A search for the production of a single top quark in association with a Z boson is presented, both to identify the expected standard model process and to search for flavour-changing neutral current interactions. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV. Final states with three leptons (electrons or muons) and at least one jet are investigated. An events yield compatible with tZq standard model production is observed, and the corresponding cross section is measured to be sigma( p p -> t Z q -> l nu b l+ l- q ) = 10 +8/-7 fb with a significance of 2.4 standard deviations. No presence of flavour-changing neutral current production of tZq is observed. Exclusion limits at 95% confidence level on the branching fractions of a top quark decaying to a Z boson and an up or a charm quark are found to be B( t -> Z u ) < 0.022% and B( t -> Z c ) < 0.049%.
A search for the flavour-changing neutral current decay D0 to mu+mu- is performed in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV using 90 pb-1 of data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. No evidence is found for this decay mode. The upper limit on the branching fraction B(D0 to mu+mu-) is 5.4x10-7 at the 90% confidence level.
The measurements of b quark, quarkonium and exotic state production performed with the ATLAS and CMS experiments at sqrt(s)=7 TeV are presented. The b-quark production cross section is measured both in inclusive and fully reconstructed B hadron decays. The results are compared with QCD expectations at tree-level and NLO.
This contribution focuses on the latest studies of heavy-flavour jets performed with the ALICE detector. The measurements of the jet momentum fraction carried by the D meson in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=5.02$ TeV and $13\ \mathrm{TeV}$ will be presented. The comparison to POWHEG+PYTHIA will be shown. Moreover, the first measurement at the LHC of the jet-momentum fraction carried by the $\mathrm{Λ_c^+}$ baryon in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13\ \mathrm{TeV}$ will be reported. Production of heavy-flavour jets in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=5.02\ \mathrm{TeV}$ will be also addressed with charged j…
The production of muons from heavy flavour decays is measured at forward rapidity in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV collected with the ALICE experiment at the LHC. The analysis is carried out on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity $L_{\rm int} = 16.5$ nb$^{-1}$. The transverse momentum and rapidity differential production cross sections of muons from heavy flavour decays are measured in the rapidity range 2.5 < y < 4, over the transverse momentum range 2 < $p_{\rm T}$ < 12 GeV/$c$. The results are compared to predictions based on perturbative QCD calculation…
Results are presented of a search for supersymmetric particles decaying into final states with significant missing transverse momentum and exactly two identical flavour leptons (e or mu) of opposite charge in sqrt{s}=7 TeV collisions at the Large Hadron Collider. This channel is particularly sensitive to supersymmetric particle cascade decays producing flavour correlated lepton pairs. Flavour uncorrelated backgrounds are subtracted using a sample of opposite flavour lepton pair events. Observation of an excess beyond Standard Model expectations following this subtraction procedure would offer …
A search is performed for a heavy particle decaying into different flavour dilepton pairs ($eμ$, $eτ$ or $μτ$), using 3.2 $fb^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV collected in 2015 by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. No excess over the Standard Model prediction is observed. Limits at the 95% credibility level are set on the mass of a $Z^{\prime}$ boson with lepton-flavour-violating couplings at 3.0, 2.7 and 2.6 TeV, and on the mass of a supersymmetric $τ$ sneutrino with $R$-parity-violating couplings at 2.3, 2.2 and 1.9 TeV, for $eμ$, $eτ$ and $μτ$ final s…
Flavour Changing Neutral Current (FCNC) processes are forbidden at tree level in the Standard Model and highly suppressed at higher orders. This makes FCNC one of the key processes to search for new physics since any small deviations from the Standard Model expectations could have a big impact. Both ATLAS and CMS Collaborations have designed a comprehensive strategy to search for FCNC in top quark physics both in the production and decay. The strategies followed by both collaborations are here described, using data from $pp$ collisions at the LHC collected at a centre of mass energies of 7 and…
A search for three-jet hadronic resonance production in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV has been conducted by the CMS Collaboration at the LHC with a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.4 inverse femtobarns. The search method is model independent, and events are selected that have high jet multiplicity and large values of jet transverse momenta. The signal models explored assume R-parity-violating supersymmetric gluino pair production and have final states with either only light-flavour jets or both light- and heavy-flavour jets. No significant deviati…
This Letter presents direct searches for lepton flavour violation in Higgs boson decays, $H\rightarrow eτ$ and $H\rightarrowμτ$, performed with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The searches are based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $36.1\,\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$. No significant excess is observed above the expected background from Standard Model processes. The observed (median expected) 95 % confidence-level upper limits on the lepton-flavour-violating branching ratios are $0.47\%$ ($0.34^{+0.13}_…
We present the measurement of the inclusive electron spectrum in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, using 1.3 pb-1 of data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Signal electrons in the transverse momentum range 7 < pt < 26 GeV and within |eta| <2.0, excluding 1.37<|eta|<1.52, are extracted from the dominant hadron and conversion backgrounds. After subtraction of the small W/Z/gamma* contribution, the cross-section as a function of pt is found to be in good agreement with theoretical predictions for heavy flavour production from Fixed Order N…
Flavour-changing neutral currents are extremely rare processes in the standard model that can be sensitive to various new physics effects. The summary of the latest experimental results from the LHC experiments is given. Preliminary results of sensitivity studies for future colliders are also discussed.
A direct search for lepton flavour violating decays of the Higgs boson (H) in the H to e tau and H to e mu channels is described. The data sample used in the search was collected in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns. No evidence is found for lepton flavour violating decays in either final state. Upper limits on the branching fractions, B(H to e tau ) < 0.69% and B(H to e mu) < 0.035%, are set at the 95% confidence level. The constraint set on B(H to e tau) is an order of magnitude …
A search for flavour-changing neutral current (FCNC) processes in top-quark decays is presented. Data collected from proton-proton collisions at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 fb$^{-1}$, are analysed. A search is performed for top-quark pair-production events, with one top-quark decaying through the $t\to qZ$ ($q=u,c$) FCNC channel, and the other through the dominant Standard Model mode $t\to bW$. Only the decays of the $Z$ boson to charged leptons and leptonic $W$ boson decays are considered as signal. No evidence for a …
We construct a three-Higgs doublet model with a flavour non-universal ${\rm U}(1)\times \mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry. That symmetry induces suppressed flavour-changing interactions mediated by neutral scalars. New scalars with masses below the TeV scale can still successfully negotiate the constraints arising from flavour data. Such a model can thus encourage direct searches for extra Higgs bosons in the future collider experiments, and includes a non-trivial flavour structure.
A search for flavour-changing neutral currents (FCNC) processes in proton-proton ($pp$) collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is presented. The analysed data collected during the years of 2015 and 2016 corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$. A search considering top-quark pair-production events is performed, with one top-quark decaying through the dominant Standard Model (SM) mode $t$ $\to$ $Wb$, and the other through the $t$ $\to$ $qZ$ ($q$=$u$,$c$) FCNC channel. The data are consistent with the SM ex…
The measurement of the heavy-flavour production cross sections in pp collisions at the LHC will allow to test perturbative QCD calculations in a new energy domain. Moreover, within the physics program of the ALICE experiment, it will provide the reference for the study of medium effects in Pb-Pb collisions, where heavy quarks are regarded as sensitive probes of parton-medium interaction dynamics. We present the status and first preliminary results of charm and beauty production measurements with the ALICE experiment, using hadronic D meson decays and semi-leptonic D and B meson decays, includi…
This paper describes a measurement of the flavour composition of dijet events produced in pp collisions at sqrt{s}=7 TeV using the ATLAS detector. The measurement uses the full 2010 data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 39 pb^-1. Six possible combinations of light, charm and bottom jets are identified in the dijet events, where the jet flavour is defined by the presence of bottom, charm or solely light flavour hadrons in the jet. Kinematic variables, based on the properties of displaced decay vertices and optimised for jet flavour identification, are used in a multidimensio…
We present the performance of the LCFI flavour tagging package in a realistic CLIC environment. The application is demonstrated on the examples of the measurement of the cross section times branching ratio of light Higgs decays to b and c quarks at 3 TeV, a study of heavy Higgs decays at 3 TeV and of top pair production at 500 GeV. All studies are based on full detector simulation with a realistic account of the machine- induced background at CLIC.
The measurement of heavy-flavour production and nuclear modification factor in heavy-ion collisions provides insights into the mechanisms of parton energy loss in the hot and dense medium formed in these collisions. ALICE results on heavy-flavour decay electrons and muons and on D mesons are presented.
An inclusive search for same-sign top-quark pair production in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV is performed using a data sample recorded with the CMS detector in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35 inverse picobarns. This analysis is motivated by recent studies of p p-bar to t t-bar reporting mass-dependent forward-backward asymmetries larger than expected from the standard model. These asymmetries could be due to Flavor Changing Neutral Currents (FCNC) in the top sector induced by t-channel exchange of a massive neutral vector boson (Z'). Models with such a Z' also predict …
The production of muons from heavy flavour decays is measured at forward rapidity (2.5 < y < 4) with the muon spectrometer of the ALICE experiment at the LHC. In pp collisions at \sqrt{s} = 7 TeV, the measurement of the transverse momentum and rapidity differential production cross section of muons from heavy flavour decays is carried out from a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of Lint = 16.5 nb^-1 and results are compared to predictions based on perturbative QCD calculations. In Pb-Pb collisions at \sqrt{s_{NN}}= 2.76 TeV, the analysis of a data sample corresponding to an…
A search for lepton flavour violating decays of the Higgs boson in the $μτ$ and e$τ$ decay modes is presented. The search is based on a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions collected with the CMS detector in 2016, at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. No significant excess over the standard model expectation is observed. The observed (expected) upper limits on the lepton flavour violating branching fractions of the Higgs boson are $\mathcal{B}$(H$\toμτ$) < 0.25% (0.25%) and $\mathcal{B}$(H$\to$e$τ$) < 0.61% (0.37%), at 95% confidence …
A search for the flavour-changing neutral-current decay $t\to qZ$ is presented. Data collected by the ATLAS detector during 2012 from proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$, are analysed. Top-quark pair-production events with one top quark decaying through the $t\to qZ$ ($q=u,c$) channel and the other through the dominant Standard Model mode $t\to bW$ are considered as signal. Only the decays of the $Z$ boson to charged leptons and leptonic $W$ boson decays are used. No ev…
A search for flavour changing neutral current (FCNC) processes in top-quark decays by the ATLAS Collaboration is presented. Data collected from pp collisions at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV during 2011, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.1 fb^-1, were used. A search was performed for top-quark pair-production events, with one top quark decaying through the t->Zq FCNC (q=u,c) channel, and the other through the Standard Model dominant mode t->Wb. Only the decays of the Z boson to charged leptons and leptonic W-boson decays were considered as signal. Consequen…
This paper presents a search for the t-channel exchange of an R-parity violating scalar top quark (t) in the emu continuum using 2.1/fb of data collected by the ATLAS detector in sqrt(s) = 7 TeV pp collisions at the Large Hadron Collider. Data are found to be consistent with the expectation from the Standard Model backgrounds. Limits on R-parity-violating couplings at 95% C.L. are calculated as a function of the scalar top mass (m_{t}). The upper limits on the production cross section for pp->emuX, through the t-channel exchange of a scalar top quark, ranges from 170 fb for m_{t}=95 GeV to 30 …
Search for lepton-flavour violation in high-mass dilepton final states using 139 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector
We present the elliptic flow $v_{2}$ of electrons from the semi-leptonic decays of heavy-flavour hadrons at mid-rapidity for semi-central ($20-40%$ centrality) Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV measured with the ALICE detector. A positive $v_{2}$ is observed at low $p_\mathrm{T}$ in semi-central collisions. Comparisons with previous measurements obtained at lower collision energy at RHIC in Au-Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 0.2 TeV and with theoretical models are also presented.
Two-particle azimuthal correlations of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays with charged particles can give insight into the properties of heavy-quark production and hadronization into heavy-flavour jets.\\ In this contribution, the ALICE results measured in pp collisions at 5.02 TeV, collected in the LHC Run 2, are presented. The yields of charged particles in the near and away-side correlation peaks and the peak width are compared with PYTHIA calculations.
A search for lepton flavour violating decays of a neutral non-standard-model Higgs boson in the $μτ$ and e$τ$ decay modes is presented. The search is based on proton-proton collisions at a center of mass energy $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV collected with the CMS detector in 2016, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb$^{-1}$. The $τ$ leptons are reconstructed in the leptonic and hadronic decay modes. No signal is observed in the mass range 200-900 GeV. At 95% confidence level, the observed (expected) upper limits on the production cross section multiplied by the branching fraction vary fr…
Two searches for new phenomena in final states containing a same-flavour opposite-lepton (electron or muon) pair, jets, and large missing transverse momentum are presented. These searches make use of proton--proton collision data, collected during 2015 and 2016 at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider, which correspond to an integrated luminosity of 14.7 fb$^{-1}$. Both searches target the pair production of supersymmetric particles, squarks or gluinos, which decay to final states containing a same-flavour opposite-sign lepton pair via one…
A search for flavour-changing neutral-current processes in top-quark decays is presented. Data collected with the ATLAS detector from proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$, are analysed. The search is performed using top-quark pair events, with one top quark decaying through the $t\rightarrow qZ$ $(q = u, c)$ flavour-changing neutral-current channel, and the other through the dominant Standard Model mode $t\rightarrow bW$. Only $Z$ boson decays into charged leptons and l…
The ATLAS and CMS experiments at the LHC have reported the observation of a possible excess of events corresponding to a new particle $h$ with mass $\sim 125$ GeV that might be the long-sought Higgs boson, or something else. Decyphering the nature of this possible signal will require constraining the couplings of the $h$ and measuring them as accurately as possible. Here we analyze the indirect constraints on flavour-changing $h$ decays that are provided by limits on low-energy flavour-changing interactions. We find that indirect limits in the quark sector impose such strong constraints that f…
The measurement of heavy-flavour (charm and beauty) production in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions provides an important contribution to the study of the properties of the hot and dense medium created in such collisions. One approach to measure heavy-flavour production is via electrons from semi-leptonic decays of heavy-flavour hadrons. In this contribution we present the nuclear modification factor $(R_{\rm{AA}})$ and the azimuthal anisotropy $(v_{2})$ of heavy-flavour decay electrons in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathit{\rm{NN}}}= 2.76$ TeV, which are sensitive to the interaction o…
Flavour physics has a long tradition of paving the way for direct discoveries of new particles and interactions. Results over the last decade have placed stringent bounds on the parameter space of physics beyond the Standard Model. Early results from the LHC, and its dedicated flavour factory LHCb, have further tightened these constraints and reiterate the ongoing relevance of flavour studies. The experimental status of flavour observables in the charm and beauty sectors is reviewed in measurements of CP violation, neutral meson mixing, and measurements of rare decays.
A UFO model describing general top quark Flavour Changing Neutral Currents is presented. We use it to study t$γ$, tH and tZ production via FCNCs anomalous couplings at the Large Hadron Collider, in particular how the distributions of physical observables depend on the anomalous couplings. A sensitivity study of the Large Hadron Collider experiments to tZ production via FCNC in its second stage of operation is also performed.
We show that a simple extension of the Standard Model involving the introduction of vector-like quarks and heavy neutrinos, provides an explanation of the so called B-anomalies in $b\to s\ell\bar\ell$ transitions. Vector-like quarks can explain, in the context of a discrete flavour symmetry, all the relevant characteristics of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa sector. It is in this framework that we study the requirements on the masses of the vector like quarks and the heavy neutrinos leading to viable models with sufficient deviations of lepton flavour universality and which simultaneously avoid …
Calibration of the light-flavour jet mistagging efficiency of the $b$-tagging algorithms with $Z$+jets events using 139 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of ATLAS proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV
We provide a reference in proton-proton collisions at the energy of the Pb-Pb 2010 run at the LHC, sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV, for the pt-differential production cross section of D0, D+, and D*+ mesons in |y| < 0.5, of electrons from heavy flavour decays in |y| < 0.9, and of muons from heavy flavour decays in 2.5 < y < 4. The reference is obtained by applying a pQCD-driven scaling (based on the FONLL calculation) to ALICE preliminary data at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV. In order to validate the procedure, we scale the D meson cross section to sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV and compare to the corresponding measurements from t…
Azimuthal correlation studies of heavy-flavour particles with charged particles in p--Pb collisions can give an insight into the cold nuclear matter effects \cite{Andronic:2015wma} on heavy-quark production and hadronization into heavy-flavour jets. Multiplicity-dependent measurements of angular correlations of heavy-flavour particles with charged hadrons allow us to investigate the collective behavior of the system and the initial state effects on heavy flavour hadron production. In addition, they can reveal possible modifications of the heavy-quark fragmentation and hadronization at differen…
Exploring Collective Effects in Small Collision Systems via Light-Flavour Particle Production in High-Multiplicity pp Collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV in ALICE
A study of the top quark interactions via flavour-changing neutral current (FCNC) processes provides an intriguing connection between the heaviest elementary particle of the standard model (SM) of particle physics and the new scalar bosons that are predicted in several notable SM extensions. The production cross sections of the processes with top-scalar FCNC interactions can be significantly enhanced to the observable level at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The present review summarizes the latest experimental results on the study of the top quark interactions with the Higgs boson via FCNC an…
This Letter presents the measurement of differential cross sections of isolated prompt photons produced in association with a b-jet or a c-jet. These final states provide sensitivity to the heavy-flavour content of the proton and aspects related to the modelling of heavy-flavour quarks in perturbative QCD. The measurement uses proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2012 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of up to 20.2 fb$^{-1}$. The differential cross sections are measured for each jet flavour with respect to the tra…
The differential production cross section of electrons from semileptonic heavy-flavour hadron decays has been measured at mid-rapidity ($|y| < 0.5$) in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV with ALICE at the LHC. Electrons were measured in the transverse momentum range 0.5 $<p_{\rm T}<$ 8 GeV/$c$. Predictions from a fixed order perturbative QCD calculation with next-to-leading-log resummation agree with the data within the theoretical and experimental uncertainties.
A search is presented for particles that decay producing a large jet multiplicity and invisible particles. The event selection applies a veto on the presence of isolated electrons or muons and additional requirements on the number of b-tagged jets and the scalar sum of masses of large-radius jets. Having explored the full ATLAS 2015-2016 dataset of LHC proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13~\mathrm{TeV}$, which corresponds to 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity, no evidence is found for physics beyond the Standard Model. The results are interpreted in the context of simplified models ins…
The ALICE experiment measured the heavy-flavour production in the semi-muonic decay channel at forward rapidities ($2.5<y<4$) in pp and Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 2.76$ TeV. We report on the first results on the $p_{\rm T}$-differential cross-sections in pp collisions as well as on the nuclear modification factors as a function of the transverse momentum and centrality.
Flavour-changing neutral-current interactions of the top quark can be searched for in top-quark pair production with one top quark decaying to an up-type quark and a neutral boson, and they can be searched for in the single production of a top quark in association with such a boson. Both processes interfere if an additional up-type quark is produced in the case of single production. The impact of these interference effects on searches for flavour-changing neutral currents at the LHC is studied for the case where the neutral boson is a photon or a $Z$ boson. Interference effects are found to be…
We demonstrate that flavour-changing neutral currents in the top sector, mediated by leptophilic scalars at the electroweak scale, can easily arise in scenarios of new physics, and in particular in composite Higgs models. We moreover show that such interactions are poorly constrained by current experiments, while they can be searched for at the LHC in rare top decays and, more generally, in the channels $pp\to tS(S)+j$, with $S\to\ell^+\ell^-$. We provide dedicated analyses in this respect, obtaining that cut-off scales as large as $Λ\sim$ 90 TeV can be probed with an integrated luminosity of …
We propose a class of Two Higgs Doublet Models where there are Flavour Changing Neutral Currents (FCNC) at tree level, but under control due to the introduction of a discrete symmetry in the full Lagrangian. It is shown that in this class of models, one can have simultaneously FCNC in the up and down sectors, in contrast to the situation encountered in BGL models. The intensity of FCNC is analysed and it is shown that in this class of models one can respect all the strong constraints from experiment without unnatural fine-tuning. It is pointed out that the additional sources of flavour and CP …
