A measurement of the total pp cross section at the LHC at s=7 TeV is presented. In a special run with high-β⋆ beam optics, an integrated luminosity of 80 μb−1 was accumulated in order to measure the ...differential elastic cross section as a function of the Mandelstam momentum transfer variable t. The measurement is performed with the ALFA sub-detector of ATLAS. Using a fit to the differential elastic cross section in the |t| range from 0.01 GeV2 to 0.1 GeV2 to extrapolate to |t|→0, the total cross section, σtot(pp→X), is measured via the optical theorem to be:σtot(pp→X)=95.35±0.38(stat.)±1.25(exp.)±0.37(extr.)mb, where the first error is statistical, the second accounts for all experimental systematic uncertainties and the last is related to uncertainties in the extrapolation to |t|→0. In addition, the slope of the elastic cross section at small |t| is determined to be B=19.73±0.14(stat.)±0.26(syst.) GeV−2.
Measurements of charged-particle fragmentation functions of jets produced in ultra-relativistic nuclear collisions can provide insight into the modification of parton showers in the hot, dense medium ...created in the collisions. ATLAS has measured jets in sNN=2.76 TeV Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC using a data set recorded in 2011 with an integrated luminosity of 0.14 nb−1. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameter values R=0.2,0.3,and 0.4. Distributions of charged-particle transverse momentum and longitudinal momentum fraction are reported for seven bins in collision centrality for R=0.4 jets with pTjet>100 GeV. Commensurate minimum pT values are used for the other radii. Ratios of fragment distributions in each centrality bin to those measured in the most peripheral bin are presented. These ratios show a reduction of fragment yield in central collisions relative to peripheral collisions at intermediate z values, 0.04≲z≲0.2, and an enhancement in fragment yield for z≲0.04. A smaller, less significant enhancement is observed at large z and large pT in central collisions.
A search for a heavy, CP-odd Higgs boson, A, decaying into a Z boson and a 125 GeV Higgs boson, h, with the ATLAS detector at the LHC is presented. The search uses proton–proton collision data at a ...centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1. Decays of CP-even h bosons to ττ or bb pairs with the Z boson decaying to electron or muon pairs are considered, as well as h→bb decays with the Z boson decaying to neutrinos. No evidence for the production of an A boson in these channels is found and the 95% confidence level upper limits derived for σ(gg→A)×BR(A→Zh)×BR(h→ff¯) are 0.098–0.013 pb for f=τ and 0.57–0.014 pb for f=b in a range of mA=220–1000 GeV. The results are combined and interpreted in the context of two-Higgs-doublet models.
We present the results of a search for neutralinos decaying at a significant distance from their production point into charged hadrons and a high momentum muon, forming displaced vertexes. The ...analysis was performed with 33 pb^-1 of pp collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in 2010 at sqrt{s}= 7 TeV. The poster will show some highlights of the analysis.
Measurements of the W±→ℓ±ν and Z→ℓ+ℓ− production cross sections (where ℓ±=e±,μ±) in proton–proton collisions at s=13 TeV are presented using data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron ...Collider, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 81 pb−1. The total inclusive W±-boson production cross sections times the single-lepton-flavour branching ratios are σW+tot=11.83±0.02 (stat)±0.32 (sys)±0.25 (lumi) nb and σW−tot=8.79±0.02 (stat)±0.24 (sys)±0.18 (lumi) nb for W+ and W−, respectively. The total inclusive Z-boson production cross section times leptonic branching ratio, within the invariant mass window 66<mℓℓ<116 GeV, is σZtot=1.981±0.007 (stat)±0.038 (sys)±0.042 (lumi) nb. The W+, W−, and Z-boson production cross sections and cross-section ratios within a fiducial region defined by the detector acceptance are also measured. The cross-section ratios benefit from significant cancellation of experimental uncertainties, resulting in σW+fid/σW−fid=1.295±0.003 (stat)±0.010 (sys) and σW±fid/σZfid=10.31±0.04 (stat)±0.20 (sys). Theoretical predictions, based on calculations accurate to next-to-next-to-leading order for quantum chromodynamics and to next-to-leading order for electroweak processes and which employ different parton distribution function sets, are compared to these measurements.
