Measurement of the production cross-section of a single top quark in association with a Z boson in proton–proton collisions at 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The production of a top quark in association with a Z boson is investigated. The proton–proton collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in 2015 and 2016 at a centre-of-mass energy of s=13TeV are used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1fb −1 . Events containing three identified leptons (electrons and/or muons) and two jets, one of which is identified as a b-quark jet are selected. The major backgrounds are diboson, tt¯ and Z+jets production. A neural network is used to improve the background rejection and extract the signal. The resulting significance is 4.2σ in the data and the expected significance is 5.4σ. The measured cross-section for tZq production is 600±170(stat.)±140(syst.)fb

Searches for exclusive Higgs and Z boson decays into J/ψ γ, ψ(2S) γ, and ϒ(nS) γ at s=13TeV with the ATLAS detector

Searches for the exclusive decays of the Higgs and Z bosons into a J/ψ, ψ(2S), or ϒ(nS) (n=1,2,3) meson and a photon are performed with a pp collision data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1fb collected at s=13TeV 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/ψγ, ψ(2S)γ, and ϒ(nS)γ of 3.5×10 , 2.0×10 , and (4.9,5.9,5.7)×10 , respectively, are obtained assuming Standard Model production. The corresponding 95% confidence-level upper limits for the branching fractions of the Z boson decays are 2.3×10 , 4.5×10 and (2.8,1.7,4.8)×10 , respectively. −1 −4 −3 −4 −6 −6 −

Femtoscopy with identified charged pions in proton-lead collisions at √sNN =5.02 TeV with ATLAS

Bose-Einstein correlations between identified charged pions are measured for $p$+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02$ TeV using data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of $28$ $\mathrm{nb}^{-1}$. Pions are identified using ionization energy loss measured in the pixel detector. Two-particle correlation functions and the extracted source radii are presented as a function of collision centrality as well as the average transverse momentum ($k_{\mathrm{T}}$) and rapidity ($y^{\star}_{\pi\pi}$) of the pair. Pairs are selected with a rapidity $-2 < y^{\star}_{\pi\pi} < 1$ and with an average transverse momentum $0.1 < k_{\mathrm{T}} < 0.8$ GeV. The effect of jet fragmentation on the two-particle correlation function is studied, and a method using opposite-charge pair data to constrain its contributions to the measured correlations is described. The measured source sizes are substantially larger in more central collisions and are observed to decrease with increasing pair $k_{\mathrm{T}}$. A correlation of the radii with the local charged-particle density is demonstrated. The scaling of the extracted radii with the mean number of participating nucleons is also used to compare a selection of initial-geometry models. The cross-term $R_\mathrm{ol}$ is measured as a function of rapidity, and a nonzero value is observed with $5.1\sigma$ combined significance for $-1 < y^{\star}_{\pi\pi} < 1$ in the most central events

Jet reconstruction and performance using particle flow with the ATLAS Detector

This paper describes the implementation and performance of a particle flow algorithm applied to 20.2 fb - 1 of ATLAS data from 8 TeV proton–proton collisions in Run 1 of the LHC. The algorithm removes calorimeter energy deposits due to charged hadrons from consideration during jet reconstruction, instead using measurements of their momenta from the inner tracker. This improves the accuracy of the charged-hadron measurement, while retaining the calorimeter measurements of neutral-particle energies. The paper places emphasis on how this is achieved, while minimising double-counting of charged-hadron signals between the inner tracker and calorimeter. The performance of particle flow jets, formed from the ensemble of signals from the calorimeter and the inner tracker, is compared to that of jets reconstructed from calorimeter energy deposits alone, demonstrating improvements in resolution and pile-up stability

Search for R-parity-violating supersymmetric particles in multi-jet final states produced in p–p collisions at s=13 TeV using the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Results of a search for gluino pair production with subsequent R-parity-violating decays to quarks are presented. This search uses 36.1 fb of data collected by the ATLAS detector in proton–proton collisions with a centre-of-mass energy of s=13 TeV at the LHC. The analysis is performed using requirements on the number of jets and the number of jets tagged as containing a b-hadron as well as a topological observable formed by the scalar sum of masses of large-radius jets in the event. No significant excess above the expected Standard Model background is observed. Limits are set on the production of gluinos in models with the R-parity-violating decays of either the gluino itself (direct decay) or the neutralino produced in the R-parity-conserving gluino decay (cascade decay). In the gluino cascade decay model, gluino masses below 1850 GeV are excluded for 1000 GeV neutralino mass. For the gluino direct decay model, the 95% confidence level upper limit on the cross section times branching ratio varies between 0.80 fb at m =900 GeV and 0.011 fb at m =1800 GeV. −1 g˜ g

