162 Search Results

The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider explores the use of modern neural networks for a multi-dimensional calibration of its calorimeter signal defined by clusters of topologically connected cells (topo-clusters). The Bayesian neural network (BNN) approach not only yields a continuous and smooth calibration function that improves performance relative to the standard calibration but also provides uncertainties on the calibrated energies for each topo-cluster. The results obtained by using a trained BNN are compared to the standard local hadronic calibration and to a calibration provided by training a deep neural network. The uncertainties predicted by the BNN are interpretedmore » in the context of a fractional contribution to the systematic uncertainties of the trained calibration. They are also compared to uncertainty predictions obtained from an alternative estimator employing repulsive ensembles.« less

This paper presents updated Monte Carlo configurations used to model the production of single electroweak vector bosons (W, Z/γ$$^{∗}$$) in association with jets in proton-proton collisions for the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Improvements pertaining to the electroweak input scheme, parton-shower splitting kernels and scale-setting scheme are shown for multi-jet merged configurations accurate to next-to-leading order in the strong and electroweak couplings. The computational resources required for these set-ups are assessed, and approximations are introduced resulting in a factor three reduction of the per-event CPU time without affecting the physics modelling performance. Continuous statistical enhancement techniques are introducedmore » by ATLAS in order to populate low cross-section regions of phase space and are shown to match or exceed the generated effective luminosity. This, together with the lower per-event CPU time, results in a 50% reduction in the required computing resources compared to a legacy set-up previously used by the ATLAS collaboration. The set-ups described in this paper will be used for future ATLAS analyses and lay the foundation for the next generation of Monte Carlo predictions for single vector-boson plus jets production.[graphic not available: see fulltext]« less

The semiconductor tracker (SCT) is one of the tracking systems for charged particles in the ATLAS detector. It consists of 4088 silicon strip sensor modules. During Run 2 (2015–2018) the Large Hadron Collider delivered an integrated luminosity of 156 fb^₋1 to the ATLAS experiment at a centre-of-mass proton-proton collision energy of 13 TeV. The instantaneous luminosity and pile-up conditions were far in excess of those assumed in the original design of the SCT detector. Due to improvements to the data acquisition system, the SCT operated stably throughout Run 2. It was available for 99.9% of the integrated luminosity and achievedmore » a data-quality efficiency of 99.85%. Detailed studies have been made of the leakage current in SCT modules and the evolution of the full depletion voltage, which are used to study the impact of radiation damage to the modules.« less

Measurements are presented of the single-diffractive dijet cross section and the diffractive cross section as a function of the proton fractional momentum loss $$\xi $$ and the four-momentum transfer squared t. Both processes $${\text{ p }{}{}} {\text{ p }{}{}} \rightarrow {\text{ p }{}{}} {\text{ X }} $$ and $${\text{ p }{}{}} {\text{ p }{}{}} \rightarrow {\text{ X }} {\text{ p }{}{}} $$, i.e. with the proton scattering to either side of the interaction point, are measured, where $${\text{ X }} $$ includes at least two jets; the results of the two processes are averaged. The analyses are based on datamore » collected simultaneously with the CMS and TOTEM detectors at the LHC in proton–proton collisions at $$\sqrt{s} = 8\,\text {Te}\text {V} $$ during a dedicated run with $$\beta ^{*} = 90\,\text {m} $$ at low instantaneous luminosity and correspond to an integrated luminosity of $$37.5{\,\text {nb}^{-1}} $$. The single-diffractive dijet cross section $$\sigma ^{{\text{ p }{}{}} {\text{ X }}}_{\mathrm {jj}}$$, in the kinematic region $$\xi < 0.1$$, $$0.03< |t | < 1\,\text {Ge}\text {V} ^2$$, with at least two jets with transverse momentum $$p_{\mathrm {T}} > 40\,\text {Ge}\text {V} $$, and pseudorapidity $$|\eta | < 4.4$$, is $$21.7 \pm 0.9\,\text {(stat)} \,^{+3.0}_{-3.3}\,\text {(syst)} \pm 0.9\,\text {(lumi)} \,\text {nb} $$. The ratio of the single-diffractive to inclusive dijet yields, normalised per unit of $$\xi $$, is presented as a function of x, the longitudinal momentum fraction of the proton carried by the struck parton. The ratio in the kinematic region defined above, for x values in the range $$-2.9 \le \log _{10} x \le -1.6$$, is $$R = (\sigma ^{{\text{ p }{}{}} {\text{ X }}}_{\mathrm {jj}}/\Delta \xi )/\sigma _{\mathrm {jj}} = 0.025 \pm 0.001\,\text {(stat)} \pm 0.003\,\text {(syst)} $$, where $$\sigma ^{{\text{ p }{}{}} {\text{ X }}}_{\mathrm {jj}}$$ and $$\sigma _{\mathrm {jj}}$$ are the single-diffractive and inclusive dijet cross sections, respectively. The results are compared with predictions from models of diffractive and nondiffractive interactions. Monte Carlo predictions based on the HERA diffractive parton distribution functions agree well with the data when corrected for the effect of soft rescattering between the spectator partons.« less

