Abstract: The production of two prompt J/psi mesons, each with transverse momenta p(T) > 8.5 GeV and rapidity vertical bar y vertical bar < 2.1, is studied using a sample of proton-proton collisions at root s = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 11.4 fb(-1) collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The differential cross-section, assuming unpolarised J/psi production, is measured as a function of the transverse momentum of the lower-p(T) J/psi meson, di-J/psi p(T) and mass, the difference in rapidity between the two J/psi mesons, and the azimuthal angle between the two J/psi mesons. The fraction of prompt pair events due to double parton scattering is determined by studying kinematic correlations between the two J/psi mesons. The total and double parton scattering cross-sections are compared with predictions. The effective cross-section of double parton scattering is measured to be sigma(eff) = 6.3 +/- 1.6(stat) +/- 1.0(syst) mb.

Abstract: This paper describes the algorithms for the reconstruction and identification of electrons in the central region of the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). These algorithms were used for all ATLAS results with electrons in the final state that are based on the 2012 pp collision data produced by the LHC at root s = 8 TeV. The efficiency of these algorithms, together with the charge misidentification rate, is measured in data and evaluated in simulated samples using electrons from Z -> ee, Z -> ee gamma and J/Psi -> ee decays. For these efficiency measurements, the full recorded data set, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb(-1), is used. Based on a new reconstruction algorithm used in 2012, the electron reconstruction efficiency is 97% for electrons with E-T = 15 GeV and 99% at E-T = 50 GeV. Combining this with the efficiency of additional selection criteria to reject electrons from background processes or misidentified hadrons, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify electrons at the ATLAS experiment varies from 65 to 95%, depending on the transverse momentum of the electron and background rejection.

Abstract: During 2015 the ATLAS experiment recorded 3.8 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The ATLAS trigger system is a crucial component of the experiment, responsible for selecting events of interest at a recording rate of approximately 1 kHz from up to 40 MHz of collisions. This paper presents a short overview of the changes to the trigger and data acquisition systems during the first long shutdown of the LHC and shows the performance of the trigger system and its components based on the 2015 proton-proton collision data.

Abstract: Two searches for new phenomena in final states containing a same-flavour opposite-sign lepton (electron or muon) pair, jets, and large missing transverse momentum are presented. These searches make use of proton-proton collision data, collected during 2015 and 2016 at a centre-of-mass energy root s = 13 TeV by the ATLAS detector at the large hadron collider, which correspond to an integrated luminosity of 14.7 fb(-1). Both searches target the pair production of supersymmetric particles, squarks or gluinos, which decay to final states containing a same-flavour opposite-sign lepton pair via one of two mechanisms: a leptonically decaying Z boson in the final state, leading to a peak in the dilepton invariant-mass distribution around the Z boson mass; and decays of neutralinos (e.g.. (chi) over tilde (0)(2) -> l(+)l(-1)(chi) over tilde (0)(1)), yielding a kinematic endpoint in the dilepton invariant-mass spectrum. The data are found to be consistent with the Standard Model expectation. Results are interpreted in simplified models of gluino-pair (squark-pair) production, and provide sensitivity to gluinos (squarks) with masses as large as 1.70 TeV (980 GeV).

Abstract: Measurements of jet activity in top-quark pair events produced in proton-proton collisions are presented, using 3.2 fb of pp collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Events are chosen by requiring an opposite-charge pair and two b-tagged jets in the final state. The normalised differential cross-sections of top-quark pair production are presented as functions of additional-jet multiplicity and transverse momentum, . The fraction of signal events that do not contain additional jet activity in a given rapidity region, the gap fraction, is measured as a function of the threshold for additional jets, and is also presented for different invariant mass regions of the system. All measurements are corrected for detector effects and presented as particle-level distributions compared to predictions with different theoretical approaches for QCD radiation. While the kinematics of the jets from top-quark decays are described well, the generators show differing levels of agreement with the measurements of observables that depend on the production of additional jets.