Abstract: Using a sample of dilepton top-quark pair ((tt) over bar) candidate events, a study is performed of the production of top-quark pairs together with heavy-flavor (HF) quarks, the sum of (tt) over bar + b + X and (tt) over bar + c + X, collectively referred to as (tt) over bar + HF. The data set used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The presence of additional HF (b or c) quarks in the (tt) over bar sample is inferred by looking for events with at least three b-tagged jets, where two are attributed to the b quarks from the (tt) over bar decays and the third to additional HF production. The dominant background to (tt) over bar + HF in this sample is (tt) over bar + jet events in which a light-flavor jet is misidentified as a heavy-flavor jet. To determine the heavy-and light-flavor content of the additional b-tagged jets, a fit to the vertex mass distribution of b-tagged jets in the sample is performed. The result of the fit shows that 79 +/- 14 (stat) +/- 22 (syst) of the 105 selected extra b-tagged jets originate from HF quarks, 3 standard deviations away from the hypothesis of zero (tt) over bar + HF production. The result for extra HF production is quoted as a ratio (R-HF) of the cross section for (tt) over bar + HF production to the cross section for (tt) over bar production with at least one additional jet. Both cross sections are measured in a fiducial kinematic region within the ATLAS acceptance. R-HF is measured to be [6.2 +/- 1.1(stat) +/- 1.8 (syst)]% for jets with p(T) > 25 GeV and vertical bar eta vertical bar < 2.5, in agreement with the expectations from Monte Carlo generators.

Abstract: A study of B-c(+) -> J/psi D-s(+) and B-c(+)-> J/psi D-s*(+) decays using 139 fb(-1) of in- tegrated luminosity collected with the ATLAS detector from root s = 13 TeV pp collisions at the LHC is presented. The ratios of the branching fractions of the two decays to the branching fraction of the B-c(+) -> J/psi pi(+) decay are measured: B(B-c(+) -> J/psi D-s(+))/B(B-c(+) -> J/psi pi(+)) = 2.76 +/- 0.47 and B(B-c(+)-> J/psi D-s*(+))/B(B-c(+) -> J/psi pi(+)) = 5.33 +/- 0.96. The ratio of the branching fractions of the two decays is found to be B(B-c(+)-> J/psi D-s*(+))/B(B-c(+) -> J/psi D-s(+)) = 1.93 +/- 0.26. For the B-c(+)-> J/psi D-s*(+) decay, the transverse polarization fraction, Gamma(+/-+/-)/Gamma, is measured to be 0.70 +/- 0.11. The reported uncertainties include both the statistical and systematic components added in quadrature. The precision of the measurements exceeds that in all previous studies of these decays. These results supersede those obtained in the earlier ATLAS study of the same decays with root s = 7 and 8 TeV pp collision data. A comparison with available theoretical predictions for the measured quantities is presented.

Abstract: The production of a Z boson and a photon in association with a high-mass dijet system is studied using 20.2 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 8TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector in 2012 at the Large Hadron Collider. Final states with a photon and a Z boson decaying into a pair of either electrons, muons, or neutrinos are analysed. Electroweak and total pp -> Z gamma jj cross-sections are extracted in two fiducial regions with different sensitivities to electroweak production processes. Quartic couplings of vector bosons are studied in regions of phase space with an enhanced contribution from pure electroweak production, sensitive to vector-boson scattering processes VV -> Z gamma. No deviations from Standard Model predictions are observed and constraints are placed on anomalous couplings parameterized by higher-dimensional operators using effective field theory.