The CMS programme of indirect searches in the top-quark sector interprets precision measurements in the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) framework. These proceedings summarize recent CMS results highlighted in the TOP2025 talk: a search for CP violation in ttZ and tZq production using CP-odd observables constructed with physics-informed machine learning, a measurement that disentangles the flavour structure of electroweak SMEFT couplings in multilepton final states, and a Run 2 combination of complementary top+X measurements. We close with a brief outlook on the expected sensitivity gains at the high-luminosity LHC.
Measurements carried out or reinterpreted within the framework of effective field theory (EFT) will constitute a key component of the LHC legacy in the quest towards physics beyond the standard model. Numerous EFT measurements were already published by the CMS Collaboration. In the top quark sector, four distinct approaches to EFT have been identified, each successfully applied in several analyses. We review the pros and cons of each approach, while illustrating them with recent analyses in which they were adopted.
In absence of any distinct evidence of new physics phenomena at the LHC, an increasing number of experimental studies aim at probing anomalous effects with an effective field theory (EFT) that represents a comprehensive approach for interpretation of various experimental results. The processes with the production of top quarks are sensitive to several classes of EFT operators including the flavour-changing neutral currents (FCNC). The summary of the latest CMS results based on the recent studies of the standard model processes and searches for new physics effects involving top quarks are prese…
With the absence of the direct detection of new physics and the large data set collected at the LHC, the search for indirect effects in precision measurements became popular. Effective field theories enable to interpret these effects that originate from physics manifested at currently unreachable energy scales in a model independent framework. In this report, an overview of new analyses performed by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations in the field of top quark physics is given.
Many new physics models, e.g., compositeness, extra dimensions, extended Higgs sectors, supersymmetric theories, and dark sector extensions, are expected to manifest themselves in the final states with leptons. Searches in CMS for new phenomena in the final states that include leptons, focusing on the recent results obtained using the Run-II data set collected at the LHC are described here.
I discuss recent progress on fits to dimension-six operators in the Standard Model Effective Theory (SMEFT). I focus on the top quark sector of the SMEFT, as well as the theoretical advances made in computing SMEFT effects through to next-to-leading order in QCD and the use of these calculations in global fits. I also discuss fits performed to the Higgs and electroweak sectors of the SMEFT and the possibility for performing global fits to multiple sectors simultaneously.
Constraining CP-violating interactions in effective field theory (EFT) of dimension six faces two challenges. Firstly, degeneracies in the multi-dimensional space of Wilson coefficients have to be lifted. Secondly, quadratic contributions of CP-odd dimension six operators are difficult to disentangle from squared contributions of CP-even dimension six operators and from linear contributions of dimension eight operators. Both of these problems are present when new sources of CP-violation are present in the interactions between the Higgs boson and heavy strongly-interacting fermions. We show tha…
A concise review of precision measurements in the Higgs sector of the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics is given using ATLAS and CMS data. The results are based on LHC Run-2 data, taken between 2015 and 2018. Impressive progress has been made since the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 for measuring all major production and decay modes. Good agreement with the SM predictions was observed in all measurements.
Effective field theory (EFT) approaches are widely used at the LHC, such that it is important to study their validity, and ease of matching to specific new physics models. In this paper, we consider an extension of the SM in which a top quark couples to a new heavy scalar. We find the dimension six operators generated by this theory at low energy, and match the EFT to the full theory up to NLO precision in the simplified model coupling. We then examine the range of validity of the EFT description in top pair production, finding excellent validity even if the scalar mass is only slightly above …
We consider the phenomenological implications of charged scalar extensions of the SM Higgs sector in addition to EFT couplings of this new state to SM matter. We perform a detailed investigation of modifications of loop-induced decays of the 125 GeV Higgs boson, which receives corrections from the propagating charged scalars alongside one-loop EFT operator insertions and demonstrate that the interplay of $H\to γγ$ and $H\to Zγ$ decays can be used to clarify the additional states phenomenology in case a discovery is made in the future. In parallel, EFT interactions of the charged Higgs can lead…
The study of the processes with the production of top quarks represents a unique possibility to test the standard model (SM) predictions and probe the new physics effects. Potential deviations from the SM expectations are parametrized within the framework of the Effective Field Theory (EFT). The latest EFT results from ATLAS and CMS experiments are presented. Dedicated studies of processes with flavour-changing neutral currents are also discussed.
