101 Search Results

A search for nonresonant Higgs boson ($$H$$) pair production via gluon and vector boson ($$V$$) fusion is performed in the four-bottom-quark final state, using proton-proton collision data at 13 TeV corresponding to 138 fb$$^{−1}$$ collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The analysis targets Lorentz-boosted $$H$$ pairs identified using a graph neural network. It constrains the strengths relative to the standard model of the $$H$$ self-coupling and the quartic VVHH couplings, $$κ_{2V}$$, excluding $$κ_{2V} = 0$$ for the first time, with a significance of 6.3 standard deviations when other H couplings are fixed to their standard model values.

A search for pairs of dijet resonances with the same mass is conducted in final states with at least four jets. Results are presented separately for the case where the four jet production proceeds via an intermediate resonant state and for nonresonant production. The search uses a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$$^{−1}$$ collected by the CMS detector in proton-proton collisions at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ = 13 TeV. Model-independent limits, at 95% confidence level, are reported on the production cross section of four-jet and dijet resonances. These first LHC limits on resonant pair production of dijetmore » resonances via high mass intermediate states are applied to a signal model of diquarks that decay into pairs of vector-like quarks, excluding diquark masses below 7.6 TeV for a particular model scenario. There are two events in the tails of the distributions, each with a four-jet mass of 8 TeV and an average dijet mass of 2 TeV, resulting in local and global significances of 3.9 and 1.6 standard deviations, respectively, if interpreted as a signal. The nonresonant search excludes pair production of top squarks with masses between 0.50 TeV to 0.77 TeV, with the exception of a small interval between 0.52 and 0.58 TeV, for supersymmetric R-parity-violating decays to quark pairs, significantly extending previous limits. Here, the most significant excess above the predicted background occurs at an average dijet mass of 0.95 TeV, for which the local and global significances are 3.6 and 2.5 standard deviations, respectively.[graphic not available: see fulltext]« less

The first measurements of the Fourier coefficients ( $V_{n\mathrm{\Delta }}$ ) of the azimuthal distributions of charged hadrons emitted from photon-proton (γp) interactions are presented. The data are extracted from 68.8 nb⁻¹ of ultra-peripheral proton-lead (pPb) collisions at $\sqrt{s_{{}_{\mathrm{NN}}}}=8.16\text{TeV}$ using the CMS detector. The high energy lead ions produce a flux of photons that can interact with the oncoming proton. This γp system provides a set of uniquemore » initial conditions with multiplicity lower than in photon-lead collisions but comparable to recent electron-positron and electron-proton data. The $V_{n\mathrm{\Delta }}$ coefficients are presented in ranges of event multiplicity and transverse momentum ( $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ ) and are compared to corresponding hadronic minimum bias pPb results. For a given multiplicity range, the mean $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ of charged particles is smaller in γp than in pPb collisions. For both the γp and pPb samples, $V_{1\mathrm{\Delta }}$ is negative, $V_{2\mathrm{\Delta }}$ is positive, and $V_{3\mathrm{\Delta }}$ consistent with 0. For each multiplicity and $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ range, $V_{2\mathrm{\Delta }}$ is larger for γp events. The γp data are consistent with model predictions that have no collective effects.« less

A search for the exotic decay of the Higgs boson to a pair of light pseudoscalars, each of which subsequently decays into a pair of photons, is presented. The search uses data from proton-proton collisions at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ = 13 TeV recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC that corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 132 fb$$^{−1}$$. The analysis probes pseudoscalar bosons with masses in the range 15–62 GeV, coming from the Higgs boson decay, which leads to four well-isolated photons in the final state. No significant deviation from the background-only hypothesis is observed. Upper limits are setmore » on the product of the Higgs boson production cross section and branching fraction into four photons. The observed (expected) limits range from 0.80 (1.00) fb for a pseudoscalar boson mass of 15 GeV to 0.26 (0.24) fb for a mass of 62 GeV at 95% confidence level.[graphic not available: see fulltext]« less

A search for pair production of the supersymmetric partner of the top quark, the top squark, in proton-proton collisions at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ = 13 TeV is presented in final states containing at least one hadronically decaying tau lepton and large missing transverse momentum. This final state is highly sensitive to scenarios of supersymmetry in which the decay of the top squark to tau leptons is enhanced. The search uses a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$$^{−1}$$, which was recorded with the CMS detector during 2016–2018. No significant excess is observed with respect to the standardmore » model predictions. Exclusion limits at 95% confidence level on the masses of the top squark and the lightest neutralino are presented under the assumptions of simplified models. The results probe top squark masses up to 1150 GeV for a nearly massless neutralino. This search covers a relatively less explored parameter space in the context of supersymmetry, and the exclusion limit is the most stringent to date for the model considered here.[graphic not available: see fulltext]« less

Results are presented from a search for CP violation in top quark pair production, using proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data used for this analysis consist of final states with two charged leptons collected by the CMS experiment, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$$^{−1}$$. The search uses two observables, $$ \mathcal{O} _{1}$$ and $$ \mathcal{O} _{3}$$, which are Lorentz scalars. The observable $$ \mathcal{O} _{1}$$ is constructed from the four-momenta of the charged leptons and the reconstructed top quarks, while $$ \mathcal{O} _{3}$$ consists of the four-momenta of the charged leptons andmore » the b quarks originating from the top quarks. Asymmetries in these observables are sensitive to CP violation, and their measurement is used to determine the chromoelectric dipole moment of the top quark. The results are consistent with the expectation from the standard model.[graphic not available: see fulltext]« less

