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 measurement of spin correlation in t (t) over bar production is presented using data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb(-1). The correlation between the top and antitop quark spins is extracted from dilepton t (t) over bar events by using the difference in the azimuthal angle between the two charged leptons in the laboratory frame. In the helicity basis the measured degree of correlation corresponds to A(helicity) = 0.38 +/- 0.04, in agreement with the standard model prediction. A search is performed for pair production of top squarks with masses close to the top quark mass decaying to predominantly right-handed top quarks and a light neutralino, the lightest supersymmetric particle. Top squarks with masses between the top quark mass and 191 GeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level.

Abstract: In this paper, a measurement of tau polarization in W -> tau nu decays is presented. It is measured from the energies of the decay products in hadronic tau decays with a single final state charged particle. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 24 pb(-1), were collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in 2010. The measured value of the tau polarization is P-tau = -1.06 +/- 0.04 (stat)(-0.07)(+0.05) (syst), in agreement with the Standard Model prediction, and is consistent with a physically allowed 95 % CL interval [-1,-0.91]. Measurements of tau polarization have not previously been made at hadron colliders.

Abstract: Differential measurements of charged particle azimuthal anisotropy are presented for lead-lead collisions at root sNN = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, based on an integrated luminosity of approximately 8 μb(-1). This anisotropy is characterized via a Fourier expansion of the distribution of charged particles in azimuthal angle relative to the reaction plane, with the coefficients v(n) denoting the magnitude of the anisotropy. Significant v(2)-v(6) values are obtained as a function of transverse momentum (0.5 < p(T) < 20 GeV), pseudorapidity (|eta| < 2.5), and centrality using an event plane method. The v(n) values for n >= 3 are found to vary weakly with both eta and centrality, and their p(T) dependencies are found to follow an approximate scaling relation, v(n)(1/n)(p(T)) proportional to v(2)(1/2)(p(T)), except in the top 5% most central collisions. A Fourier analysis of the charged particle pair distribution in relative azimuthal angle (Delta phi = phi(a)-phi(b)) is performed to extract the coefficients v(n,n) = < cos n Delta phi >. For pairs of charged particles with a large pseudorapidity gap (|Delta eta = eta(a) – eta(b)| > 2) and one particle with p(T) < 3 GeV, the v(2,2)-v(6,6) values are found to factorize as v(n,n)(p(T)(a), p(T)(b)) approximate to v(n) (p(T)(a))v(n)(p(T)(b)) in central and midcentral events. Such factorization suggests that these values of v(2,2)-v(6,6) are primarily attributable to the response of the created matter to the fluctuations in the geometry of the initial state. A detailed study shows that the v(1,1)(p(T)(a), p(T)(b)) data are consistent with the combined contributions from a rapidity-even v(1) and global momentum conservation. A two-component fit is used to extract the v(1) contribution. The extracted v(1) isobserved to cross zero at pT approximate to 1.0 GeV, reaches a maximum at 4-5 GeV with a value comparable to that for v(3), and decreases at higher p(T).

Abstract: The b-hadron production cross section is measured with the ATLAS detector in pp collisions at root s = 7 TeV, using 3.3 pb(-1) of integrated luminosity, collected during the 2010 LHC run. The b-hadrons are selected by partially reconstructing D*(+)mu X- final states. Differential cross sections are measured as functions of the transverse momentum and pseudorapidity. The measured production cross section for a b-hadron with p(T) > 9 GeV and vertical bar eta vertical bar < 2.5 is 32.7 +/- 0.8(stat.)(-6.8)(+4.5)(syst.) μb, higher than the next-to-leading-order QCD predictions but consistent within the experimental and theoretical uncertainties.