I will show, via effective field theory (EFT) techniques, that obtaining an observationally consistent relic density while evading stringent direct detection limits and maintaining $h_{125}$ phenomenology in an extended Higgs sector can be easily achieved. I will then map such an EFT to the low energy limit of the NMSSM with the Higgsinos integrated out. Both the singlino and the singlet-like CP-odd and even scalars in the NMSSM may play a relevant role in such a scenario, while being difficult to probe via conventional searches. The singlet sector of the general NMSSM can be mapped on to a 2H…
Selected results from searches for new physics with unconventional signatures using the ATLAS and CMS detectors are presented. Such signatures include emerging jets, heavy charged particles, displaced or delayed objects, and disappearing tracks. These signatures may arise from hidden sectors or supersymmetric models. The searches use proton-proton collision data from Run 2 of the LHC with a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV.
The production of single top quarks allows to study the interplay of top quark physics and the electroweak sector of the standard model. Deviations from predictions can be a hint for physics beyond the standard model. The t-channel is the dominant production mode for single top quarks at the LHC. This talk presents the latest measurements from the ATLAS and CMS collaborations.
The production cross section of a top quark pair in association with a photon is measured in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data set, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$, was recorded by the CMS experiment during the 2016-2018 data taking of the LHC. The measurements are performed in a fiducial volume defined at the particle level. Events with an isolated, highly energetic lepton, at least three jets from the hadronization of quarks, among which at least one is b tagged, and one isolated photon are selected. The inclusive fiducial $\ma…
The present understanding of large mass MSSM Higgs sector is reviewed. The most profitable channels: A/H $\to ττ$ and $H^{\pm} \to τν$ are considered; a glimpse of the trigger chain studied for events with tau lepton final states is presented. The MSSM Higgs discovery reach of the general-purpouse experiment CMS is summarised.
Recent inclusive and differential cross section measurements of the associated production of top quark pairs with gauge bosons or heavy-flavor jets are reported. A search for physics beyond the standard model in the top quark sector is also presented. All measurements are based on data samples of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV collected by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the CERN LHC. No significant deviation from the standard model predictions is observed.
Recent results on searches for Beyond Standard Model production of Higgs bosons in fermion decay channels are presented. The analyses are based on proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS experiment at 7, 8, and 13 TeV centre-of-mass energies. The exclusion limits determined by the null results of the searches are interpreted in the framework of models that include extensions of the standard Higgs sector.
The production cross section of $t\bar{t}γ$ is measured in the dilepton channel using 138 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS experiment at $\sqrt{s}= 13 $ TeV during the 2016-2018 data-taking period of the CERN LHC. A fiducial phase space is defined at the particle level in which both inclusive and differential results are provided. The $t\bar{t}γ$ process is sensitive to EFT operators that modify the top-photon coupling, so that tight constraints on the $c_{tZ}$ and $c_{tZ}^{\mathrm{I}}$ Wilson coefficients can be extracted. Finally, the EFT interpretation is repeat…
With an expected rate of about one event per 100,000 top-quark pairs, four top-quark final states very rarely arise at the LHC. Though scarce, they offer a unique window onto top-quark compositeness, self-interactions and more generically, onto any top-philic new physics. By employing simplified models featuring heavy resonances, we study the range of validity of effective theory interpretations of current four top-quark analyses at the LHC and establish their future reach at the HL-LHC. We find that for the class of models under consideration, the effective field theory interpretations are no…
The electronics of the CMS Drift Tube (DT) chambers need to be replaced during Long Shutdown 3 to tolerate the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) data taking conditions. The first DT prototypes of the HL-LHC electronics, the on-detector board (OBDT), have been installed in the DT chambers of one sector, out of 60 sectors, and integrated into the central data acquisition and trigger systems. The signals from the chambers are split and reach both the legacy and Phase-2 demonstrator chains, which will allow them to operate in parallel during LHC collisions.
