Abstract: The yield of charged particles opposite to a Z boson with large transverse momentum (p(T)) is measured in 260 pb(-1) of pp and 1.7 nb(-1) of Pb + Pb collision data at 5.02 TeV per nucleon pair recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The Z boson tag is used to select hard-scattered partons with specific kinematics, and to observe how their showers are modified as they propagate through the quarkgluon plasma created in Pb + Pb collisions. Compared with pp collisions, charged-particle yields in Pb + Pb collisions show significant modifications as a function of charged-particle p(T) in a way that depends on event centrality and Z boson p(T). The data are compared with a variety of theoretical calculations and provide new information about the medium-induced energy loss of partons in a p(T) regime difficult to measure through other channels.

Abstract: The first measurement of longitudinal decorrelations of harmonic flow amplitudes v(n) for n = 2-4 in Xe + Xe collisions at root s(NN) = 5.44 TeV is obtained using 3 μb(-1) of data with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The decorrelation signal for v(3) and v(4) is found to be nearly independent of collision centrality and transverse momentum (p(T)) requirements on fmal-state particles, but for v(2) a strong centrality and p(T) dependence is seen. When compared with the results from Pb + Pb collisions at. root s(NN) = 5.02 TcV, the longitudinal decorrelation signal in midcentral Xe + Xe collisions is found to be larger for v(2), but smaller for v(3). Current hydrodynamic models reproduce the ratios of the v(n) measured in Xe + Xe collisions to those in Pb + Pb collisions but fail to describe the magnitudes and trends of the ratios of longitudinal flow decorrelations between Xe + Xe and Pb + Pb. The results on the system-size dependence provide new insights and an important lever arm to separate effects of the longitudinal structure of the initial state from other early and late time effects in heavy-ion collisions.

Abstract: A search for new phenomena is presented in final states with two leptons and one or no b-tagged jets. The event selection requires the two leptons to have opposite charge, the same flavor (electrons or muons), and a large invariant mass. The analysis is based on the full run-2 proton-proton collision dataset recorded at a center-of-mass energy off root S = 13 TeV by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1). No significant deviation from the expected background is observed in the data. Inspired by the B-meson decay anomalies, a four-fermion contact interaction between two quarks (b, s) and two leptons (ee or μmu) is used as a benchmark signal model, which is characterized by the energy scale and coupling, Lambda and g(*), respectively. Contact interactions with Lambda/g(*) lower than 2.0 (2.4) TeV are excluded for electrons (muons) at the 95% confidence level, still far below the value that is favored by the B-meson decay anomalies. Model-independent limits are set as a function of the minimum dilepton invariant mass, which allow the results to be reinterpreted in various signal scenarios.

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.

Abstract: Searches for the exclusive decays of the Higgs and Z bosons into a J/psi, psi(2S), or Upsilon(nS) (n = 1, 2, 3) meson and a photon are performed with a pp collision data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1) collected at root s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess of events is observed above the expected backgrounds, and 95% confidence- level upper limits on the branching fractions of the Higgs boson decays to J/psi gamma, psi(2S) gamma and Upsilon(nS) gamma of 3.5 x 10(-4), 2.0 x 10(-3), and (4.9, 5.9, 5.7) x 10(-4), respectively, are obtained assuming Standard Model production. The corresponding 95% confidence-level upper limits for the branching fractions of the Z boson decays are 2.3 x 10(-6), 4.5 x 10(-6) and (2.8, 1.7, 4.8) 10(-6), respectively.