In order to study further the long-range correlations (“ridge”) observed recently in p+Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV, the second-order azimuthal anisotropy parameter of charged particles, v2, has ...been measured with the cumulant method using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. In a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 1 μb−1, the parameter v2 has been obtained using two- and four-particle cumulants over the pseudorapidity range |η|<2.5. The results are presented as a function of transverse momentum and the event activity, defined in terms of the transverse energy summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. They show features characteristic of collective anisotropic flow, similar to that observed in Pb+Pb collisions. A comparison is made to results obtained using two-particle correlation methods, and to predictions from hydrodynamic models of p+Pb collisions. Despite the small transverse spatial extent of the p+Pb collision system, the large magnitude of v2 and its similarity to hydrodynamic predictions provide additional evidence for the importance of final-state effects in p+Pb reactions.
This Letter describes a model-agnostic search for pairs of jets (dijets) produced by resonant and non-resonant phenomena beyond the Standard Model in 3.6 fb−1 of proton–proton collisions with a ...centre-of-mass energy of s=13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The distribution of the invariant mass of the two leading jets is examined for local excesses above a data-derived estimate of the smoothly falling prediction of the Standard Model. The data are also compared to a Monte Carlo simulation of Standard Model angular distributions derived from the rapidity of the two jets. No evidence of anomalous phenomena is observed in the data, which are used to exclude, at 95% CL, quantum black holes with threshold masses below 8.3 TeV, 8.1 TeV, or 5.1 TeV in three different benchmark scenarios; resonance masses below 5.2 TeV for excited quarks, 2.6 TeV in a W′ model, a range of masses starting from mZ′=1.5 TeV and couplings from gq=0.2 in a Z′ model; and contact interactions with a compositeness scale below 12.0 TeV and 17.5 TeV respectively for destructive and constructive interference between the new interaction and QCD processes. These results significantly extend the ATLAS limits obtained from 8 TeV data. Gaussian-shaped contributions to the mass distribution are also excluded if the effective cross-section exceeds values ranging from approximately 50–300 fb for masses below 2 TeV to 2–20 fb for masses above 4 TeV.
This Letter describes the measurement of elliptic flow of charged particles in lead–lead collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV using the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The results are based ...on an integrated luminosity of approximately 7 μb−1. Elliptic flow is measured over a wide region in pseudorapidity, |η|<2.5, and over a broad range in transverse momentum, 0.5<pT<20 GeV. The elliptic flow parameter v2 is obtained by correlating individual tracks with the event plane measured using energy deposited in the forward calorimeters. As a function of transverse momentum, v2(pT) reaches a maximum at pT of about 3 GeV, then decreases and becomes weakly dependent on pT above 7–8 GeV. Over the measured pseudorapidity region, v2 is found to be only weakly dependent on η, with less variation than observed at lower beam energies. The results are discussed in the context of previous measurements at lower collision energies, as well as recent results from the LHC.
A measurement of the total pp cross section at the LHC at s=8 TeV is presented. An integrated luminosity of 500 μb−1 was accumulated in a special run with high-β⋆ beam optics to measure the ...differential elastic cross section as a function of the Mandelstam momentum transfer variable t. The measurement is performed with the ALFA sub-detector of ATLAS. Using a fit to the differential elastic cross section in the −t range from 0.014 GeV2 to 0.1 GeV2 to extrapolate t→0, the total cross section, σtot(pp→X), is measured via the optical theorem to beσtot(pp→X)=96.07±0.18(stat.)±0.85(exp.)±0.31(extr.)mb, where the first error is statistical, the second accounts for all experimental systematic uncertainties and the last is related to uncertainties in the extrapolation t→0. In addition, the slope of the exponential function describing the elastic cross section at small t is determined to be B=19.74±0.05(stat.)±0.23(syst.)GeV−2.
This paper describes a measurement of the inclusive top quark pair production cross-section (σtt¯) with a data sample of 3.2fb−1 of proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s=13TeV, ...collected in 2015 by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. This measurement uses events with an opposite-charge electron–muon pair in the final state. Jets containing b-quarks are tagged using an algorithm based on track impact parameters and reconstructed secondary vertices. The numbers of events with exactly one and exactly two b-tagged jets are counted and used to determine simultaneously σtt¯ and the efficiency to reconstruct and b-tag a jet from a top quark decay, thereby minimising the associated systematic uncertainties. The cross-section is measured to be:σtt¯=818±8(stat)±27(syst)±19(lumi)±12(beam) pb, where the four uncertainties arise from data statistics, experimental and theoretical systematic effects, the integrated luminosity and the LHC beam energy, giving a total relative uncertainty of 4.4%. The result is consistent with theoretical QCD calculations at next-to-next-to-leading order. A fiducial measurement corresponding to the experimental acceptance of the leptons is also presented.