Report on Status of ESO Public Surveys and Current Activities

The Messenger 178 (2019) 10-16

Authors:

M Arnaboldi, N Delmotte, D Gadotti, M Hilker, G Hussain, L Mascetti, A Micol, M Petr-Gotzens, M Rejkuba, J Retzlaff, C Spiniello, B Leibundgut, M Romaniello

Disconnected pseudo-Cℓ covariances for projected large-scale structure data

Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics IOP Publishing 2019:11 (2019) 043-043

Authors:

Carlos García-García, David Alonso, Emilio Bellini

Disconnected pseudo-Cℓ covariances for projected large-scale structure data

Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics IOP Publishing 2019:11 (2019) 043

Authors:

C García-García, D Alonso, Emilio Bellini

Abstract:

The disconnected part of the power spectrum covariance matrix (also known as the "Gaussian" covariance) is the dominant contribution on large scales for galaxy clustering and weak lensing datasets. The presence of a complicated sky mask causes non-trivial correlations between different Fourier/harmonic modes, which must be accurately characterized in order to obtain reliable cosmological constraints. This is particularly relevant for galaxy survey data. Unfortunately, an exact calculation of these correlations involves O(ℓmax6) operations that become computationally impractical very quickly. We present an implementation of approximate methods to estimate the Gaussian covariance matrix of power spectra involving spin-0 and spin-2 flat- and curved-sky fields, expanding on existing algorithms {developed in the context of CMB analyses}. These methods achieve an O(ℓmax3) scaling, which makes the computation of the covariance matrix as fast as the computation of the power spectrum itself. We quantify the accuracy of these methods on large-scale structure and weak lensing data, making use of a large number of Gaussian but otherwise realistic simulations. We show that, using the approximate covariance matrix, we are able to recover the true posterior distribution of cosmological parameters to high accuracy. We also quantify the shortcomings of these methods, which become unreliable on the very largest scales, as well as for covariance matrix elements involving cosmic shear B modes. The algorithms presented here are implemented in the public code NaMaster https://github.com/LSSTDESC/NaMaster.

Search for displaced vertices of oppositely charged leptons from decays of long-lived particles in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Physics Letters B Elsevier 801 (2019) 135114

Authors:

M Aaboud, G Aad, B Abbott, O Abdinov, B Abeloos, Dk Abhayasinghe, Sh Abidi, Os AbouZeid, Nl Abraham, H Abramowicz, H Abreu, Y Abulaiti, Bs Acharya, S Adachi, L Adamczyk, J Adelman, M Adersberger, A Adiguzel, T Adye, Aa Affolder, Y Afik, C Agheorghiesei, Ja Aguilar-Saavedra, F Ahmadov, G Aielli, S Akatsuka, Tpa Akesson, E Akilli, Av Akimov, Gl Alberghi, J Albert, P Albicocco, MJ Alconada Verzini, S Alderweireldt, M Aleksa, In Aleksandrov, C Alexa, T Alexopoulos, M Alhroob, B Ali, G Alimonti, J Alison, Sp Alkire, C Allaire, Bmm Allbrooke, Bw Allen, Pp Allport, A Aloisio, A Alonso

Abstract:

A search for long-lived particles decaying into an oppositely charged lepton pair, μμ, ee, or eμ, is presented using 32.8fb−1 of pp collision data collected at s=13 TeV by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Candidate leptons are required to form a vertex, within the inner tracking volume of ATLAS, displaced from the primary pp interaction region. No lepton pairs with an invariant mass greater than 12 GeV are observed, consistent with the background expectations derived from data. The detection efficiencies for generic resonances with lifetimes (cτ) of 100–1000 mm decaying into a dilepton pair with masses between 0.1–1.0 TeV are presented as a function of pT and decay radius of the resonances to allow the extraction of upper limits on the cross sections for theoretical models. The result is also interpreted in a supersymmetric model in which the lightest neutralino, produced via squark–antisquark production, decays into ℓ+ℓ′−ν (ℓ,ℓ′=e, μ) with a finite lifetime due to the presence of R-parity violating couplings. Cross-section limits are presented for specific squark and neutralino masses. For a 700 GeV squark, neutralinos with masses of 50–500 GeV and mean proper lifetimes corresponding to cτ values between 1 mm to 6 m are excluded. For a 1.6 TeV squark, cτ values between 3 mm to 1 m are excluded for 1.3 TeV neutralinos.

ATLAS b-jet identification performance and efficiency measurement with tt¯ events in pp collisions at s√=13 TeV

European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields Springer 79:11 (2019) 970

Abstract:

The algorithms used by the ATLAS Collaboration during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider to identify jets containing b-hadrons are presented. The performance of the algorithms is evaluated in the simulation and the efficiency with which these algorithms identify jets containing b-hadrons is measured in collision data. The measurement uses a likelihood-based method in a sample highly enriched in tt¯ events. The topology of the t→Wb decays is exploited to simultaneously measure both the jet flavour composition of the sample and the efficiency in a transverse momentum range from 20 to 600 GeV. The efficiency measurement is subsequently compared with that predicted by the simulation. The data used in this measurement, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 80.5 fb−1, were collected in proton–proton collisions during the years 2015–2017 at a centre-of-mass energy s√= 13 TeV. By simultaneously extracting both the efficiency and jet flavour composition, this measurement significantly improves the precision compared to previous results, with uncertainties ranging from 1 to 8% depending on the jet transverse momentum.