ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., et al. (2019). Search for heavy charged long-lived particles in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV using an ionisation measurement with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Lett. B, 788, 96–116.
Abstract: This Letter presents a search for heavy charged long-lived particles produced in proton-proton collisions at root s= 13 TeV at the LHC using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1) collected by the ATLAS experiment in 2015 and 2016. These particles are expected to travel with a velocity significantly below the speed of light, and therefore have a specific ionisation higher than any high-momentum Standard Model particle of unit charge. The pixel subsystem of the ATLAS detector is used in this search to measure the ionisation energy loss of all reconstructed charged particles which traverse the pixel detector. Results are interpreted assuming the pair production of R-hadrons as composite colourless states of a long-lived gluino and Standard Model partons. No significant deviation from Standard Model background expectations is observed, and lifetime-dependent upper limits on R-hadron production cross-sections and gluino masses are set, assuming the gluino always decays to two quarks and a 100 GeV stable neutralino. R-hadrons with lifetimes above 1.0 ns are excluded at the 95% confidence level, with lower limits on the gluino mass ranging between 1290 GeV and 2060 GeV. In the case of stable R-hadrons, the lower limit on the gluino mass at the 95% confidence level is 1890 GeV.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., et al. (2018). Observation of H -> b(b)over-bar decays and V H production with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Lett. B, 786, 59–86.
Abstract: A search for the decay of the Standard Model Higgs boson into a b (b) over bar pair when produced in association with a W or Z boson is performed with the ATLAS detector. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 79.8 fb(-1) were collected in proton-proton collisions during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. For a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV, an excess of events over the expected background from other Standard Model processes is found with an observed (expected) significance of 4.9 (4.3) standard deviations. A combination with the results from other searches in Run 1 and in Run 2 for the Higgs boson in the bb decay mode is performed, which yields an observed (expected) significance of 5.4 (5.5) standard deviations, thus providing direct observation of the Higgs boson decay into b-quarks. The ratio of the measured event yield for a Higgs boson decaying into b (b) over bar to the Standard Model expectation is 1.01 +/- 0.12(stat.) (-0.15) (+0.16)(syst.). Additionally, a combination of Run 2 results searching for the Higgs boson produced in association with a vector boson yields an observed (expected) significance of 5.3 (4.8) standard deviations.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aaboud, M. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Bailey, A. J., Barranco Navarro, L., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., et al. (2018). Comparison between simulated and observed LHC beam backgrounds in the ATLAS experiment at E-beam=4 TeV. J. Instrum., 13, P12006–41pp.
Abstract: Results of dedicated Monte Carlo simulations of beam-induced background (BIB) in the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are presented and compared with data recorded in 2012. During normal physics operation this background arises mainly from scattering of the 4 TeV protons on residual gas in the beam pipe. Methods of reconstructing the BIB signals in the ATLAS detector, developed and implemented in the simulation chain based on the FLUKA Monte Carlo simulation package, are described. The interaction rates are determined from the residual gas pressure distribution in the LHC ring in order to set an absolute scale on the predicted rates of BIB so that they can be compared quantitatively with data. Through these comparisons the origins of the BIB leading to different observables in the ATLAS detectors are analysed. The level of agreement between simulation results and BIB measurements by ATLAS in 2012 demonstrates that a good understanding of the origin of BIB has been reached.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Ferrer, A., Fiorini, L., et al. (2016). Centrality, rapidity, and transverse momentum dependence of isolated prompt photon production in lead-lead collisions at root S-NN=2.76 TeV measured with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Rev. C, 93(3), 034914–28pp.
Abstract: Prompt photon production in root S-NN = 2.76-TeV Pb + Pb collisions has been measured by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider using data collected in 2011 with an integrated luminosity of 0.14 nb(-1). Inclusive photon yields, scaled by the mean nuclear thickness function, are presented as a function of collision centrality and transverse momentum in two pseudorapidity intervals, vertical bar eta vertical bar < 1.37 and 1.52 <= vertical bar eta vertical bar < 2.37. The scaled yields in the two pseudorapidity intervals, as well as the ratios of the forward yields to those at midrapidity, are compared to the expectations from next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD (pQCD) calculations. The measured cross sections agree well with the predictions for proton-proton collisions within statistical and systematic uncertainties. Both the yields and the ratios are also compared to two other pQCD calculations, one which uses the isospin content appropriate to colliding lead nuclei and another which includes nuclear modifications to the nucleon parton distribution functions.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Fernandez Martinez, P., et al. (2016). Measurement of the charge asymmetry in top-quark pair production in the lepton-plus-jets final state in pp collision data at root s=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Eur. Phys. J. C, 76(2), 87–30pp.
Abstract: This paper reports inclusive and differential measurements of the t (t) over bar charge asymmetry A(C) in 20.3 fb(-1) of root s = 8 TeV pp collisions recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Three differential measurements are performed as a function of the invariant mass, transverse momentum and longitudinal boost of the t (t) over bar system. The t (t) over bar pairs are selected in the single-lepton channels (e or mu) with at least four jets, and a likelihood fit is used to reconstruct the t (t) over bar event kinematics. A Bayesian unfolding procedure is performed to infer the asymmetry at parton level from the observed data distribution. The inclusive t (t) over bar charge asymmetry is measured to be A(C) = 0.009 +/- 0.005 (stat. + syst.). The inclusive and differential measurements are compatible with the values predicted by the Standard Model.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Cerda Alberich, L., Costa, M. J., et al. (2016). Observation of Long-Range Elliptic Azimuthal Anisotropies in root s=13 and 2.76 TeV pp Collisions with the ATLAS Detector. Phys. Rev. Lett., 116(17), 172301–20pp.