A search is presented for vector-like T and B quark-antiquark pairs produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Data were collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in 2016–2018, with an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$$^{−1}$$. Events are separated into single-lepton, same-sign charge dilepton, and multi-lepton channels. In the analysis of the single-lepton channel a multilayer neural network and jet identification techniques are employed to select signal events, while the same-sign dilepton and multilepton channels rely on the high-energy signature of the signal to distinguish it from standard model backgrounds. The data are consistentmore » with standard model background predictions, and the production of vector-like quark pairs is excluded at 95% confidence level for T quark masses up to 1.54 TeV and B quark masses up to 1.56 TeV, depending on the branching fractions assumed, with maximal sensitivity to decay modes that include multiple top quarks. The limits obtained in this search are the strongest limits to date for $$ \textrm{T}\overline{\textrm{T}} $$ production, excluding masses below 1.48 TeV for all decays to third generation quarks, and are the strongest limits to date for $$ \textrm{B}\overline{\textrm{B}} $$ production with B quark decays to tW.[graphic not available: see fulltext]« less

Results are presented of a search for a heavy Majorana neutrino Image 1 decaying into two same-flavor leptons ℓ (electrons or muons) and a quark-pair jet. A model is considered in which the Image 1 is an excited neutrino in a compositeness scenario. The analysis is performed using a sample of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13\text{TeV}$ recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 ${\text{fb}}^{-1}$ . The data are found to be in agreement with the standardmore » model prediction. For the process in which the Image 1 is produced in association with a lepton, followed by the decay of the Image 1 to a same-flavor lepton and a quark pair, an upper limit at 95% confidence level on the product of the cross section and branching fraction is obtained as a function of the Image 1 mass Image 2 and the compositeness scale Λ. For this model the data exclude the existence of Image 3 (Image 4) for Image 2 below 6.0 (6.1) TeV, at the limit where Image 2 is equal to Λ. For Image 5, values of Λ less than 20 (23) TeV are excluded. These results represent a considerable improvement in sensitivity, covering a larger parameter space than previous searches in Image 6 collisions at 13 TeV.« less

A search for the pair production of the lightest supersymmetric partner of the top quark, the top squark ($$ {\overset{\sim }{\textrm{t}}}_1 $$), is presented. The search targets the four-body decay of the $$ {\overset{\sim }{\textrm{t}}}_1 $$, which is preferred when the mass difference between the top squark and the lightest supersymmetric particle is smaller than the mass of the W boson. This decay mode consists of a bottom quark, two other fermions, and the lightest neutralino ($$ {\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0 $$), which is assumed to be the lightest supersymmetric particle. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$$^{−1}$$ ofmore » proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC. Events are selected using the presence of a high-momentum jet, an electron or muon with low transverse momentum, and a significant missing transverse momentum. The signal is selected based on a multivariate approach that is optimized for the difference between m($$ {\overset{\sim }{\textrm{t}}}_1 $$) and m($$ {\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0 $$). The contribution from leading background processes is estimated from data. No significant excess is observed above the expectation from standard model processes. The results of this search exclude top squarks at 95% confidence level for masses up to 480 and 700 GeV for m($$ {\overset{\sim }{\textrm{t}}}_1 $$) − m($$ {\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0 $$) = 10 and 80 GeV, respectively.[graphic not available: see fulltext]« less

Results are presented from a search for the Higgs boson decay H → Zγ, where Z → ℓ$$^{+}$$ℓ$$^{−}$$ with ℓ = e or μ. The search is performed using a sample of proton-proton (pp) collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$$^{−1}$$. Events are assigned to mutually exclusive categories, which exploit differences in both event topology and kinematics of distinct Higgs production mechanisms to enhance signal sensitivity. The signal strength μ, defined as the product of the cross section and the branching fractionmore » $$ \left[\sigma \left(\textrm{pp}\to \textrm{H}\right)\mathcal{B}\left(\textrm{H}\to \textrm{Z}\upgamma \right)\right] $$ relative to the standard model prediction, is extracted from a simultaneous fit to the ℓ$$^{+}$$ℓ$$^{−}$$γ invariant mass distributions in all categories and is measured to be μ = 2.4 ± 0.9 for a Higgs boson mass of 125.38 GeV. The statistical significance of the observed excess of events is 2.7 standard deviations. This measurement corresponds to $$ \left[\sigma \left(\textrm{pp}\to \textrm{H}\right)\mathcal{B}\left(\textrm{H}\to \textrm{Z}\upgamma \right)\right]=0.21\pm 0.08 $$ pb. The observed (expected) upper limit at 95% confidence level on μ is 4.1 (1.8), where the expected limit is calculated under the background-only hypothesis. The ratio of branching fractions $$ \mathcal{B}\left(\textrm{H}\to \textrm{Z}\upgamma \right)/\mathcal{B}\left(\textrm{H}\to \upgamma \upgamma \right) $$ is measured to be $$ {1.5}_{-0.6}^{+0.7} $$, which agrees with the standard model prediction of 0.69 ± 0.04 at the 1.5 standard deviation level.[graphic not available: see fulltext]« less