Benthic and Hyporheic Macroinvertebrate Distribution Within the Heads and Tails of Riffles During Baseflow Conditions

The distribution of lotic fauna is widely acknowledged to be patchy reflecting the interaction between biotic and abiotic factors. In an in-situ field study, the distribution of benthic and hyporheic invertebrates in the heads (downwelling) and tails (upwelling) of riffles were examined during stable baseflow conditions. Riffle heads were found to contain a greater proportion of interstitial fine sediment than riffle tails. Significant differences in the composition of benthic communities were associated with the amount of fine sediment. Riffle tail habitats supported a greater abundance and diversity of invertebrates sensitive to fine sediment such as EPT taxa. Shredder feeding taxa were more abundant in riffle heads suggesting greater availability of organic matter. In contrast, no significant differences in the hyporheic community were recorded between riffle heads and tails. We hypothesise that clogging of hyporheic interstices with fine sediments may have resulted in the homogenization of the invertebrate community by limiting faunal movement into the hyporheic zone at both the riffle head and tail. The results suggest that vertical hydrological exchange significantly influences the distribution of fine sediment and macroinvertebrate communities at the riffle scale

Evidence for the H → bb decay with the ATLAS detector

A search for the decay of the Standard Model Higgs boson into a $b\bar{b}$ pair when produced in association with a $W$ or $Z$ boson is performed with the ATLAS detector. The analysed data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$, were collected in proton-proton collisions in Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Final states containing zero, one and two charged leptons (electrons or muons) are considered, targeting the decays $Z\to\nu\nu$, $W\to\ell\nu$ and $Z\to\ell\ell$. 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 significance of 3.5 standard deviations, compared to an expectation of 3.0 standard deviations. This excess provides evidence for the Higgs boson decay into $b$-quarks and for its production in association with a vector boson. The combination of this result with that of the Run 1 analysis yields a ratio of the measured signal events to the Standard Model expectation equal to $0.90 \pm 0.18 \rm{(stat.)} ^{+0.21}_{-0.19} \rm{(syst.)}$. Assuming the Standard Model production cross-section, the results are consistent with the value of the Yukawa coupling to $b$-quarks in the Standard Model

Search for long-lived, massive particles in events with displaced vertices and missing transverse momentum in s =13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for long-lived, massive particles predicted by many theories beyond the Standard Model is presented. The search targets final states with large missing transverse momentum and at least one high-mass displaced vertex with five or more tracks, and uses 32.8 fb-1 of s=13 TeV pp collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The observed yield is consistent with the expected background. The results are used to extract 95% C.L. exclusion limits on the production of long-lived gluinos with masses up to 2.37 TeV and lifetimes of O(10-2)-O(10) ns in a simplified model inspired by split supersymmetry

Fiducial, total and differential cross-section measurements of t-channel single top-quark production in pp collisions at 8 TeV using data collected by the ATLAS detector

Detailed measurements of t-channel single top-quark production are presented. They use 20.2 fb - 1 of data collected by the ATLAS experiment in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV at the LHC. Total, fiducial and differential cross-sections are measured for both top-quark and top-antiquark production. The fiducial cross-section is measured with a precision of 5.8% (top quark) and 7.8% (top antiquark), respectively. The total cross-sections are measured to be σtot(tq)=56.7-3.8+4.3pb for top-quark production and σtot(t¯q)=32.9-2.7+3.0pb for top-antiquark production, in agreement with the Standard Model prediction. In addition, the ratio of top-quark to top-antiquark production cross-sections is determined to be R t = 1.72 ± 0.09. The differential cross-sections as a function of the transverse momentum and rapidity of both the top quark and the top antiquark are measured at both the parton and particle levels. The transverse momentum and rapidity differential cross-sections of the accompanying jet from the t-channel scattering are measured at particle level. All measurements are compared to various Monte Carlo predictions as well as to fixed-order QCD calculations where available