Searches are performed for resonant and non-resonant Higgs boson pair production in the hh to gamma gamma b bbar final state using 20 fb-1 of proton--proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 ...TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. A 95% confidence level upper limit on the cross section times branching ratio of non-resonant production is set at 2.2 pb, while the expected limit is 1.0 pb. The corresponding limit observed for a narrow resonance ranges between 0.8 and 3.5 pb as a function of its mass.
The inclusive jet cross-section is measured in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.5 fb$^{-1}$ collected with ...the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2011. Jets are identified using the anti-$k_t$ algorithm with radius parameter values of 0.4 and 0.6. The double-differential cross-sections are presented as a function of the jet transverse momentum and the jet rapidity, covering jet transverse momenta from 100 GeV to 2 TeV. Next-to-leading-order QCD calculations corrected for non-perturbative effects and electroweak effects, as well as Monte Carlo simulations with next-to-leading-order matrix elements interfaced to parton showering, are compared to the measured cross-sections. A quantitative comparison of the measured cross-sections to the QCD calculations using several sets of parton distribution functions is performed.
A search for excited states of the Bc+/- meson is performed using 4.9 inv. fb of 7 TeV and 19.2 inv. fb of 8 TeV pp collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. A new state is ...observed through its hadronic transition to the ground state, with the latter detected in the decay Bc+/- --> J/psi pi+/-. The state appears in the m(Bc+/- pi+ pi-) - m(Bc+/-) - 2m(pi+/-) mass difference distribution with a significance of 5.2 standard deviations. The mass of the observed state is 6842 +/- 4 +/- 5 MeV, where the first error is statistical and the second is systematic. The mass and decay of this state are consistent with expectations for the second S-wave state of the Bc, Bc(2S).
Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections of Higgs boson production in the ${H \rightarrow ZZ ^{*}\rightarrow 4\ell}$ decay channel are presented. The cross sections are determined ...within a fiducial phase space and corrected for detection efficiency and resolution effects. They are based on 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data, produced at $\sqrt{s}$=8 TeV centre-of-mass energy at the LHC and recorded by the ATLAS detector. The differential measurements are performed in bins of transverse momentum and rapidity of the four-lepton system, the invariant mass of the subleading lepton pair and the decay angle of the leading lepton pair with respect to the beam line in the four-lepton rest frame, as well as the number of jets and the transverse momentum of the leading jet. The measured cross sections are compared to selected theoretical calculations of the Standard Model expectations. No significant deviation from any of the tested predictions is found.
Studies of the spin and parity quantum numbers of the Higgs boson in the $WW^\ast \to e \nu \mu \nu$ final state are presented, based on proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS detector ...at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV. The Standard Model spin-parity $J^{CP} = 0^{++}$ hypothesis is compared with alternative hypotheses for both spin and CP. The case where the observed resonance is a mixture of the Standard-Model-like Higgs boson and CP-even ($J^{CP} = 0^{++}$) or CP-odd ($J^{CP} = 0^{+-}$) Higgs boson in scenarios beyond the Standard Model is also studied. The data are found to be consistent with the Standard Model prediction and limits are placed on alternative spin and CP hypotheses, including CP mixing in different scenarios.
This letter presents a search for new resonances decaying to final states with a vector boson produced in association with a high transverse momentum photon, $V\gamma$, with $V= W(\rightarrow \ell ...\nu)$ or $Z(\rightarrow \ell^{+} \ell^{-})$, where $\ell = e$ or $\mu$. The measurements use 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector. No deviations from the Standard Model expectations are found, and production cross section limits are set at 95% confidence level. Masses of the hypothetical $a_{T}$ and $\omega_{T}$ states of a benchmark Low Scale Technicolor model are excluded in the ranges 275,960 GeV and $200,700\cup750,890$ GeV, respectively. Limits at 95% confidence level on the production cross section of a singlet scalar resonance decaying to $Z\gamma$ final states have also been obtained for masses below 1180 GeV.
A search is presented for direct top-squark pair production in final states with two leptons (electrons or muons) of opposite charge using 20.3fb-1 of pp collision data at sqrt(s)=8TeV, collected by ...the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in 2012. No excess over the Standard Model expectation is found. The results are interpreted under the separate assumptions (i) that the top squark decays to a b-quark in addition to an on-shell chargino whose decay occurs via a real or virtual W boson, or (ii) that the top squark decays to a t-quark and the lightest neutralino. A top squark with a mass between 150 GeV and 445 GeV decaying to a b-quark and an on-shell chargino is excluded at 95% confidence level for a top squark mass equal to the chargino mass plus 10 GeV, in the case of a 1 GeV lightest neutralino. Top squarks with masses between 215 (90) GeV and 530 (170) GeV decaying to an on-shell (off-shell) t-quark and a neutralino are excluded at 95% confidence level for a 1 GeV neutralino.
A measurement of the mass difference between top and anti-top quarks is presented. In a 4.7 fb-1 data sample of proton--proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the ...LHC, events consistent with ttbar production and decay into a single charged lepton final state are reconstructed. For each event, the mass difference between the top and anti-top quark candidate is calculated. A two b-tag requirement is used in order to reduce the background contribution. A maximum likelihood fit to these per-event mass differences yields mt-mtbar = 0.67 +/- 0.61 (stat) +/- 0.41 (syst) GeV, consistent with CPT invariance.
A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three leptons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 20.3 fb-1 of sqrt(s) = 8 TeV ...proton--proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with the Standard Model expectations and limits are set in R-parity-conserving phenomenological Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Models and in simplified supersymmetric models, significantly extending previous results. For simplified supersymmetric models of direct chargino ($\tilde\chi^\pm_1$) and next-to-lightest neutralino ($\tilde{\chi}_2^0$) production with decays to lightest neutralino ($\tilde{\chi}_1^0$) via either all three generations of sleptons, staus only, gauge bosons, or Higgs bosons, $\tilde\chi^\pm_1$ and $\tilde{\chi}_2^0$ masses are excluded up to 700 GeV, 380 GeV, 345 GeV, or 148 GeV respectively, for a massless $\tilde{\chi}_1^0$.
The production of a W boson in association with a single charm quark is studied using 4.6 fb^-1 of pp collision data at sqrt(s)=7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. ...In events in which a W boson decays to an electron or muon, the charm quark is tagged either by its semileptonic decay to a muon or by the presence of a charmed meson. The integrated and differential cross sections as a function of the pseudorapidity of the lepton from the W-boson decay are measured. Results are compared to the predictions of next-to-leading-order QCD calculations obtained from various parton distribution function parameterisations. The ratio of the strange-to-down sea-quark distributions is determined to be 0.96 +0.26 -0.30 at Q^2=1.9 GeV^2, which supports the hypothesis of an SU(3)-symmetric composition of the light-quark sea. Additionally, the cross-section ratio sigma(W^+ + bar{c})/sigma(W^- + c) is compared to the predictions obtained using parton distribution function parameterisations with different assumptions about the s-bar{s} quark asymmetry.
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