SearcharxivSearch

arXiv subjects

ATLAS collaboration

Publications and source records attributed to ATLAS collaboration.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Search for dark matter produced in association with a Standard Model Higgs boson decaying into $b$-quarks using the full Run 2 dataset from the ATLAS detector

The production of dark matter in association with Higgs bosons is predicted in several extensions of the Standard Model. An exploration of such scenarios is presented, considering final states with missing transverse momentum and $b$-tagged jets consistent with a Higgs boson. The analysis uses proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC during Run 2, amounting to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. The analysis, when compared with previous searches, benefits from a larger dataset, but also has further improvements providing sensitivity to a wider spectrum of signal scenarios. These improvements include both an optimised event selection and advances in the object identification, such as the use of the likelihood-based significance of the missing transverse momentum and variable-radius track-jets. No significant deviation from Standard Model expectations is observed. Limits are set, at 95% confidence level, in two benchmark models with two Higgs doublets extended by either a heavy vector boson $Z'$ or a pseudoscalar singlet $a$ and which both provide a dark matter candidate $\chi$. In the case of the two-Higgs-doublet model with an additional vector boson $Z'$, the observed limits extend up to a $Z'$ mass of 3 TeV for a mass of 100 GeV for the dark matter candidate. The two-Higgs-doublet model with a dark matter particle mass of 10 GeV and an additional pseudoscalar $a$ is excluded for masses of the $a$ up to 520 GeV and 240 GeV for $\tan \beta = 1$ and $\tan \beta = 10$ respectively. Limits on the visible cross-sections are set and range from 0.05 fb to 3.26 fb, depending on the missing transverse momentum and $b$-quark jet multiplicity requirements.

hep-ex

Measurement of jet-substructure observables in top quark, $W$ boson and light jet production in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector

A measurement of jet substructure variables is presented using data collected in 2016 by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC with proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV. Large-radius jets groomed with the trimming and soft-drop algorithms are studied. Dedicated event selections are used to study jets produced by light quarks or gluons, and hadronically decaying top quarks and $W$ bosons. The variables measured are sensitive to pronged substructure, and therefore are typically used for tagging jets from boosted massive particles. These include the energy correlation functions and the $N$-subjettiness variables. The number of subjets and the Les Houches angularity are also considered. The distributions of the substructure variables, corrected for detector effects, are compared to the predictions of various Monte Carlo event generators. They are also compared between the large-radius jets originating from light quarks or gluons, and hadronically decaying top quarks and $W$ bosons.

hep-ex

Search for heavy charged long-lived particles in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV using an ionisation measurement with the ATLAS detector

This Letter presents a search for heavy charged long-lived particles produced in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV at the LHC using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS experiment in 2015 and 2016. These particles are expected to travel with a velocity significantly below the speed of light, and therefore have a specific ionisation higher than any high-momentum Standard Model particle of unit charge. The pixel subsystem of the ATLAS detector is used in this search to measure the ionisation energy loss of all reconstructed charged particles which traverse the pixel detector. Results are interpreted assuming the pair production of $R$-hadrons as composite colourless states of a long-lived gluino and Standard Model partons. No significant deviation from Standard Model background expectations is observed, and lifetime-dependent upper limits on $R$-hadron production cross-sections and gluino masses are set, assuming the gluino always decays in two quarks and a stable neutralino. $R$-hadrons with lifetimes above 1.0 ns are excluded at the 95% confidence level, with lower limits on the gluino mass ranging between 1290 GeV and 2060 GeV. In the case of stable $R$-hadrons, the lower limit on the gluino mass at the 95% confidence level is 1890 GeV.

hep-ex

Studies of $Z\gamma$ production in association with a high-mass dijet system in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The production of a $Z$ boson and a photon in association with a high-mass dijet system is studied using 20.2fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector in 2012 at the Large Hadron Collider. Final states with a photon and a Z boson decaying into a pair of either electrons, muons, or neutrinos are analysed. Electroweak and total $pp \to Z\gamma j j$ cross-sections are extracted in two fiducial regions with different sensitivities to electroweak production processes. Quartic couplings of vector bosons are studied in regions of phase space with an enhanced contribution from pure electroweak production, sensitive to vector-boson scattering processes $VV \to Z\gamma$. No deviations from Standard Model predictions are observed and constraints are placed on anomalous couplings parameterized by higher-dimensional operators using effective field theory.

hep-ex

A neural network clustering algorithm for the ATLAS silicon pixel detector

A novel technique to identify and split clusters created by multiple charged particles in the ATLAS pixel detector using a set of artificial neural networks is presented. Such merged clusters are a common feature of tracks originating from highly energetic objects, such as jets. Neural networks are trained using Monte Carlo samples produced with a detailed detector simulation. This technique replaces the former clustering approach based on a connected component analysis and charge interpolation. The performance of the neural network splitting technique is quantified using data from proton--proton collisions at the LHC collected by the ATLAS detector in 2011 and from Monte Carlo simulations. This technique reduces the number of clusters shared between tracks in highly energetic jets by up to a factor of three. It also provides more precise position and error estimates of the clusters in both the transverse and longitudinal impact parameter resolution.

hep-ex

A study of heavy flavor quarks produced in association with top quark pairs at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV using the ATLAS detector

Using a sample of dilepton top-quark pair (ttbar) candidate events, a study is performed of the production of top-quark pairs together with heavy-flavor (HF) quarks, ttbar+b+X or ttbar+c+X, collectively referred to as ttbar+HF. The dataset used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb-1 of proton--proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The presence of additional HF quarks in the ttbar sample is inferred by looking for events with at least three b-tagged jets, where two are attributed to the b-quarks from the ttbar decays and the third to additional HF production. The dominant background to ttbar+HF in this sample is ttbar+jet events in which a light-flavor jet is misidentified as a heavy-flavor jet. To determine the heavy- and light-flavor content of the additional b-tagged jets, a fit to the vertex mass distribution of b-tagged jets in the sample is performed. The result of the fit shows that 79 +/- 14 (stat.) +/- 22 (syst.) of the 105 selected extra b-tagged jets originate from HF quarks, three standard deviations away from the hypothesis of zero ttbar+HF production. The result for extra HF production is quoted as a ratio (R_HF) of the cross section for ttbar+HF production to the cross section for ttbar production with at least one additional jet. Both cross sections are measured in a fiducial kinematic region within the ATLAS acceptance. R_HF is measured to be [6.2 +/- 1.1 (stat.) +/- 1.8 (syst.)]% for jets with pT>25 GeV and |eta|<2.5, in agreement with the expectations from Monte Carlo generators.

hep-ex

SUSY searches at ATLAS

First ATLAS searches for signals of Supersymmetry in proton-proton collisions at the LHC are presented. These searches are performed in various channels containing different lepton and jet multiplicities in the final states; the full data sample recorded in the 2010 LHC run, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35 $\rm{pb}^{-1}$, has been analysed. The limits on squarks and gluinos are the most stringent to date.

hep-ex