Central exclusive and semiexclusive production of pairs is measured with the CMS detector in proton-proton collisions at the LHC at center-of-mass energies of 5.02 and 13TeV. The theoretical description of these nonperturbative processes, which have not yet been measured in detail at the LHC, poses a significant challenge to models. The two pions are measured and identified in the CMS silicon tracker based on specific energy loss, whereas the absence of other particles is ensured by calorimeter information. The total and differential cross sections of exclusive and semiexclusive central production are measured as functions of invariant mass, transverse momentum, andmore » rapidity of the system in the fiducial region defined as transverse momentum and pseudorapidity . The production cross sections for the four resonant channels [inline-graphic not available: see fulltext], , [inline-graphic not available: see fulltext], and [inline-graphic not available: see fulltext]are extracted using a simple model. These results represent the first measurement of this process at the LHC collision energies of 5.02 and 13TeV.« less

The combination of measurements of the W boson polarization in top quark decays performed by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations is presented. The measurements are based on proton-proton collision data produced at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 20 fb$$^{−1}$$ for each experiment. The measurements used events containing one lepton and having different jet multiplicities in the final state. The results are quoted as fractions of W bosons with longitudinal (F$$_{0}$$), left-handed (F$$_{L}$$), or right-handed (F$$_{R}$$) polarizations. The resulting combined measurements of the polarization fractions are F$$_{0}$$ = 0.693more » ± 0.014 and F$$_{L}$$ = 0.315 ± 0.011. The fraction F$$_{R}$$ is calculated from the unitarity constraint to be F$$_{R}$$ = −0.008 ± 0.007. These results are in agreement with the standard model predictions at next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative quantum chromodynamics and represent an improvement in precision of 25 (29)% for F$$_{0}$$ (F$$_{L}$$) with respect to the most precise single measurement. A limit on anomalous right-handed vector (V$$_{R}$$), and left- and right-handed tensor (g$$_{L}$$, g$$_{R}$$) tWb couplings is set while fixing all others to their standard model values. The allowed regions are [−0.11, 0.16] for V$$_{R}$$, [−0.08, 0.05] for g$$_{L}$$, and [−0.04, 0.02] for g$$_{R}$$, at 95% confidence level. Limits on the corresponding Wilson coefficients are also derived.[graphic not available: see fulltext]« less

Anisotropies in the initial energy density distribution of the quark-gluon plasma created in high energy heavy ion collisions lead to anisotropies in the azimuthal distributions of the final-state particles known as collective anisotropic flow. Fourier harmonic decomposition is used to quantify these anisotropies. The higher-order harmonics can be induced by the same order anisotropies (linear response) or by the combined influence of several lower order anisotropies (nonlinear response) in the initial state. The mixed higher-order anisotropic flow and nonlinear response coefficients of charged particles are measured as functions of transverse momentum and centrality in $$\mathrm {PbPb}$$ collisions at nucleon-nucleon center-of-massmore » energies $$\sqrt{\smash [b]{s_{_{\mathrm {NN}}}}} = 2.76$$ and 5.02$$\,\text {TeV}$$ with the CMS detector. The results are compared with viscous hydrodynamic calculations using several different initial conditions, as well as microscopic transport model calculations. None of the models provides a simultaneous description of the mixed higher-order flow harmonics and nonlinear response coefficients.« less

Measurements are presented of the reduction of signal output due to radiation damage for two types of plastic scintillator tiles used in the hadron endcap (HE) calorimeter of the CMS detector. The tiles were exposed to particles produced in proton-proton (pp) collisions at the CERN LHC with a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to a delivered luminosity of 50 fb−1. The measurements are based on readout channels of the HE that were instrumented with silicon photomultipliers, and are derived using data from several sources: a laser calibration system, a movable radioactive source, as well as hadrons and muons producedmore » in pp collisions. Results from several irradiation campaigns using 60Co sources are also discussed. The damage is presented as a function of dose rate. Within the range of these measurements, for a fixed dose the damage increases with decreasing dose rate.« less

Results are presented from a search for events containing an excited lepton (electron or muon) produced in association with an ordinary lepton of the same flavor and decaying to a lepton and two hadronic jets. Both the production and the decay of the excited leptons are assumed to occur via a contact interaction with a characteristic energy scale Λ. The branching fraction for the decay mode under study increases with the mass of the excited lepton and is the most sensitive channel for very heavy excited leptons. The analysis uses a sample of proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS experimentmore » at the LHC at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 77.4 fb$$^{−1}$$. The four-body invariant mass of the two lepton plus two jet system is used as the primary discriminating variable. No significant excess of events beyond the expectation for standard model processes is observed. Assuming that Λ is equal to the mass of the excited leptons, excited electrons and muons with masses below 5.6 and 5.7 TeV, respectively, are excluded at 95% confidence level. These are the best limits to date.[graphic not available: see fulltext]« less

A search for lepton flavour violating decays of a neutral non-standard-model Higgs boson in the μτ and eτ decay modes is presented. The search is based on proton-proton collisions at a center of mass energy $$ \sqrt{s} $$ = 13 TeV collected with the CMS detector in 2016, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$$^{−1}$$. The τ leptons are reconstructed in the leptonic and hadronic decay modes. No signal is observed in the mass range 200–900 GeV. At 95% confidence level, the observed (expected) upper limits on the production cross section multiplied by the branching fraction vary from 51.9more » (57.4) fb to 1.6 (2.1) fb for the μτ and from 94.1 (91.6) fb to 2.3 (2.3) fb for the eτ decay modes.[graphic not available: see fulltext]« less