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.

Observation of inverse Compton emission from a long γ-ray burst

Nature Nature Research 575:7783 (2019) 459-463

Authors:

P Veres, Pn Bhat, Ms Briggs, Wh Cleveland, R Hamburg, Cm Hui, B Mailyan, Rd Preece, Oj Roberts, A von Kienlin, Ca Wilson-Hodge, D Kocevski, M Arimoto, D Tak, K Asano, M Axelsson, G Barbiellini, E Bissaldi, F Fana Dirirsa, R Gill, J Granot, J McEnery, N Omodei, S Razzaque, F Piron, Jl Racusin, Dj Thompson, S Campana, Mg Bernardini, Npm Kuin, Mh Siegel, Sb Cenko, P O'Brien, M Capalbi, A Daì, M De Pasquale, J Gropp, N Klingler, Jp Osborne, M Perri, Rlc Starling, G Tagliaferri, A Tohuvavohu, A Ursi, M Tavani, M Cardillo, C Casentini, G Piano, Ian Heywood

Abstract:

Long-duration γ-ray bursts (GRBs) originate from ultra-relativistic jets launched from the collapsing cores of dying massive stars. They are characterized by an initial phase of bright and highly variable radiation in the kiloelectronvolt-to-megaelectronvolt band, which is probably produced within the jet and lasts from milliseconds to minutes, known as the prompt emission1,2. Subsequently, the interaction of the jet with the surrounding medium generates shock waves that are responsible for the afterglow emission, which lasts from days to months and occurs over a broad energy range from the radio to the gigaelectronvolt bands1-6. The afterglow emission is generally well explained as synchrotron radiation emitted by electrons accelerated by the external shock7-9. Recently, intense long-lasting emission between 0.2 and 1 teraelectronvolts was observed from GRB 190114C10,11. Here we report multi-frequency observations of GRB 190114C, and study the evolution in time of the GRB emission across 17 orders of magnitude in energy, from 5 × 10-6 to 1012 electronvolts. We find that the broadband spectral energy distribution is double-peaked, with the teraelectronvolt emission constituting a distinct spectral component with power comparable to the synchrotron component. This component is associated with the afterglow and is satisfactorily explained by inverse Compton up-scattering of synchrotron photons by high-energy electrons. We find that the conditions required to account for the observed teraelectronvolt component are typical for GRBs, supporting the possibility that inverse Compton emission is commonly produced in GRBs.

Combination of searches for Higgs boson pairs in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Physics Letters B Elsevier 800 (2019) 135103

Authors:

G Aad, B Abbott, DC Abbott, James Frost, The ATLAS Collaboration

Abstract:

This letter presents a combination of searches for Higgs boson pair production using up to 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy s=13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The combination is performed using six analyses searching for Higgs boson pairs decaying into the bb¯bb¯, bb¯W+W−, bb¯τ+τ−, W+W−W+W−, bb¯γγ and W+W−γγ final states. Results are presented for non-resonant and resonant Higgs boson pair production modes. No statistically significant excess in data above the Standard Model predictions is found. The combined observed (expected) limit at 95% confidence level on the non-resonant Higgs boson pair production cross-section is 6.9 (10) times the predicted Standard Model cross-section. Limits are also set on the ratio (κλ) of the Higgs boson self-coupling to its Standard Model value. This ratio is constrained at 95% confidence level in observation (expectation) to −5.0<κλ<12.0 (−5.8<κλ<12.0). In addition, limits are set on the production of narrow scalar resonances and spin-2 Kaluza–Klein Randall–Sundrum gravitons. Exclusion regions are also provided in the parameter space of the habemus Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model and the Electroweak Singlet Model.

Extracting the global signal from 21-cm fluctuations: The multi-tracer approach

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press (2019)

Authors:

A Fialkov, R Barkana, Matthew Jarvis

Abstract:

The multi-tracer technique employs a ratio of densities of two differently biased galaxy samples that trace the same underlying matter density field, and was proposed to alleviate the cosmic variance problem. Here we propose a novel application of this approach, applying it to two different tracers one of which is the 21-cm signal of neutral hydrogen from the epochs of reionization and comic dawn. The second tracer is assumed to be a sample of high-redshift galaxies, but the approach can be generalized and applied to other high-redshift tracers. We show that the anisotropy of the ratio of the two density fields can be used to measure the sky-averaged 21-cm signal, probe the spectral energy distribution of radiative sources that drive this signal, and extract large-scale properties of the second tracer, e.g., the galaxy bias. Using simulated 21-cm maps and mock galaxy samples, we find that the method works well for an idealized galaxy survey. However, in the case of a more realistic galaxy survey which only probes highly biased luminous galaxies, the inevitable Poisson noise makes the reconstruction far more challenging. This difficulty can be mitigated with the greater sensitivity of future telescopes along with larger survey volumes.