Professor Daniela Bortoletto

Abstract:

A search is performed for heavy particle pairs produced in √s=7TeV proton-proton collisions with 35pb-1 of data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The search is sensitive to squarks and gluinos of generic supersymmetry models, provided they are kinematically accessible, with minimal assumptions on properties of the lightest superpartner particle. The kinematic consistency of the selected events is tested against the hypothesis of heavy particle pair production using the dimensionless razor variable R, related to the missing transverse energy ETmiss. The new physics signal is characterized by a broad peak in the distribution of MR, an event-by-event indicator of the heavy particle mass scale. This new approach is complementary to ETmiss-based searches. After background modeling based on data, and background rejection based on R and MR, no significant excess of events is found beyond the standard model expectations. The results are interpreted in the context of the constrained minimal supersymmetric standard model as well as two simplified supersymmetry models. © 2012 CERN.

Abstract:

A search for a narrow Higgs boson resonance in the diphoton mass spectrum is presented based on data corresponding to 7.0fb-1 of integrated luminosity from pp̄ collisions at √s=1.96TeV collected by the CDF experiment. No evidence of such a resonance is observed, and upper limits are set on the cross section times branching ratio of the resonant state as a function of Higgs boson mass. The limits are interpreted in the context of the standard model and one fermiophobic benchmark model where the data exclude fermiophobic Higgs bosons with masses below 114GeV/c2 at a 95% Bayesian credibility level. © 2012 American Physical Society.

Abstract:

Measurements from the CMS experiment at the LHC of dihadron correlations for charged particles produced in PbPb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 2. 76 TeV are presented. The results are reported as a function of the particle transverse momenta (pT) and collision centrality over a broad range in relative pseudorapidity (Δη) and the full range of relative azimuthal angle (Δφ). The observed two-dimensional correlation structure in Δη and Δφ is characterised by a narrow peak at (Δη,Δφ)≈(0,0) from jet-like correlations and a long-range structure that persists up to at least {pipe}Δη{pipe}=4. An enhancement of the magnitude of the short-range jet peak is observed with increasing centrality, especially for particles of pT around 1-2 GeV/c. The long-range azimuthal dihadron correlations are extensively studied using a Fourier decomposition analysis. The extracted Fourier coefficients are found to factorise into a product of single-particle azimuthal anisotropies up to pT≈3-3. 5 GeV/c for at least one particle from each pair, except for the second-order harmonics in the most central PbPb events. Various orders of the single-particle azimuthal anisotropy harmonics are extracted for associated particle pT of 1-3 GeV/c, as a function of the trigger particle pT up to 20 GeV/c and over the full centrality range. © 2012 CERN for the benefit of the CMS collaboration.

Abstract:

A measurement of the exclusive two-photon production of muon pairs in proton-proton collisions at √s = 7TeV, pp → pμ+μ -p, is reported using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 40 pb-1. For muon pairs with invariant mass greater than 11:5 GeV, transverse momentum p (μ) > 4 GeV and pseudorapidity σ(μ) < 2:1, a t to the dimuon pT(μ+μ-) distribution results in a measured cross section of η(p → pμ+μ -p) = 3:38+0:580:55 (stat:)±0:16 (syst:)±0:14 (lumi:) pb, consistent with the theoretical prediction evaluated with the event generator Lpair. The ratio to the predicted cross section is 0:83+0:14 -0:13 (stat:) ± 0:04 (syst:) ± 0:03 (lumi:). The characteristic distributions of the muon pairs produced via fusion, such as the muon acoplanarity, the muon pair invariant mass and transverse momentum agree with those from the theory. Copyright © CERN.

Abstract:

A study of forward energy flow and central charged-particle multiplicity in events with W and Z bosons decaying into leptons is presented. The analysis uses a sample of 7 TeV pp collisions, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 pb-1, recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The observed forward energy depositions, their correlations, and the central charged-particle multiplicities are not well described by the available non-diffractive soft-hadron production models. A study of about 300 events with no significant energy deposited in one of the forward calorimeters, corresponding to a pseudorapidity gap of at least 1. 9 units, is also presented. An indication for a diffractive component in these events comes from the observation that the majority of the charged leptons from the W(Z) decays are found in the hemisphere opposite to the gap. When fitting the signed lepton pseudorapidity distribution of these events with predicted distributions from an admixture of diffractive (pompyt) and non-diffractive (pythia) Monte Carlo simulations, the diffractive component is determined to be (50. 0 ± 9. 3 (stat.) ± 5. 2 (syst.))%. © 2012 CERN for the benefit of the CMS collaboration.