.

Abstract: Searches for the exclusive decays of the Higgs and Z bosons into a J/psi, psi(2S), or Upsilon(nS) (n = 1, 2, 3) meson and a photon are performed with a pp collision data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1) collected at root s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess of events is observed above the expected backgrounds, and 95% confidence- level upper limits on the branching fractions of the Higgs boson decays to J/psi gamma, psi(2S) gamma and Upsilon(nS) gamma of 3.5 x 10(-4), 2.0 x 10(-3), and (4.9, 5.9, 5.7) x 10(-4), respectively, are obtained assuming Standard Model production. The corresponding 95% confidence-level upper limits for the branching fractions of the Z boson decays are 2.3 x 10(-6), 4.5 x 10(-6) and (2.8, 1.7, 4.8) 10(-6), respectively.

Abstract: Searches for scalar leptoquarks pair-produced in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider are performed by the ATLAS experiment. A data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1) is used. Final states containing two electrons or two muons and two or more jets are studied, as are states with one electron or muon, missing transverse momentum and two or more jets. No statistically significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed. The observed and expected lower limits on the leptoquark mass at 95% confidence level extend up to 1.29 TeV and 1.23 TeV for first-and second-generation leptoquarks, respectively, as postulated in the minimal Buchmuller-Ruckl-Wyler model, assuming a branching ratio into a charged lepton and a quark of 50%. In addition, measurements of particle-level fiducial and differential cross sections are presented for the Z -> ee, Z -> μμand t (t) over bar processes in several regions related to the search control regions. Predictions from a range of generators are compared with the measurements, and good agreement is seen for many of the observables. However, the predictions for the Z -> ll measurements in observables sensitive to jet energies disagree with the data.

Abstract: The inclusive production of four isolated charged leptons in pp collisions is analysed for the presence of hard double-parton scattering, using 20.2 fb(-1) of data recorded in the ATLAS detector at the LHC at centre-of-mass energy root s = 8 TeV. In the four-lepton invariant-mass range of 80 < m(4l) < 1000 GeV, an artificial neural network is used to enhance the separation between single- and double-parton scattering based on the kinematics of the four leptons in the final state. An upper limit on the fraction of events originating from double-parton scattering is determined at 95% confidence level to be f(DPS) = 0.042, which results in an estimated lower limit on the effective cross section at 95% confidence level of 1.0 mb.

Abstract: A test of CP invariance in Higgs boson production via vector-boson fusion is performed in the H -> tau tau decay channel. This test uses the Optimal Observable method and is carried out using 36.1 fb(-1) of root s = 13 TeV proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Contributions from CP-violating interactions between the Higgs boson and electroweak gauge bosons are described by an effective field theory, in which the parameter (d) over tilde governs the strength of CP violation. No sign of CP violation is observed in the distributions of the Optimal Observable, and (d) over tilde is constrained to the interval [-0.090, 0.035] at the 68% confidence level (CL), compared to an expected interval of (d) over tilde is an element of [ -0.035, 0.033] based upon the Standard Model prediction. No constraints can be set on (d) over tilde at 95% CL, while an expected 95% CL interval of (d) over tilde is an element of [ -0.21, 0.15] for the Standard Model hypothesis was expected.