Abstract: The inclusive production rates of isolated, prompt photons in p Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 8.16 TeV are studied with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider using a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 165 nb(-1) recorded in 2016. The cross-section and nuclear modification factor R-p pb are measured as a function of photon transverse energy from 20 GeV to 550 GeV and in three nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass pseudorapidity regions, (-2.83, -2.02), (-1.84, 0.91), and (1.09, 1.90). The cross-section and R-p pb values are compared with the results of a next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculation, with and without nuclear parton distribution function modifications, and with expectations based on a model of the energy loss of partons prior to the hard scattering. The data disfavour a large amount of energy loss and provide new constraints on the parton densities in nuclei.

Abstract: Cross-sections of associated production of a Higgs boson decaying into bottomquark pairs and an electroweak gauge boson, W or Z, decaying into leptons are measured as a function of the gauge boson transverse momentum. The measurements are performed in kinematic fiducial volumes defined in the simplified template cross-section' framework. The results are obtained using 79.8 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. All measurements are found to be in agreement with the Standard Model predictions, and limits are set on the parameters of an effective Lagrangian sensitive to modifications of the Higgs boson couplings to the electroweak gauge bosons.

Abstract: A measurement of observables sensitive to spin correlations in tt<overbar></mml:mover> production is presented, using 36.1 fb-1 of pp collision data at <mml:msqrt>s</mml:msqrt>=13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Differential cross-sections are measured in events with exactly one electron and one muon with opposite-sign electric charge as a function of the azimuthal opening angle and the absolute difference in pseudorapidity between the electron and muon candidates in the laboratory frame. The azimuthal opening angle is also measured as a function of the invariant mass of the t<mml:mover accent=“true”>t<mml:mo stretchy=“false”><overbar></mml:mover> system. The measured differential cross-sections are compared to predictions by several NLO Monte Carlo generators and fixed-order calculations. The observed degree of spin correlation is somewhat higher than predicted by the generators used. The data are consistent with the prediction of one of the fixed-order calculations at NLO, but agree less well with higher-order predictions. Using these leptonic observables, a search is performed for pair production of supersymmetric top squarks decaying into Standard Model top quarks and light neutralinos. Top squark masses between 170 and 230 GeV are largely excluded at the 95% confidence level for kinematically allowed values of the neutralino mass.

Abstract: A search for the production of three massive vector bosons in proton-proton collisions is performed using data at root s = 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in the years 2015-2017, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 79.8 fb(-1). Events with two same-sign leptons l (electrons or muons) and at least two reconstructed jets are selected to search for WWW -> l nu l nu qq. Events with three leptons without any same-flavour opposite-sign lepton pairs are used to search for WWW > l nu l nu l nu, while events with three leptons and at least one same-flavour opposite-sign lepton pair and one or more reconstructed jets are used to search for WWZ -> l nu qqll. Finally, events with four leptons are analysed to search for WWZ > l nu l nu ll and WZZ > qqllll. Evidence for the joint production of three massive vector bosons is observed with a significance of 4.1 standard deviations, where the expectation is 3.1 standard deviations.

Abstract: Multi-particle azimuthal cumulants are measured as a function of centrality and transverse momentum using 470 μb(-1) of Pb+Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 5.02TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. These cumulants provide information on the event-by-event fluctuations of harmonic flow coefficients v(n) and correlated fluctuations between two harmonics v(n) and v(m). For the first time, a non-zero four-particle cumulant is observed for dipolar flow, v(1). The four-particle cumulants for elliptic flow, v(2), and triangular flow, v(3), exhibit a strong centrality dependence and change sign in ultra-central collisions. This sign change is consistent with significant non-Gaussian fluctuations in v(2) and v(3). The four-particle cumulant for quadrangular flow, v(4), is found to change sign in mid-central collisions. Correlations between two harmonics are studied with three- and four-particle mixed-harmonic cumulants, which indicate an anti-correlation between v(2) and v(3), and a positive correlation between v(2) and v(4). These correlations decrease in strength towards central collisions and either approach zero or change sign in ultra-central collisions. To investigate the possible flow fluctuations arising from intrinsic centrality or volume fluctuations, the results are compared between two different event classes used for centrality definitions. In peripheral and mid-central collisions where the cumulant signals are large, only small differences are observed. In ultra-central collisions, the differences are much larger and transverse momentum dependent. These results provide new information to disentangle flow fluctuations from the initial and final states, as well as new insights on the influence of centrality fluctuations.