Georg Viehhauser

Abstract:

A search for resonant Higgs boson pair production in the 𝑏 ¯𝑏𝑏 ¯𝑏 final state is presented. The analysis uses 126–139 fb−1 of 𝑝𝑝 collision data at √𝑠 = 13 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis is divided into two channels, targeting Higgs boson decays which are reconstructed as pairs of small-radius jets or as individual large-radius jets. Spin-0 and spin-2 benchmark signal models are considered, both of which correspond to resonant 𝐻𝐻 production via gluon–gluon fusion. The data are consistent with Standard Model predictions. Upper limits are set on the production cross-section times branching ratio to Higgs boson pairs of a new resonance in the mass range from 251 GeV to 5 TeV.

Abstract:

A search is presented for the production of a single top quark via left-handed flavour-changing neutral-current (FCNC) interactions of a top quark, a gluon and an up or charm quark. Two production processes are considered: u+ g→ t and c+ g→ t. The analysis is based on proton–proton collision data taken at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb- 1. Events with exactly one electron or muon, exactly one b-tagged jet and missing transverse momentum are selected, resembling the decay products of a singly produced top quark. Neural networks based on kinematic variables differentiate between events from the two signal processes and events from background processes. The measured data are consistent with the background-only hypothesis, and limits are set on the production cross-sections of the signal processes: σ(u+g→t)×B(t→Wb)×B(W→ℓν)<3.0pb and σ(c+g→t)×B(t→Wb)×B(W→ℓν)<4.7pb at the 95% confidence level, with B(W→ ℓν) = 0.325 being the sum of branching ratios of all three leptonic decay modes of the W boson. Based on the framework of an effective field theory, the cross-section limits are translated into limits on the strengths of the tug and tcg couplings occurring in the theory: |CuGut|/Λ2<0.057TeV- 2 and |CuGct|/Λ2<0.14TeV- 2. These bounds correspond to limits on the branching ratios of FCNC-induced top-quark decays: B(t→ u+ g) < 0.61 × 10 - 4 and B(t→ c+ g) < 3.7 × 10 - 4

Abstract:

Abstract The energy response of the ATLAS calorimeter is measured for single charged pions with transverse momentum in the range $$10<p_\text {T}<300$$ 10 < p T < 300 GeV. The measurement is performed using 139 $$\text {fb}^{-1}$$ fb - 1 of LHC proton–proton collision data at $$\sqrt{s}=13$$ s = 13 TeV taken in Run 2 by the ATLAS detector. Charged pions originating from $$\tau $$ τ -lepton decays are used to provide a sample of high- $$p_{\text {T}}$$ p T isolated particles, where the composition is known, to test an energy regime that has not previously been probed by in situ single-particle measurements. The calorimeter response to single-pions is observed to be overestimated by $${\sim }2\%$$ ∼ 2 % across a large part of the $$p_{\text {T}}$$ p T spectrum in the central region and underestimated by $${\sim }4\%$$ ∼ 4 % in the endcaps in the ATLAS simulation. The uncertainties in the measurements are $${\lesssim }1\%$$ ≲ 1 % for $$15<p_\text {T}<185$$ 15 < p T < 185 GeV in the central region. To investigate the source of the discrepancies, the width of the distribution of the ratio of calorimeter energy to track momentum, the energies per layer and response in the hadronic calorimeter are also compared between data and simulation.