173 Search Results

We present an observation of photon-photon production of $$\tau$$ lepton pairs in ultraperipheral lead-lead collisions. The measurement is based on a data sample with an integrated luminosity of 404 $$\mu$$b$$^{-1}$$ collected by the CMS experiment at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. The $$\gamma\gamma$$$$\to$$$$\tau^+\tau^-$$ process is observed for $$\tau\tau$$ events with a muon and three charged hadrons in the final state. The measured fiducial cross section is $$\sigma(\gamma\gamma$$$$\to$$$$\tau^+\tau^-)$$ = 4.8 $$\pm$$ 0.6 (stat) $$\pm$$ 0.5 (syst) $$\mu$$b, in agreement with leading-order QED predictions. Using $$\sigma(\gamma\gamma$$$$\to$$$$\tau^+\tau^-)$$, we estimate a model-dependent value of the anomalous magnetic moment of the $$\tau$$ leptonmore » of $$a_\tau$$ = 0.001 $$^{+0.055}_{-0.089}$$.« less

The first search is presented for vector-like leptons (VLLs) in the context of the “4321 model”, an ultraviolet-complete model with the potential to explain existing B physics measurements that are in tension with standard model predictions. The analyzed data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 96.5 ${\text{fb}}^{-1}$ , were recorded in 2017 and 2018 with the CMS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13\text{TeV}$ . Final states with ≥3 b -tagged jets and two third-generation leptons (ττ, $\mathrm{\tau }{more »}_{}$ ν τ , or ${\mathrm{\nu }}_{\mathrm{\tau }}{\mathrm{\nu }}_{\mathrm{\tau }}$ ) are considered. Upper limits are derived on the VLL production cross section in the VLL mass range 500–1050 GeV. The maximum likelihood fit prefers the presence of signal at the level of 2.8 standard deviations, for a representative VLL mass point of 600 GeV. As a consequence, the observed upper limits are approximately double the expected limits.« less

The Precision Proton Spectrometer (PPS) of the CMS and TOTEM experiments collected 107.7 fb$$^{-1}$$ in proton-proton (pp) collisions at the LHC at 13 TeV (Run 2). This paper describes the key features of the PPS alignment and optics calibrations, the proton reconstruction procedure, as well as the detector efficiency and the performance of the PPS simulation. The reconstruction and simulation are validated using a sample of (semi)exclusive dilepton events. The performance of PPS has proven the feasibility of continuously operating a near-beam proton spectrometer at a high luminosity hadron collider.

A data sample containing top quark pairs ($$\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$$) produced in association with a Lorentz-boosted Z or Higgs boson is used to search for signs of new physics using effective field theory. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$$^{-1}$$ of proton-proton collisions produced at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the LHC and collected by the CMS experiment. Selected events contain a single lepton and hadronic jets, including two identified with the decay of bottom quarks, plus an additional large-radius jet with high transverse momentum identified as a Z or Higgs boson decaying to a bottom quarkmore » pair. Machine learning techniques are employed to discriminate between $$\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$$Z or $$\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$$H events and events from background processes, which are dominated by $$\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$$ + jets production. No indications of new physics are observed. The signal strengths of boosted $$\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$$Z and $$\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$$H production are measured, and upper limits are placed on the $$\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$$Z and $$\mathrm{t\bar{t}}$$H differential cross sections as functions of the Z or Higgs boson transverse momentum. The effects of new physics are probed using a framework in which the standard model is considered to be the low-energy effective field theory of a higher energy scale theory. Eight possible dimension-six operators are added to the standard model Lagrangian and their corresponding coefficients are constrained via fits to the data.« less

The production of a top quark-antiquark pair in association with a W boson ($$ \textrm{t}\overline{\textrm{t}}\textrm{W} $$) is measured in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The analyzed data was recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$$^{−1}$$. Events with two or three leptons (electrons and muons) and additional jets are selected. In events with two leptons, a multiclass neural network is used to distinguish between the signal and background processes. Events with three leptons are categorized based on the number of jets and of jets originating frommore » b quark hadronization, and the lepton charges. The inclusive $$ \textrm{t}\overline{\textrm{t}}\textrm{W} $$ production cross section in the full phase space is measured to be 868 ± 40(stat) ± 51(syst) fb. The $$ \textrm{t}\overline{\textrm{t}}\textrm{W} ^{+}$$ and $$ \textrm{t}\overline{\textrm{t}}\textrm{W} ^{−}$$ cross sections are also measured as 553 ± 30(stat) ± 30(syst) and 343 ± 26(stat) ± 25(syst) fb, respectively, and the corresponding ratio of the two cross sections is found to be $$ 1.61\pm 0.15{\left(\textrm{stat}\right)}_{-0.05}^{+0.07}\left(\textrm{syst}\right) $$. The measured cross sections are larger than but consistent with the standard model predictions within two standard deviations, and represent the most precise measurement of these cross sections to date.[graphic not available: see fulltext]« less

Production cross sections of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to a pair of W bosons are measured in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13$$\,\text {Te\hspace{-.08em}V}$$. The analysis targets Higgs bosons produced via gluon fusion, vector boson fusion, and in association with a W or Z boson. Candidate events are required to have at least two charged leptons and moderate missing transverse momentum, targeting events with at least one leptonically decaying W boson originating from the Higgs boson. Results are presented in the form of inclusive and differential cross sections in the simplified template cross section framework, asmore » well as couplings of the Higgs boson to vector bosons and fermions. The data set collected by the CMS detector during 2016–2018 is used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138$$\,\text {fb}^{-1}$$. The signal strength modifier $$\mu $$, defined as the ratio of the observed production rate in a given decay channel to the standard model expectation, is measured to be $$\mu = 0.95^{+0.10}_{-0.09}$$. All results are found to be compatible with the standard model within the uncertainties.« less

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