Abstract: The production of a W boson in association with a single charm quark is studied using 140 fb(-1) of vS = 13 TeV proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. ffiffis The charm quark is tagged by the presence of a charmed hadron reconstructed with a secondary-vertex fit. The W boson is reconstructed from the decay to either an electron or a muon and the missing transverse momentum present in the event. The charmed mesons reconstructed are D+ ?K-p+p+ and D*+ ? D0p+ ? (K-p+)p+ and the charge conjugate decays in the fiducial regions where pT(e; mu) > 30 GeV, l?(e; mu)l < 2.5, pT(D(*)) > 8 GeV, and l?(D(*))l < 2.2. The integrated and normalized differential cross sections as a function of the pseudorapidity of the lepton from the W boson decay, and of the transverse momentum of the charmed hadron, are extracted from the data using a profile likelihood fit. The measured total fiducial cross sections are sfidOS-SS(W- + D+) = 50.2 + 0.2(stat)+2.4 -2.3(syst) pb, s(OS-SS) (fid)(W- + D+) = 48.5 + 0.2(stat)+2.3-2.2(syst) pb, sfidOS-SS(W- + D*+) = 51.1 + 0.4(stat)+1.9 -1.8 (syst) pb, and s(OS-SS) (fid)(W+ + D*-) = 50.0 + 0.4(stat)+1.9 -1.8 (syst) pb. Results are compared with the predictions of next-to-leading-order quantum chromodynamics calculations performed using state-of-the-art parton distribution functions. Additionally, the ratio of charm to anticharm production cross sections is studied to probe the s -s- quark asymmetry. The ratio is found to be R+ c = 0.971 + 0.006(stat) + 0.011(syst). The ratio and cross-section measurements are consistent with the predictions obtained with parton distribution function sets that have a symmetric s -s- sea, indicating that any s -s- asymmetry in the Bjorken-x region relevant for this measurement is small.

Abstract: A search is presented for displaced production of Higgs bosons or Z bosons, originating from the decay of a neutral long-lived particle (LLP) and reconstructed in the decay modes H -& gamma;& gamma; and Z -ee. The analysis uses the full Run 2 dataset of proton-proton collisions delivered by the LHC at an energy of p1/4 13 TeV between 2015 and 2018 and recorded by the ATLAS detector, corresponding to an ffiffi s integrated luminosity of 139 fb-1. Exploiting the capabilities of the ATLAS liquid argon calorimeter to precisely measure the arrival times and trajectories of electromagnetic objects, the analysis searches for the signature of pairs of photons or electrons which arise from a common displaced vertex and which arrive after some delay at the calorimeter. The results are interpreted in a gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking model with pair-produced Higgsinos that decay to LLPs, and each LLP subsequently decays into either a Higgs boson or a Z boson. The final state includes at least two particles that escape direct detection, giving rise to missing transverse momentum. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation. The results are used to set upper limits on the cross section for Higgsino pair production, up to a & chi;& SIM;01 mass of 369 (704) GeV for decays with 100% branching ratio of & chi; & SIM;01 to Higgs (Z) bosons for a & chi;& SIM;01 lifetime of 2 ns. A model-independent limit is also set on the production of pairs of photons or electrons with a significant delay in arrival at the calorimeter.

Abstract: We present measurements of cross sections for production of a leptonically decaying Z boson in association with a large-radius jet in 13 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC, using 36 fb-1 of data from the ATLAS detector. Integrated and differential cross sections are measured at particle level in both a flavor inclusive and a doubly b-tagged fiducial phase space. The large-radius jet mass and transverse momentum, its kinematic relationship to the Z boson, and the angular separation of b-tagged small-radius track jets within the large-radius jet are measured. This measurement constitutes an important test of perturbative quantum chromodynamics in kinematic and flavor configurations relevant to several Higgs boson and beyond-Standard-Model physics analyses. The results highlight issues with modeling of additional hadronic activity in the flavor-inclusive selection, and a distinction between flavor-number schemes in the b-tagged phase space.