Professor Chris Hays

Abstract:

The large difference between the Planck scale and the electroweak scale, known as the hierarchy problem, is addressed in certain models through the postulate of extra spatial dimensions. A search for evidence of extra spatial dimensions in the diphoton channel has been performed using the full set of proton-proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV recorded in 2011 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. This dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 fb1. The diphoton invariant mass spectrum is observed to be in good agreement with the Standard Model expectation. In the context of the model proposed by Arkani-Hamed, Dimopoulos and Dvali, 95% confidence level lower limits of between 2.52 and 3.92 TeV are set on the ultraviolet cutoff scale MS depending on the number of extra dimensions and the theoretical formalism used. In the context of the Randall-Sundrum model, a lower limit of 2.06 (1.00) TeV at 95% confidence level is set on the mass of the lightest graviton for couplings of k/MPl = 0.1(0.01). Combining with the ATLAS dilepton searches based on the 2011 data, the 95% confidence level lower limit on the Randall-Sundrum graviton mass is further tightened to 2.23 (1.03) TeV for k/ MPl= 0.1(0.01).© CERN 2013 for the benefit of the ATLAS Collaboration.

Abstract:

A search for supersymmetric particles in final states with zero, one, and two leptons, with and without jets identified as originating from b-quarks, in 4.7 fb⁻¹ of √s = 7 TeV pp collisions produced by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded by the ATLAS detector is presented. The search uses a set of variables carrying information on the event kinematics transverse and parallel to the beam line that are sensitive to several topologies expected in supersymmetry. Mutually exclusive final states are defined, allowing a combination of all channels to increase the search sensitivity. No deviation from the Standard Model expectation is observed. Upper limits at 95 % confidence level on visible cross-sections for the production of new particles are extracted. Results are interpreted in the context of the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension to the Standard Model and in supersymmetry-inspired models with diverse, high-multiplicity final states.

Abstract:

This Letter reports a search for a narrow resonant state decaying into two W bosons and two b quarks where one W boson decays leptonically and the other decays into a quark-antiquark pair. The search is particularly sensitive to top-antitop resonant production. We use the full data sample of proton-antiproton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV collected by the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.45 fb-1. No evidence for resonant production is found, and upper limits on the production cross section times branching ratio for a narrow resonant state are extracted. Within a specific benchmark model, we exclude a Z′ boson with mass, MZ′, below 915 GeV/c2 decaying into a top-antitop pair at the 95% credibility level assuming a Z′ boson decay width of ΓZ′=0.012M Z′. This is the most sensitive search for a narrow qq̄-initiated tt̄ resonance in the mass region below 750 GeV/c2. © 2013 American Physical Society.

Abstract:

We present a measurement of the mass difference between top (t) and antitop (t̄) quarks using tt̄ candidate events reconstructed in the final state with one lepton and multiple jets. We use the full data set of Tevatron √s=1.96 TeV proton-antiproton collisions recorded by the CDF II detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 8.7 fb-1. We estimate event by event the mass difference to construct templates for top pair signal events and background events. The resulting mass difference distribution in data compared to signal and background templates using a likelihood fit yields ΔMtop=Mt-Mt̄=-1.95±1.11(stat) ±0.59(syst) GeV/c2 and is in agreement with the standard model prediction of no mass difference. © 2013 American Physical Society.

Abstract:

We present a search for new particles in an extension to the standard model that includes a heavy Higgs boson (H0), a lighter charged Higgs boson (H ±), and an even lighter Higgs boson h0, with decays leading to a W-boson pair and a bottom-antibottom quark pair in the final state. We use events with exactly one lepton, missing transverse momentum, and at least four jets in data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 8.7 fb-1 collected by the CDF II detector in proton-antiproton collisions at √s=1.96 TeV. We find the data to be consistent with standard model predictions and report the results in terms of a simplified Higgs-cascade-decay model, setting 95% confidence level upper limits on the product of cross section and branching fraction from 1.3 pb to 15 fb as a function of H0 and H ± masses for mh0=126 GeV/c2. © 2013 American Physical Society.