Inclusive and differential cross-section measurements of $t\bar{t}Z$ production in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector, including EFT and spin-correlation interpretations

arXiv (Cornell University) · 2023 · 2 citations

• Physics
• Particle physics
• Nuclear physics

Measurements of both the inclusive and differential production cross sections of a top-quark-top-antiquark pair in association with a $Z$ boson ($t\bar{t}Z$) are presented. Final states with two, three or four isolated leptons (electrons or muons) are targeted. The measurements use the data recorded by the ATLAS detector in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider during the years 2015-2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $140$ fb$^{-1}$. The inclusive cross section is measured to be $\sigma_{t\bar{t}Z}= 0.86 \pm 0.04~\mathrm{(stat.)} \pm 0.04~\mathrm{(syst.)}~$pb and found to be in agreement with the most advanced Standard Model predictions. The differential measurements are presented as a function of a number of observables that probe the kinematics of the $t\bar{t}Z$ system. Both the absolute and normalised differential cross-section measurements are performed at particle level and parton level for specific fiducial volumes, and are compared with NLO+NNLL theoretical predictions. The results are interpreted in the framework of Standard Model effective field theory and used to set limits on a large number of dimension-6 operators involving the top quark. The first measurement of spin correlations in $t\bar{t}Z$ events is presented: the results are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations, and the null hypothesis of no spin correlations is disfavoured with a significance of $1.8$ standard deviations.

A detailed map of Higgs boson interactions by the ATLAS experiment ten years after the discovery

Nature · 2022 · 371 citations

• Physics
• Particle physics
• Nuclear physics

. Since then, more than 30 times as many Higgs bosons have been recorded by the ATLAS experiment, enabling much more precise measurements and new tests of the theory. Here, on the basis of this larger dataset, we combine an unprecedented number of production and decay processes of the Higgs boson to scrutinize its interactions with elementary particles. Interactions with gluons, photons, and W and Z bosons-the carriers of the strong, electromagnetic and weak forces-are studied in detail. Interactions with three third-generation matter particles (bottom (b) and top (t) quarks, and tau leptons (τ)) are well measured and indications of interactions with a second-generation particle (muons, μ) are emerging. These tests reveal that the Higgs boson discovered ten years ago is remarkably consistent with the predictions of the theory and provide stringent constraints on many models of new phenomena beyond the standard model.

Search for dijet resonances in events with an isolated charged lepton using $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS detector

Desy Publications Database (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY) · 2020

• Computer Science
• Physics
• Particle physics

A search for dijet resonances in events with at least one isolated charged lepton is performed using $139~{\text{fb}}^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The dijet invariant-mass ($m_{jj}$) distribution constructed from events with at least one isolated electron or muon is searched in the region $0.22 < m_{jj} < 6.3$ TeV for excesses above a smoothly falling background from Standard Model processes. Triggering based on the presence of a lepton in the event reduces limitations imposed by minimum transverse momentum thresholds for triggering on jets. This approach allows smaller dijet invariant masses to be probed than in inclusive dijet searches, targeting a variety of new-physics models, for example ones in which a new state is produced in association with a leptonically decaying $W$ or $Z$ boson. No statistically significant deviation from the Standard Model background hypothesis is found. Limits on contributions from generic Gaussian signals with widths ranging from that determined by the detector resolution up to 15% of the resonance mass are obtained for dijet invariant masses ranging from 0.25 TeV to 6 TeV. Limits are set also in the context of several scenarios beyond the Standard Model, such as the Sequential Standard Model, a technicolor model, a charged Higgs boson model and a simplified Dark Matter model.