Abstract: ATLAS has measured two-particle correlations as a function of the relative azimuthal angle, Delta phi, and pseudorapidity, Delta eta, in root s = 13 and 2.76 TeV pp collisions at the LHC using charged particles measured in the pseudorapidity interval vertical bar eta vertical bar < 2.5. The correlation functions evaluated in different intervals of measured charged-particle multiplicity show a multiplicity-dependent enhancement at Delta phi similar to 0 that extends over a wide range of Delta eta, which has been referred to as the “ridge.” Per-trigger-particle yields, Y(Delta phi) are measured over 2 < vertical bar Delta eta vertical bar < 5. For both collision energies, the Y(Delta phi) distribution in all multiplicity intervals is found to be consistent with a linear combination of the per-trigger-particle yields measured in collisions with less than 2 phi reconstructed tracks, and a constant combinatoric contribution modulated by cos (2 Delta phi). The fitted Fourier coefficient, nu(2,2), exhibits factorization, suggesting that the ridge results from per-event cos (2 phi) modulation of the single-particle distribution with Fourier coefficients nu(2). The nu(2) values are presented as a function of multiplicity and transverse momentum. They are found to be approximately constant as a function of multiplicity and to have a p(T) dependence similar to that measured in p + Pb and Pb + Pb collisions. The nu(2) values in the 13 and 2.76 TeV data are consistent within uncertainties. These results suggest that the ridge in pp collisions arises from the same or similar underlying physics as observed in p + Pb collisions, and that the dynamics responsible for the ridge has no strong root s dependence.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Fernandez Martinez, P., et al. (2016). Measurement of jet charge in dijet events from root s=8 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Rev. D, 93(5), 052003–35pp.
Abstract: The momentum-weighted sum of the charges of tracks associated to a jet is sensitive to the charge of the initiating quark or gluon. This paper presents a measurement of the distribution of momentum-weighted sums, called jet charge, in dijet events using 20.3 fb(-1) of data recorded with the ATLAS detector at root s = 8 TeV in pp collisions at the LHC. The jet charge distribution is unfolded to remove distortions from detector effects and the resulting particle-level distribution is compared with several models. The p(T) dependence of the jet charge distribution average and standard deviation are compared to predictions obtained with several leading-order and next-to-leading-order parton distribution functions. The data are also compared to different Monte Carlo simulations of QCD dijet production using various settings of the free parameters within these models. The chosen value of the strong coupling constant used to calculate gluon radiation is found to have a significant impact on the predicted jet charge. There is evidence for a pT dependence of the jet charge distribution for a given jet flavor. In agreement with perturbative QCD predictions, the data show that the average jet charge of quark-initiated jets decreases in magnitude as the energy of the jet increases.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Fernandez Martinez, P., et al. (2016). Search for the electroweak production of supersymmetric particles in root s=8 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Rev. D, 93(5), 052002–50pp.
Abstract: The ATLAS experiment has performed extensive searches for the electroweak production of charginos, neutralinos, and staus. This article summarizes and extends the search for electroweak supersymmetry with new analyses targeting scenarios not covered by previously published searches. New searches use vector-boson fusion production, initial-state radiation jets, and low-momentum lepton final states, as well as multivariate analysis techniques to improve the sensitivity to scenarios with small mass splittings and low-production cross sections. Results are based on 20 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data at root s = 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess beyond Standard Model expectations is observed. The new and existing searches are combined and interpreted in terms of 95% confidence-level exclusion limits in simplified models, where a single production process and decay mode is assumed, as well as within phenomenological supersymmetric models.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Fernandez Martinez, P., et al. (2016). Search for magnetic monopoles and stable particles with high electric charges in 8 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Rev. D, 93(5), 052009–25pp.
Abstract: A search for highly ionizing particles produced in proton-proton collisions at 8 TeV center-of-mass energy is performed by the ATLAS Collaboration at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The data set used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 7.0 fb(-1). A customized trigger significantly increases the sensitivity, permitting a search for such particles with charges and energies beyond what was previously accessible. No events were found in the signal region, leading to production cross section upper limits in the mass range 200-2500 GeV for magnetic monopoles with magnetic charge in the range 0.5g(D) < vertical bar g vertical bar < 2.0g(D), where g(D) is the Dirac charge, and for stable particles with electric charge in the range 10 < vertical bar z vertical bar < 60. Model-dependent limits are presented in given pair-production scenarios, and model-independent limits are presented in fiducial regions of particle energy and pseudorapidity.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Cerda Alberich, L., Costa, M. J., et al. (2016). Search for anomalous couplings in the Wtb vertex from the measurement of double differential angular decay rates of single top quarks produced in the t-channel with the ATLAS detector. J. High Energy Phys., 04(4), 023–46pp.
Abstract: The electroweak production and subsequent decay of single top quarks is determined by the properties of the Wtb vertex. This vertex can be described by the complex parameters of an effective Lagrangian. An analysis of angular distributions of the decay products of single top quarks produced in the t-channel constrains these parameters simultaneously. The analysis described in this paper uses 4.6 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data at root s = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Two parameters are measured simultaneously in this analysis. The fraction f(1) of decays containing transversely polarised W bosons is measured to be 0.37 +/- 0.07 (stat. circle plus syst.). The phase delta_ between amplitudes for transversely and longitudinally polarised W bosons recoiling against lefthanded b-quarks is measured to be -0.014 pi +/- 0.036 pi (stat. circle plus syst.). The correlation in the measurement of these parameters is 0.15. These values result in two-dimensional limits at the 95% confidence level on the ratio of the complex coupling parameters g(R) and V-L, yielding R-e[g(R)/V-L] is an element of [-0.36; 0.10] and Im[g(R)/V-L] is an element of [-0.17; 0.23] with a correlation of 0.11. The results are in good agreement with the predictions of the Standard Model.
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