Abstract: A search for pair production of bottom squarks in events with hadronically decaying t-leptons, b-tagged jets, and large missing transverse momentum is presented. The analyzed dataset is based on proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded by the ATLAS detector from 2015 to 2018, and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1). The observed data are compatible with the expected Standard Model background. Results are interpreted in a simplified model where each bottom squark is assumed to decay into the second-lightest neutralino (chi) over tilde (0)(2) and a bottom quark, with (chi) over tilde (0)(2) decaying into a Higgs boson and the lightest neutralino (chi) over tilde1(0). The search focuses on final states where at least one Higgs boson decays into a pair of hadronically decaying t-leptons. This allows the acceptance and thus the sensitivity to be significantly improved relative to the previous results at low masses of the (chi) over tilde (0)(2), where bottom-squark masses up to 850 GeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level, assuming a mass difference of 130 GeV between (chi) over tilde (0)(2) and (chi) over tilde (0)(1). Model-independent upper limits are also set on the cross section of processes beyond the Standard Model.

Abstract: A search is performed for the electroweak pair production of charginos and associated production of a chargino and neutralino, each of which decays through an R-parity-violating coupling into a lepton and a W, Z, or Higgs boson. The trilepton invariant-mass spectrum is constructed from events with three or more leptons, targeting chargino decays that include an electron or muon and a leptonically decaying Z boson. The analyzed dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data produced by the Large Hadron Collider at a center-of-mass energy of root s = 13 TeV and collected by the ATLAS experiment between 2015 and 2018. The data are found to be consistent with predictions from the Standard Model. The results are interpreted as limits at 95% confidence level on model-independent cross sections for processes beyond the Standard Model. Limits are also set on the production of charginos and neutralinos for a minimal supersymmetric Standard Model with an approximate B – L symmetry. Charginos and neutralinos with masses between 100 and 1100 GeV are excluded depending on the assumed decay branching fractions into a lepton (electron, muon, or tau lepton) plus a boson (W, Z, or Higgs).

Abstract: A search for long-lived particles decaying into hadrons and at least one muon is presented. The analysis selects events that pass a muon or missing-transverse-momentum trigger and contain a displaced muon track and a displaced vertex. The analyzed dataset of proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV was collected with the ATLAS detector and corresponds to 136 fb(-1). The search employs dedicated reconstruction techniques that significantly increase the sensitivity to long-lived particle decays that occur in the ATLAS inner detector. Background estimates for Standard Model processes and instrumental effects are extracted from data. The observed event yields are compatible with those expected from background processes. The results are presented as limits at 95% confidence level on model-independent cross sections for processes beyond the Standard Model, and interpreted as exclusion limits in scenarios with pair production of long-lived top squarks that decay via a small R-parity-violating coupling into a quark and a muon. Top squarks with masses up to 1.7 TeV are excluded for a lifetime of 0.1 ns, and masses below 1.3 TeV are excluded for lifetimes between 0.01 ns and 30 ns.

Abstract: This paper describes a search for beyond the Standard Model decays of the Higgs boson into a pair of new spin-0 particles subsequently decaying into b-quark pairs, H -> aa (b (b) over bar)(b (b) over bar), using proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at center-of-mass energy root s = 13 TeV. This search focuses on the range 15 GeV <= m(a) <= 30 GeV, where the decay products are collimated; it is complementary to a previous search in the same final state targeting the range 20 GeV <= m(a) <= 60 GeV, where the decay products are well separated. A novel strategy for the identification of the a -> b (b) over bar decays is deployed to enhance the efficiency for topologies with small separation angles. The search is performed with 36 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity collected in 2015 and 2016 and sets upper limits on the production cross section of H -> as -> (b (b) over bar)(b (b) over bar), where the Higgs boson is produced in association with a Z boson.

Abstract: This paper describes the measurements of flow harmonics v(2)-v(6) in 3 μb(-1) of Xe Xe collisions at root S-NN = 5.44 TeV performed using the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Measurements of the centrality, multiplicity, and p(T) dependence of the v(n) obtained using two-particle correlations and the scalar product technique are presented. The measurements are also performed using a template-fit procedure, which was developed to remove nonflow correlations in small collision systems. This nonflow removal is shown to have a significant influence on the measured v(n) at high p(T), especially in peripheral events. Comparisons of the measured v(n) with measurements in Pb + Pb collisions and p + Pb collisions at root S-NN = 5.02 TeV are also presented. The v(n) values in Xe + Xe collisions are observed to be larger than those in Pb + Pb collisions for n = 2, 3, and 4 in the most central events. However, with decreasing centrality or increasing harmonic order n, the v(n) values in Xe + Xe collisions become smaller than those in Pb + Pb collisions. The v(n) in Xe + Xe and Pb + Pb collisions are also compared as a function of the mean number of participating nucleons, < N-part >, and the measured charged-particle multiplicity in the detector. The v(3) values in Xe + Xe and Pb + Pb collisions are observed to be similar at the same < N-part > or multiplicity, but the other harmonics are significantly different. The ratios of the measured v(n) in Xe + Xe and Pb + Pb collisions, as a function of centrality, are also compared to theoretical calculations.