Determination of jet calibration and energy resolution in proton–proton collisions at $$\sqrt{s} = 8~\hbox {TeV}$$ using the ATLAS detector

The European Physical Journal C · 2020 · 31 citations

• Computer Science
• Physics
• Nuclear physics

Abstract The jet energy scale, jet energy resolution, and their systematic uncertainties are measured for jets reconstructed with the ATLAS detector in 2012 using proton–proton data produced at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with an integrated luminosity of $$20 \, \hbox {fb}^{-1}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>20</mml:mn> <mml:mspace/> <mml:msup> <mml:mtext>fb</mml:mtext> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>-</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> . Jets are reconstructed from clusters of energy depositions in the ATLAS calorimeters using the anti- $$k_t$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>k</mml:mi> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> </mml:msub> </mml:math> algorithm. A jet calibration scheme is applied in multiple steps, each addressing specific effects including mitigation of contributions from additional proton–proton collisions, loss of energy in dead material, calorimeter non-compensation, angular biases and other global jet effects. The final calibration step uses several in situ techniques and corrects for residual effects not captured by the initial calibration. These analyses measure both the jet energy scale and resolution by exploiting the transverse momentum balance in $$\gamma $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>γ</mml:mi> </mml:math> + jet, Z + jet, dijet, and multijet events. A statistical combination of these measurements is performed. In the central detector region, the derived calibration has a precision better than 1% for jets with transverse momentum $$150 \, \hbox {GeV} &lt; p_{{\mathrm {T}}}&lt;$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>150</mml:mn> <mml:mspace/> <mml:mtext>GeV</mml:mtext> <mml:mo>&lt;</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>p</mml:mi> <mml:mi>T</mml:mi> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>&lt;</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> 1500 GeV, and the relative energy resolution is $$(8.4\pm 0.6)\%$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>(</mml:mo> <mml:mn>8.4</mml:mn> <mml:mo>±</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.6</mml:mn> <mml:mo>)</mml:mo> <mml:mo>%</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> for $$p_{{\mathrm {T}}}= 100 \, \hbox {GeV}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>p</mml:mi> <mml:mi>T</mml:mi> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mn>100</mml:mn> <mml:mspace/> <mml:mtext>GeV</mml:mtext> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> and $$(23\pm 2)\%$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>(</mml:mo> <mml:mn>23</mml:mn> <mml:mo>±</mml:mo> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> <mml:mo>)</mml:mo> <mml:mo>%</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> for $$p_{{\mathrm {T}}}= 20 \, \hbox {GeV}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>p</mml:mi> <mml:mi>T</mml:mi> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mn>20</mml:mn> <mml:mspace/> <mml:mtext>GeV</mml:mtext> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> . The calibration scheme for jets with radius parameter $$R=1.0$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>R</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1.0</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> , for which jets receive a dedicated calibration of the jet mass, is also discussed.

Charged-lepton-flavour violation at the LHC: a search for $Z\to e\tau/\mu\tau$ decays with the ATLAS detector

arXiv (Cornell University) · 2020 · 2 citations

• Particle physics
• Physics
• Nuclear physics

In the Standard Model of particle physics, leptons are key building blocks of matter and come in three families (flavours). Leptons of different flavours have the same properties, except for their mass. In addition, the number of leptons in each family is conserved in interactions. Such conservation is known as lepton flavour conservation, and no fundamental principles impose it. Since the formulation of the Standard Model, the observation of flavour oscillations among neutrinos (the neutral leptons) has demonstrated that neutrinos have mass and in neutrino weak interactions the lepton flavour is not conserved. To date, there is no experimental evidence that lepton flavour violation occurs in interactions between charged leptons, and an observation of such a phenomenon would be an exciting sign of new particles or new type of interactions beyond the Standard Model. The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN sets a new constraint on lepton-flavour-violating effects in weak interactions, searching for $Z$-boson decays into a $\tau$-lepton and another lepton of different flavour ($e$ or $\mu$) with opposite electric charge. The branching fractions for these decays are now measured by the ATLAS experiment to be less than $8.1\times10^{-6}$ ($e\tau$) and $9.5\times10^{-6}$ ($\mu\tau$) at 95% confidence level, using 139 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV and 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV. These results supersede the best limits set by the LEP experiments more than two decades ago.