Abstract: A measurement of b-hadron pair production is presented, based on a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 11.4 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions recorded at root s = 8TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are selected in which a b-hadron is reconstructed in a decay channel containing J = psi -> μmu, and a second b-hadron is reconstructed in a decay channel containing a muon. Results are presented in a fiducial volume de fined by kinematic requirements on three muons based on those used in the analysis. The fiducial cross section is measured to be 17.7 +/- 0.1(stat.) +/- 2.0(syst.) nb. A number of normalised differential cross sections are also measured, and compared to predictions from the PYTHIA8, HERWIG++, MADGRAPH5_AMC@NLO+PYTHIA8 and SHERPA event generators, providing new constraints on heavy flavour production.

Abstract: We present charged-particle distributions sensitive to the underlying event, measured by the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, in low-luminosity Large Hadron Collider fills corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.6 nb-1. The distributions were constructed using charged particles with absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.5 and with transverse momentum greater than 500 MeV, in events with at least one such charged particle with transverse momentum above 1 GeV. These distributions characterise the angular distribution of energy and particle flows with respect to the charged particle with highest transverse momentum, as a function of both that momentum and of charged-particle multiplicity. The results have been corrected for detector effects and are compared to the predictions of various Monte Carlo event generators, experimentally establishing the level of underlying-event activity at LHC Run 2 energies and providing inputs for the development of event generator modelling. The current models in use for UE modelling typically describe this data to 5% accuracy, compared with data uncertainties of less than 1%.

Abstract: We present measurements of cross sections for production of a leptonically decaying Z boson in association with a large-radius jet in 13 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC, using 36 fb-1 of data from the ATLAS detector. Integrated and differential cross sections are measured at particle level in both a flavor inclusive and a doubly b-tagged fiducial phase space. The large-radius jet mass and transverse momentum, its kinematic relationship to the Z boson, and the angular separation of b-tagged small-radius track jets within the large-radius jet are measured. This measurement constitutes an important test of perturbative quantum chromodynamics in kinematic and flavor configurations relevant to several Higgs boson and beyond-Standard-Model physics analyses. The results highlight issues with modeling of additional hadronic activity in the flavor-inclusive selection, and a distinction between flavor-number schemes in the b-tagged phase space.

Abstract: This paper presents a measurement of the W boson production cross section and the W+/W- cross-section ratio, both in association with jets, in proton-proton collisions at root s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The measurement is performed in final states containing one electron and missing transverse momentum using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb(-1). Differential cross sections for events with at least one or two jets are presented for a range of observables, including jet transverse momenta and rapidities, the scalar sum of transverse momenta of the visible particles and the missing transverse momentum in the event, and the transverse momentum of the W boson. For a subset of the observables, the differential cross sections of positively and negatively charged W bosons are measured separately. In the cross-section ratio of W+/W- the dominant systematic uncertainties cancel out, improving the measurement precision by up to a factor of nine. The observables and ratios selected for this paper provide valuable input for the up quark, down quark, and gluon parton distribution functions of the proton.

Abstract: This Letter presents the measurement of differential cross sections of isolated prompt photons produced in association with a b-jet or a c-jet. These final states provide sensitivity to the heavy-flavour content of the proton and aspects related to the modelling of heavy-flavour quarks in perturbative QCD. The measurement uses proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2012 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of up to 20.2 fb(-1). The differential cross sections are measured for each jet flavour with respect to the transverse energy of the leading photon in two photon pseudorapidity regions: vertical bar eta(gamma)vertical bar < 1.37 and 1.56 < vertical bar eta(gamma)vertical bar < 2.37. The measurement covers photon transverse energies 25 < E-T(gamma) < 400 GeV and 25 < E-T(gamma) < 350 GeV respectively for the two vertical bar eta(gamma)vertical bar regions. For each jet flavour, the ratio of the cross sections in the two vertical bar eta(gamma)vertical bar regions is also measured. The measurement is corrected for detector effects and compared to leading-order and next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations, based on various treatments and assumptions about the heavy-flavour content of the proton. Overall, the predictions agree well with the measurement, but some deviations are observed at high photon transverse energies. The total uncertainty in the measurement ranges between 13% and 66%, while the central gamma+b measurement exhibits the smallest uncertainty, ranging from 13% to 27%, which is comparable to the precision of the theoretical predictions.