Richard Nickerson

Abstract:

© 2012 CERN. Published by Elsevier B.V. A search for the Standard Model Higgs boson in proton-proton collisions with the ATLAS detector at the LHC is presented. The datasets used correspond to integrated luminosities of approximately 4.8 fb -1 collected at √s = 7 TeV in 2011 and 5.8 fb -1 at √s = 8 TeV in 2012. Individual searches in the channels H → ZZ(*) → 4l, H → γγ and H → WW(*) eνμν in the 8 TeV data are combined with previously published results of searches for H → ZZ (*) , WW (*) , bb and τ + τ - in the 7 TeV data and results from improved analyses of the H → ZZ(*) →4l and H → γγ channels in the 7 TeV data. Clear evidence for the production of a neutral boson with a measured mass of 126.0±0.4 (stat)±0.4 (sys) GeV is presented. This observation, which has a significance of 5.9 standard deviations, corresponding to a background fluctuation probability of 1.7×10 -9 , is compatible with the production and decay of the Standard Model Higgs boson.

Abstract:

A search for the Standard Model Higgs boson in the H→WW({star operator})→ℓνℓν (ℓ=e, μ) decay mode is presented. The search is performed using proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb-1 at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV collected during 2011 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess of events over the expected background is observed. An upper bound is placed on the Higgs boson production cross section as a function of its mass. A Standard Model Higgs boson with mass in the range between 133 GeV and 261 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level, while the expected exclusion range is from 127 GeV to 233 GeV. © 2012 CERN.

Abstract:

A search for the Standard Model Higgs boson in the H→WW (⋆) →ℓνℓν (ℓ=e, μ) decay mode is presented. The search is performed using proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb -1 at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV collected during 2011 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess of events over the expected background is observed. An upper bound is placed on the Higgs boson production cross section as a function of its mass. A Standard Model Higgs boson with mass in the range between 133 GeV and 261 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level, while the expected exclusion range is from 127 GeV to 233 GeV. © 2012 CERN.

Abstract:

The results of a search for the production of second generation scalar leptoquarks are presented for final states consisting of either two muons and at least two jets or a muon plus missing transverse momentum and at least two jets. A total of 1.03 fb⁻¹ integrated luminosity of protonproton collision data produced by the Large Hadron Collider at √s = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector is used for the search. The event yields in the signal regions are found to be consistent with the Standard Model background expectations. The production of second generation leptoquarks is excluded for a leptoquark mass mLQ < 594 (685) GeV at 95 % confidence level, for a branching ratio of 0.5 (1.0) for leptoquark decay to a muon and a quark.

Abstract:

A search for a fermiophobic Higgs boson using diphoton events produced in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7 TeV is performed using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4. 9 fb-1 collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. A specific benchmark model is considered where all the fermion couplings to the Higgs boson are set to zero and the bosonic couplings are kept at the Standard Model values (fermiophobic Higgs model). The largest excess with respect to the background-only hypothesis is found at 125. 5 GeV, with a local significance of 2. 9 standard deviations, which reduces to 1. 6 standard deviations when taking into account the look-elsewhere effect. The data exclude the fermiophobic Higgs model in the ranges 110. 0-118. 0 GeV and 119. 5-121. 0 GeV at 95 % confidence level. © 2012 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration.