A search for heavy neutral Higgs bosons is performed using the LHC Run 2 data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector. The search for heavy resonances is performed over the mass range 0.2-2.5 TeV for the $τ^+τ^-$ decay with at least one $τ$-lepton decaying into final states with hadrons. The data are in good agreement with the background prediction of the Standard Model. In the $M_{h}^{125}$ scenario of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, values of $\tanβ>8$ and $\tanβ>21$ are excluded at the 95% confidence level for neutral Higgs boson masses of 1.0 TeV and 1.5 TeV, respectively, where $\tanβ$ is the ratio of the vacuum expectation values of the two Higgs doublets.
The tau identification and reconstruction algorithms developed for the LHC experiments Atlas and CMS are presented. Reconstruction methods suitable for use at High Level Trigger and off-line are described in detail
The presence of tau leptons in the final state is an important signature in many Higgs boson and SUSY searches. With the ATLAS detector, hadronically decaying tau leptons can be reconstructed in a wide range of transverse energies. The reconstruction algorithm for hadronically decaying tau leptons is explained and the performance of tau lepton identification is shown. Particularly important is the discrimination of hadronically decaying tau leptons against overwhelming backgrounds from QCD jets.
Triggering on hadronic tau decays is essential for a wide variety of analyses of interesting physics processes at ATLAS. The ATLAS tau trigger combines information from the tracking detectors and calorimeters to identify the signature of hadronically decaying tau leptons. In Run 2 operation expected to start in 2015, the trigger strategies will become more important than ever before. In this paper, the tau trigger performance during Run 1 is summarized and also an overview of the developments of Run 2 tau trigger strategy is presented.
Hadronically decaying tau leptons are of prime importance in numerous physics analyses in ATLAS. The spectrum of the possible applications of hadronically decaying tau leptons reaches from Standard Model measurements, including Higgs searches, to searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. The basic principles behind the sophisticated tau reconstruction and identification techniques, which are specifically designed to identify hadronically decaying taus and reject various background processes, are delineated here along with current data-driven estimates of their respective performance.
Many models beyond the standard model predict the existence of vector-like quarks or other types of heavy resonances. Using proton-proton collision data at center-of-mass energies of 8 and 13 TeV, the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations have performed a multitude of searches for pair and singly produced vector-like quarks decaying to W, Z, or Higgs bosons. Heavy gauge and (pseudo)scalar resonances decaying to top quarks have been searched for as well. No evidence for any of these hypothetical particles has been found yet, and stringent exclusion limits are derived on their masses, cross sections and …
The presence of tau leptons in the final state is an important signature in searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. Hadronically decaying tau leptons can be reconstructed over a wide kinematic range at ATLAS. The reconstruction algorithm for hadronically decaying tau leptons and the performance of tau lepton identification is described. A review of physics processes with tau lepton final states is given, ranging from Standard Model processes in early data, such as W and Z boson production, to searches for new phenomena beyond the Standard Model.
Tau leptons play an important role in the physics program at the LHC. They are used in searches for new phenomena like the Higgs boson or Supersymmetry and in electroweak measurements. Identifying hadronically decaying tau leptons with good performance is an essential part of these analyses. We present the current status of the tau reconstruction and identification at the LHC with the ATLAS detector. The tau identification efficiencies and their systematic uncertainties are measured using W to tau nu and Z to tau tau events, and compared with the predictions from Monte Carlo simulations.
Searches for high-mass resonances decaying to pairs of standard model bosons using ATLAS and CMS detectors are presented. The searches use 15 - 36 $\textrm{fb}^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data collected at the centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the LHC. Many different final states have been considered and the results are interpreted in a range of theories beyond the standard model of particle physics, most common being heavy vector triplet and warped extra dimensions.
Summary of first ATLAS results is given for the Standard Model Higgs boson in the mass range 110 < mH < 130 GeV, when produced in association with a W/Z boson and decaying to a pair of b-quarks. No evidence for the Higgs boson production is observed in a dataset of proton-proton collisions at a center of mass energy of 7 TeV and corresponding to 1.04 fb-1 of integrated luminosity, recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in 2011. Upper limits on Higgs boson production cross sections for the channels considered are presented.
Tau leptons play an important role in the physics program in ATLAS. They can be used not only in searches for new phenomena like the Higgs boson or Supersymmetry, or for electroweak measurements but also in detector related studies like the determination of the missing transverse energy scale. Identifying hadronically decaying tau leptons requires good understanding of the detector performance, combining information from calorimeter and tracking detectors. The current status of the tau reconstruction and identification with the ATLAS detector is presented. The identification efficiencies are m…
In this paper, a measurement of tau polarization in W->taunu decays is presented. It is measured from the energies of the decay products in hadronic tau decays with a single final state charged particle. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 24 pb^-1, were collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in 2010. The measured value of the tau polarization is Ptau = -1.06 +/- 0.04 (stat) + 0.05 (syst) - 0.07 (syst), in agreement with the Standard Model prediction, and is consistent with a physically allowed 95% CL interval [-1,-0.91]. Measurements of tau polarizat…
The search for a Higgs boson produced via Vector Boson Fusion and subsequently decaying to two tau leptons is discussed. Significances for the di-lepton and lepton-hadron decay channels are presented, and the fully hadronic decay channel is shown to be feasible in terms of trigger, mass reconstruction and signal efficiency. We consider performance issues for tau ID, missing transverse energy, forward jet identification, and central jet and b-jet vetoes, and outline several methods to estimate background contributions.
A search for the Standard Model Higgs boson decaying into a pair of tau leptons is reported. The analysis is based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb^-1. No significant excess over the expected background is observed in the Higgs boson mass range of 100-150 GeV. The observed (expected) upper limits on the cross section times the branching ratio for H to tau+ tau- are found to be between 2.9 (3.4) and 11.7 (8.2) times the Standard Model prediction for this mass range.
The search for the Standard Model Higgs boson in the four lepton (electron and muon) final state with the ATLAS detector at the LHC is presented. The analysis strategy and the efficiency for selecting the signal and rejecting the background are discussed, focusing on the performance of the lepton identification that can be achieved with the first data of LHC expected in 2008.
This Letter presents a search for high-mass resonances decaying into tau+tau- final states using proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV produced by the Large Hadron Collider. The data were recorded with the ATLAS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No statistically significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed; 95% credibility upper limits are set on the cross section times branching fraction of Z' resonances decaying into tau+tau- pairs as a function of the resonance mass. As a result, Z' bosons of the Sequential Standard M…
A search for pair-produced vector-like quarks decaying into a $Z$ boson and a third generation quark using 2015 and 2016 $pp$ collision data at $\sqrt{s}~=~13~$TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $36.1~$fb$^{-1}$, is presented. No significant excess over the Standard Model expectation was found so lower exclusion limits at 95% confidence level were set on the vector-like quark masses at 1030 (1210) GeV for singlet (doublet) $T$ and 1010 (1140) GeV for singlet (doublet) $B$.
The Z to tau tau cross section is measured with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in four different final states determined by the decay modes of the tau leptons: muon-hadron, electron-hadron, electron-muon, and muon-muon. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 pb^-1, at a proton-proton center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV. Cross sections are measured separately for each final state in fiducial regions of high detector acceptance, as well as in the full phase space, over the mass region 66 - 116 GeV. The individual cross sections are combined a…
After many years of searches, the Higgs boson was observed by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations in July 2012. Since then, its properties have been measured using primarily the bosonic decay channels: $H \to γγ$, $H \to Z Z$, $H \to W^+ W^-$. In order to probe the predictions of the Standard Model and the nature of the Higgs boson, it is also fundamental to measure its couplings to fermions and, in particular, to quarks. In this paper we present the ATLAS results in the search for the Higgs boson decaying to b-quark pairs using two different production channels: associated production with a vect…
We have searched for third generation leptoquarks (LQ3) using 1.05 inverse femtobarns of data collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider operating at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV. We set a 95% C.L. lower limit of 210 GeV on the mass of a scalar LQ3 state decaying solely to a b quark and a tau lepton.
A search for a heavy scalar boson H decaying into a pair of lighter standard-model-like 125 GeV Higgs bosons h and a search for a heavy pseudoscalar boson A decaying into a Z and an h boson are presented. The searches are performed on a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns of pp collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, collected by CMS in 2012. A final state consisting of two tau leptons and two b jets is used to search for the H to hh decay. A final state consisting of two tau leptons from the h boson decay, and two additional leptons from t…
This letter presents the results of a search for a heavy particle decaying into an e mu, e tau, or mu tau final state in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV. The data were recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2011 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6/fb. No significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed, and exclusions at 95% confidence level are placed on the cross section times branching ratio for the production of an R-parity-violating supersymmetric tau sneutrino. These results considerably extend constraints from Tevatron experiments.
This Letter presents a search for the production of new heavy resonances decaying into a Higgs boson and a photon using proton-proton collision data at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. The analysis is performed by reconstructing hadronically decaying Higgs boson $(H\to b\bar{b})$ candidates as single large-radius jets. A novel algorithm using information about the jet constituents in the center-of-mass frame of the jet is implemented to identify the two $b$-quarks in the single jet. No significant ex…
Many extensions of the Standard Model predict new resonances decaying to a $Z$, $W$, or Higgs boson and a photon. This paper presents a search for such resonances produced in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ $\mathrm{TeV}$ using a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The $Z/W/H$ bosons are identified through their decays to hadrons. The data are found to be consistent with the Standard Model expectation in the entire investigated mass range. Upper limits are set on the production cross section times branching fr…
This Letter presents a search for pair production of heavy down-type quarks decaying via b'->Wt in the lepton + jets channel, as b'b'->WtWt->bbWWWW->lvbbqqqqqq. In addition to requiring exactly one lepton, large missing transverse momentum and at least six jets, the invariant mass of nearby jet pairs is used to identify high transverse momentum W bosons. In data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.04 fb^-1 from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector, a heavy down-type quark with mass less than 480 GeV is excluded at the 95% confidence level.
A search for dark-matter particles in events with large missing transverse momentum and a Higgs boson candidate decaying into two photons is reported. The search uses $139$ fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data collected at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector at the CERN LHC between 2015 and 2018. No significant excess of events over the Standard Model predictions is observed. The results are interpreted by extracting limits on three simplified models that include either vector or pseudoscalar mediators and predict a final state with a pair of dark-matter candidates and a Higgs boson…
We report results from a search for neutral Higgs bosons decaying to tau pairs produced in association with a b-quark in 1.2/fb of data taken from June 2006 to August 2007 with the D0 detector at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The final state includes a muon, hadronically decaying tau and jet identified as coming from a $b$-quark. We set cross section times branching ratio limits on production of such neutral Higgs bosons in the mass range from 90 GeV/c^2 to 160 GeV/c^2. Exclusion limits are set at the 95% Confidence Level for several supersymmetric scenarios.
We present a search for the production of neutral Higgs bosons phi decaying into tau+tau- final states in ppbar collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 1 fb-1, were collected by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. Limits on the production cross section times branching ratio are set. The results are interpreted in the minimal supersymmetric standard model yielding limits that are the most stringent to date at hadron colliders.
We present a search for neutral supersymmetric Higgs bosons decaying to tau pairs produced in p-pbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV. The data, corresponding to 310 pb^(-1) integrated luminosity, were collected with the CDF II detector at the Tevatron collider at Fermilab. No significant excess above the standard model backgrounds is observed. We set exclusion limits on the production cross section times branching fraction to tau pairs for Higgs masses in the range from 90 to 250 GeV/c^2.
A search for a standard model Higgs boson decaying into a pair of tau leptons is performed using events recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2011 and 2012. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 inverse femtobarns at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and 19.7 inverse femtobarns at 8 TeV. Each tau lepton decays hadronically or leptonically to an electron or a muon, leading to six different final states for the tau-lepton pair, all considered in this analysis. An excess of events is observed over the expected background contributions, with a local significance larger t…
A search is presented for dark matter produced in association with a hadronically decaying W or Z boson using 3.2 /fb of pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events with a hadronic jet compatible with a W or Z boson and with large missing transverse momentum are analysed. The data are consistent with the Standard Model predictions and are interpreted in terms of both an effective field theory and a simplified model containing dark matter.
The ATLAS detector at the LHC is used to search for high-mass states, such as heavy charged gauge bosons (W'), decaying to a charged lepton (electron or muon) and a neutrino. Results are presented based on the analysis of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb-1. No excess beyond Standard Model expectations is observed. A W' with Sequential Standard Model couplings is excluded at the 95% credibility level for masses up to 2.55 TeV. Excited chiral bosons (W*) with equivalent coupling strength are excluded for masses up to 2.42 TeV.
The ATLAS detector at the LHC is used to search for high-mass states, such as heavy charged gauge bosons (W'), decaying to a charged lepton (electron or muon) and a neutrino. Results are presented based on the analysis of pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.04 fb^-1. No excess beyond Standard Model expectations is observed. A W' with Sequential Standard Model couplings is excluded at the 95% confidence level for masses up to 2.15 TeV.
We present a search for new high mass phenomena using the latest data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC, corresponding to 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV. The search is conducted for both resonant and non-resonant new phenomena in dimuon final states. The dimuon invariant mass spectrum is the discriminating variable used in the search. No significant deviations from the Standard Model expectation are observed. Lower limits are set on the signal parameters of interest at 95% credibility level, using a Bayesian interpretation. In particular, a Sequential Standard Model Z' resonanc…
Many theoretical models, like the Standard Model or SUSY at large tan(beta), predict Higgs bosons or new particles which decay more abundantly to final states including tau leptons than to other leptons. At the energy scale of the LHC, the identification of tau leptons, in particular in the hadronic decay mode, will be a challenging task due to an overwhelming QCD background which gives rise to jets of particles that can be hard to distinguish from hadronic tau decays. Equipped with excellent tracking and calorimetry, the ATLAS experiment has developed tau identification tools capable of worki…
The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been able to collect 5.25 fb-1 of data in 2011. For many physics analyses both in context of the Standard Model (SM) and Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) theories such as Higgs boson searches, tau leptons play an important role. Thus, triggering on hadronic tau decays is an essential ingredient for the success of those measurements. This contribution will summarize the developed efforts to meet this challenge. Efficiency measurements using data taken in 2011 at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV are described and results are presented. A…
A search for neutral Higgs bosons decaying to pairs of tau leptons with the ATLAS detector at the LHC is presented. The analysis is based on proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, recorded in 2010 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 pb^-1. After signal selection, 276 events are observed in this data sample. The observed number of events is consistent with the total expected background of 269 +/- 36 events. Exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level are derived for the production cross section of a generic Higgs boson phi as a function of the Higgs boson…
A search is performed for WH production with a light Higgs boson decaying to hidden-sector particles resulting in clusters of collimated electrons, known as electron-jets. The search is performed with 2.04 fb-1 of data collected in 2011 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV. One event satisfying the signal selection criteria is observed, which is consistent with the expected background rate. Limits on the product of the WH production cross section and the branching ratio of a Higgs boson decaying to prompt electron-jets are calculated as a function of …
Several extensions of the Standard Model predict associated production of dark-matter particles with a Higgs boson. Such processes are searched for in final states with missing transverse momentum and a Higgs boson decaying to a $b\bar b$ pair with the ATLAS detector using 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the LHC. The observed data are in agreement with the Standard Model predictions and limits are placed on the associated production of dark-matter particles and a Higgs boson.
This paper presents a new method of reconstructing the individual charged and neutral hadrons in tau decays with the ATLAS detector. The reconstructed hadrons are used to classify the decay mode and to calculate the visible four-momentum of reconstructed tau candidates, significantly improving the resolution with respect to the calibration in the existing tau reconstruction. The performance of the reconstruction algorithm is optimised and evaluated using simulation and validated using samples of $Z\toττ$ and $Z(\toμμ)$+jets events selected from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass ener…
This Letter presents a search for a heavy neutral particle decaying into an opposite-sign different-flavor dilepton pair, $e^\pm μ^\mp$, $e^\pm τ^\mp$, or $μ^\pm τ^\mp$ using 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data at $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The numbers of observed candidate events are compatible with the Standard Model expectations. Limits are set on the cross section of new phenomena in two scenarios: the production of $\tildeν_τ$ in $R$-parity-violating supersymmetric models and the production of a lepton-flavor-violating $Z'$ vector boson.
This paper presents a study of the production of $WW$ or $WZ$ boson pairs, with one $W$ boson decaying to $eν$ or $μν$ and one $W$ or $Z$ boson decaying hadronically. The analysis uses 20.2 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV $pp$ collision data, collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Cross-sections for $WW/WZ$ production are measured in high-$p_{T}$ fiducial regions defined close to the experimental event selection. The cross-section is measured for the case where the hadronically decaying boson is reconstructed as two resolved jets, and the case where it is reconstructed as …
A measurement of the cross section of top quark pair production in proton-proton collisions recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is reported. The data sample used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.05 fb^-1. Events with an isolated electron or muon and a tau lepton decaying hadronically are used. In addition, a large missing transverse momentum and two or more energetic jets are required. At least one of the jets must be identified as originating from a b quark. The measured cross section, sigma_ttbar = 186+/- 13 (stat) +/- 20 (syst) +/- 7 (…
A search for neutral MSSM Higgs bosons in pp collisions at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The results are based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 inverse picobarns recorded by the CMS experiment. The search uses decays of the Higgs bosons to tau pairs. No excess is observed in the tau-pair invariant-mass spectrum. The resulting upper limits on the Higgs boson production cross section times branching fraction to tau pairs, as a function of the pseudoscalar Higgs boson mass, yield stringent new bounds in the MSSM parameter space.
A search for production of supersymmetric particles in final states containing jets, missing transverse momentum, and at least one hadronically decaying tau lepton is presented. The data were recorded by the ATLAS experiment in sqrt(s) = 7 TeV proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider. No excess above the Standard Model background expectation was observed in 2.05 fb-1 of data. The results are interpreted in the context of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking models with Mmess = 250 TeV, N5 = 3, mu > 0, and Cgrav = 1. The production of supersymmetric particles is excluded at 95% C.…
A search for the decay of a light Higgs (120 - 140 GeV) to a pair of weakly-interacting, long-lived particles in 1.94 fb^-1 of proton-proton collisions at sqrt{s} = 7 TeV recorded in 2011 by the ATLAS detector is presented. The search strategy requires that both long-lived particles decay inside the muon spectrometer. No excess of events is observed above the expected background and limits on the Higgs boson production times branching ratio to weakly-interacting, long-lived particles are derived as a function of the particle proper decay length.
The paper presents a measurement of the Standard Model Higgs Boson decaying to $b$-quark pairs in the vector boson fusion (VBF) production mode. A sample corresponding to 126 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV proton-proton collision data, collected with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, is analyzed utilizing an adversarial neural network for event classification. The signal strength, defined as the ratio of the measured signal yield to that predicted by the Standard Model for VBF Higgs production, is measured to be $0.95^{+0.38}_{-0.36}$, corresponding to an observed (expected)…
A search for the production of neutral Higgs bosons Phi decaying into tau^+tau^- final states in p-pbar collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV is presented. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of up to 348 pb^-1, were collected by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. Since no excess compared to the expectation from standard model processes is found, limits on the production cross section times branching ratio are set. The results are combined with those obtained from the D0 search for Phi b(b) to b-bbar-b(bbar) and are interpreted in the minimal super…
This Letter presents a search for new light resonances decaying to pairs of quarks and produced in association with a high-$p_{\textrm{T}}$ photon or jet. The dataset consists of proton-proton collisions with an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Resonance candidates are identified as massive large-radius jets with substructure consistent with a particle decaying into a quark pair. The mass spectrum of the candidates is examined for local excesses above background. No evidence of a…
Results of a search for new phenomena in events with large missing transverse momentum and a Higgs boson decaying to two photons are reported. Data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ have been collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The observed data are well described by the expected Standard Model backgrounds. Upper limits on the cross section of events with large missing transverse momentum and a Higgs boson candidate are also placed. Exclusion limits are presented for models of physics beyo…
Searches for new resonances in the diphoton final state, with spin 0 as predicted by theories with an extended Higgs sector and with spin 2 using a warped extra-dimension benchmark model, are presented using 139 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s} = $ 13 TeV $pp$ collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. No significant deviation from the Standard Model is observed and upper limits are placed on the production cross-section times branching ratio to two photons as a function of the resonance mass.
This paper describes the trigger and offline reconstruction, identification and energy calibration algorithms for hadronic decays of tau leptons employed for the data collected from $pp$ collisions in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{\mathrm{s}} = 8$ TeV. The performance of these algorithms is measured in most cases with $Z$ decays to tau leptons using the full 2012 dataset, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$. An uncertainty on the offline reconstructed tau energy scale of $2-4$%, depending on transverse energy and pseudorapidity, is…
The cross section for the production of W bosons with subsequent decay W to tau nu is measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The analysis is based on a data sample that was recorded in 2010 at a proton-proton center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The cross section is measured in a region of high detector acceptance and then extrapolated to the full phase space. The product of the total W production cross section and the W to tau nu branching ratio is measured to be 11.1 +/- 0.3 (stat) +/- 1.7 (syst) +/- 0.4 (lumi) nb.
A search for high-mass resonances decaying into $τ^{+}τ^{-}$ final states using proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}= 8$ TeV produced by the Large Hadron Collider is presented. The data were recorded with the ATLAS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.5-20.3 fb$^{-1}$. No statistically significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed; 95% credibility upper limits are set on the cross section times branching fraction of $Z^{\prime}$ resonances decaying into $τ^+τ^-$ pairs as a function of the resonance mass. As a result, $Z^{\prime}$ bosons of the Sequen…
A search is presented for a high mass neutral particle that decays directly to the emu final state. The data sample was recorded by the ATLAS detector in sqrt(s) = 7 TeV pp collisions at the LHC from March to June 2011 and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1.07 fb^-1. The data are found to be consistent with the Standard Model background. The high emu mass region is used to set 95% confidence level upper limits on the production of two possible new physics processes: tau sneutrinos in an R-parity violating supersymmetric model and Z'-like vector bosons in a lepton flavor violating mod…
A search for Higgs boson production in association with a pair of top quarks ($t\bar{t}H$) is performed, where the Higgs boson decays to $b\bar{b}$, and both top quarks decay hadronically. The data used correspond to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The search selects events with at least six energetic jets and uses a boosted decision tree algorithm to discriminate between signal and Standard Model background. The dominant multijet background is estimated using a dedicated data-driv…
This Letter presents the results of a direct search with the ATLAS detector at the LHC for a Standard Model Higgs boson of mass 110 < m(H) < 130 GeV produced in association with a W or Z boson and decaying to bb. Three decay channels are considered: ZH->llbb, WH->lvbb, and ZH->vvbb, where l corresponds to an electron or a muon. No evidence for Higgs boson production is observed in a dataset of 7 TeV pp collisions corresponding to 4.7/fb of integrated luminosity collected by ATLAS in 2011. Exclusion limits on Higgs boson production, at the 95% confidence level, of 2.5 to 5.5 times the Standard …
A search is presented for heavy-quark pair production (QQbar) under the decay hypothesis QQbar to WqWq with q = u,d,c,s,b. The search is performed with 1.04 fb^-1 of integrated luminosity from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the CERN LHC. Dilepton final states are selected, requiring large missing transverse momentum and at least two jets. Mass reconstruction of heavy quark candidates is performed by assuming that the W boson decay products are nearly collinear. The data are in agreement with Standard Model expectations; a heavy quark with mass less than 350…
A search for a new resonance decaying to a $W$ or $Z$ boson and a Higgs boson in the $\ell \ell/ \ell ν/ νν+ b \bar{b}$ final states is performed using 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data recorded at $\sqrt{s}=$ 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The search is conducted by examining the $WH/ZH$ invariant mass distribution for a localized excess. No significant deviation from the Standard Model background prediction is observed. The results are interpreted in terms of constraints on the Minimal Walking Technicolor model and on a simplified approach based on a phenomen…
Several models of physics beyond the Standard Model predict the existence of dark photons, light neutral particles decaying into collimated leptons or light hadrons. This paper presents a search for long-lived dark photons produced from the decay of a Higgs boson or a heavy scalar boson and decaying into displaced collimated Standard Model fermions. The search uses data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ collected in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV recorded in 2015-2016 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The observed number of events …
