Professor Chris Hays

Abstract:

This paper describes a measurement of the flavour composition of dijet events produced in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV using the ATLAS detector. The measurement uses the full 2010 data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 39 pb⁻¹. Six possible combinations of light, charm and bottom jets are identified in the dijet events, where the jet flavour is defined by the presence of bottom, charm or solely light flavour hadrons in the jet. Kinematic variables, based on the properties of displaced decay vertices and optimised for jet flavour identification, are used in a multidimensional template fit to measure the fractions of these dijet flavour states as functions of the leading jet transverse momentum in the range 40 GeV to 500 GeV and jet rapidity |y| < 2.1. The fit results agree with the predictions of leading- and next-to-leading-order calculations, with the exception of the dijet fraction composed of bottom and light flavour jets, which is underestimated by all models at large transverse jet momenta. The ability to identify jets containing two b-hadrons, originating from e.g. gluon splitting, is demonstrated. The difference between bottom jet production rates in leading and subleading jets is consistent with the next-to-leading-order predictions.

Abstract:

A search for direct chargino production in anomaly-mediated supersymmetry breaking scenarios is performed in pp collisions at √s=7TeV using 4.7 fb-1 of data collected with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. In these models, the lightest chargino is predicted to have a lifetime long enough to be detected in the tracking detectors of collider experiments. This analysis explores such models by searching for chargino decays that result in tracks with few associated hits in the outer region of the tracking system. The transverse-momentum spectrum of candidate tracks is found to be consistent with the expectation from the Standard Model background processes and constraints on chargino properties are obtained. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration.

Abstract:

A search for resonances produced in 7 TeV proton-proton collisions and decaying into top-quark pairs is described. In this Letter events where the top-quark decay produces two massive jets with large transverse momenta recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider are considered. Two techniques that rely on jet substructure are used to separate top-quark jets from those arising from light quarks and gluons. In addition, each massive jet is required to have evidence of an associated bottom-quark decay. The data are consistent with the Standard Model, and limits can be set on the production cross section times branching fraction of a Z′ boson and a Kaluza-Klein gluon resonance. These limits exclude, at the 95% credibility level, Z′ bosons with masses 0.70-1.00 TeV as well as 1.28-1.32 TeV and Kaluza-Klein gluons with masses 0.70-1.62 TeV. © 2013 Cern for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration.

Abstract:

A measurement of the Λb0 lifetime and mass in the decay channel Λb0→J/ψ(μ+μ-)Λ0(pπ -) is presented. The analysis uses a signal sample of about 2200 Λb0 and Λ̄b0 decays that are reconstructed in 4.9 fb -1 of ATLAS pp collision data collected in 2011 at the LHC center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. A simultaneous mass and decay time maximum likelihood fit is used to extract the Λb0 lifetime and mass. They are measured to be τΛb=1.449±0.036(stat) ±0.017(syst) ps and mΛb=5619.7±0. 7(stat)±1.1(syst) MeV.

Abstract:

A search is presented for production of a heavy up-type quark (t') together with its antiparticle, assuming a significant branching ratio for subsequent decay into a W boson and a b quark. The search is based on 4.7 fb-1 of pp collisions at s=7TeV recorded in 2011 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Data are analyzed in the lepton+jets final state, characterized by a high-transverse-momentum isolated electron or muon, large missing transverse momentum and at least three jets. The analysis strategy relies on the substantial boost of the W bosons in the t't̄' signal when mt'≳400GeV. No significant excess of events above the Standard Model expectation is observed and the result of the search is interpreted in the context of fourth-generation and vector-like quark models. Under the assumption of a branching ratio BR(t'→Wb)=1, a fourth-generation t' quark with mass lower than 656GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level. In addition, in light of the recent discovery of a new boson of mass ~126GeV at the LHC, upper limits are derived in the two-dimensional plane of BR(t'→Wb) versus BR(t'→Ht), where H is the Standard Model Higgs boson, for vector-like quarks of various masses. © 2012 CERN.