Professor Claire Gwenlan

Abstract:

The ATLAS experiment has observed 1995 Z boson candidates in data corresponding to 0:15 nb-1 of integrated luminosity obtained in the 2011 LHC Pb + Pb run at √SNN = 2.76 TeV. The Z bosons are reconstructed via dielectron and dimuon decay channels, with a background contamination of less than 3%. Results from the two channels are consistent and are combined. Within the statistical and systematic uncertainties, the per-event Z boson yield is proportional to the number of binary collisions estimated by the Glauber model. The elliptic anisotropy of the azimuthal distribution of the Z boson with respect to the event plane is found to be consistent with zero.

Abstract:

Measurements of the production of jets of particles in association with a Z boson in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV are presented, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb-1 collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Inclusive and differential jet cross sections in Z events, with Z decaying into electron or muon pairs, are measured for jets with transverse momentum p T > 30 GeV and rapidity |y| < 4.4. The results are compared to next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations, and to predictions from different Monte Carlo generators based on leading-order and next-to-leading-order matrix elements supplemented by parton showers. [Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration.

Abstract:

In several extensions of the Standard Model, the top quark can decay into a bottom quark and a light charged Higgs boson H +, t → bH +, in addition to the Standard Model decay t → bW. Since W bosons decay to the three lepton generations equally, while H + maypredominantlydecayinto τν, charged Higgs bosons can be searched for using the violation of lepton universality in top quark decays. The analysis in this paper is based on 4.6 fb-1 of proton-proton collision data at √s=7 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Signatures containing leptons (e or μ) and/or a hadronically decaying τ (τ had) are used. Event yield ratios between e + τ had and e + μ, as well as between μ + τ had andμ + e, final states are measured in the data and compared to predictions from simulations. This ratio-based method reduces the impact of systematic uncertainties in the analysis. No significant deviation from the Standard Model predictions is observed. With the assumption that the branching fraction ℬ (H + → τν) is 100%, upper limits in the range 3.2%-4.4% can be placed on the branching fraction ℬ (t → bH +) for charged Higgs boson masses m H+ in the range 90-140 GeV. After combination with results from a search for charged Higgs bosons in t\overline{t} decays using the τ had + jets final state, upper limits on ℬ (t → bH +) can be set in the range 0.8%-3.4%, for m H+ in the range 90-160 GeV.[Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2013 Cern for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration.

Abstract:

A search is presented for direct chargino production based on a disappearing-track signature using 20:3 fb-1 of proton-proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV collected with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. In anomaly-mediated supersymmetry breaking (AMSB) models, the lightest chargino is nearly mass degenerate with the lightest neutralino and its lifetime is long enough to be detected in the tracking detectors by identifying decays that result in tracks with no associated hits in the outer region of the tracking system. Some models with supersymmetry also predict charginos with a significant lifetime. This analysis attains sensitivity for charginos with a lifetime between 0.1 and 10 ns, and significantly surpasses the reach of the LEP experiments. No significant excess above the background expectation is observed for candidate tracks with large transverse momentum, and constraints on chargino properties are obtained. In the AMSB scenarios, a chargino mass below 270 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level.

Abstract:

An updated search is performed for gluino, top squark, or bottom squark R-hadrons that have come to rest within the ATLAS calorimeter, and decay at some later time to hadronic jets and a neutralino, using 5.0 and 22:9 fb-1 of pp collisions at 7 and 8 TeV, respectively. Candidate decay events are triggered in selected empty bunch crossings of the LHC in order to remove pp collision backgrounds. Selections based on jet shape and muon system activity are applied to discriminate signal events from cosmic ray and beam-halo muon backgrounds. In the absence of an excess of events, improved limits are set on gluino, stop, and sbottom masses for different decays, lifetimes, and neutralino masses. With a neutralino of mass 100 GeV, the analysis excludes gluinos with mass below 832 GeV (with an expected lower limit of 731 GeV), for a gluino lifetime between 10 μs and 1000 s in the generic R-hadron model with equal branching ratios for decays to (formula presented) and (formula presented). Under the same assumptions for the neutralino mass and squark lifetime, top squarks and bottom squarks in the Regge R-hadron model are excluded with masses below 379 and 344 GeV, respectively.