We present a summary of the latest measurements of the VV crosssections, where V=W or Z and one of the bosons decays into a pair of jets while the other decays leptonically. The data sample(s) correspond to proton-proton collision events collected with the CMS detector at sqrt{s} = 7 TeV. Subsequent searches for Anomalous Triple Gauge couplings, which allow us to probe the non-Abelian structure in the Electroweak Sector, are described. We present the exclusion limits on the corresponding couplings.
Many studies of possible new physics employ effective field theory (EFT), whereby corrections to the Standard Model take the form of higher-dimensional operators, suppressed by a large energy scale. Fits of such a theory to data typically use parton level observables, which limits the datasets one can use. In order to theoretically model search channels involving many additional jets, it is important to include tree-level matrix elements matched to a parton shower algorithm, and a suitable matching procedure to remove the double counting of additional radiation. There are then two potential pr…
I summarize an extensive ATLAS and CMS electroweak physics program that involves a variety of single boson, diboson, triboson, and vector boson scattering measurements. The relevance of these studies to our understanding of the electroweak sector and electroweak symmetry breaking is emphasized. I describe the recent results and prospects for future measurements.
Events containing one or more top quarks produced with additional prompt leptons are used to search for new physics within the framework of an effective field theory (EFT). The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 41.5 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the LHC, collected by the CMS experiment in 2017. The selected events are required to have either two leptons with the same charge or more than two leptons; jets, including identified bottom quark jets, are also required, and the selected events are divided into categories based on the multip…
The most recent studies in the top quark sector are reviewed with the focus on the rare production mechanisms and suppressed decays. The experimental results obtained with the ATLAS and CMS detectors in proton-proton collisions at the center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV include the measurements of the associated production of top quark pairs with vector bosons (${\rm t\bar{t}W}$, ${\rm t\bar{t}Z}$, ${\rm t\bar{t}γ}$), the first evidence for the ${\rm t(\bar{t})γq}$ process, the first observation of the ${\rm t(\bar{t})Zq}$ production, the study of the ${\rm t\bar{t}+b\bar{b}}$ and ${\rm t\bar{t}+t…
Visible signals from the decays of light long-lived hidden sector particles have been extensively searched for at beam dump, fixed-target, and collider experiments. If such hidden sectors couple to the Standard Model through mediators heavier than $\sim 10$ GeV, their production at low-energy accelerators is kinematically suppressed, leaving open significant pockets of viable parameter space. We investigate this scenario in models of inelastic dark matter, which give rise to visible signals at various existing and proposed LHC experiments, such as ATLAS, CMS, LHCb, CODEX-b, FASER, and MATHUSLA…
Theoretical predictions of top-quark cross sections depend on the values of the parameters of the quantum chromodynamics Lagrangian, such as the strong coupling constant and the mass of the top quark, but also on parameters of the electroweak sector of the standard model and parton distribution functions. Comparisons between state-of-the-art calculations and recent measurements at the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the CERN LHC allow for the precise determination of these parameters. In this proceeding, the most recent results by the two collaborations are summarized and discussed.
We present a systematic interpretation of vector boson scattering (VBS) and diboson measurements from the LHC in the framework of the dimension-six Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT). We consider all available measurements of VBS fiducial cross-sections and differential distributions from ATLAS and CMS, in most cases based on the full Run II luminosity, and use them to constrain 16 independent directions in the dimension-six EFT parameter space. Compared to the diboson measurements, we find that VBS provides complementary information on several of the operators relevant for the desc…
Recently, experimental collaborations have reported $\mathcal{O}(10)$ upper limits on the signal strength of four-top production at the LHC. Surprisingly, we find that the constraining power of four-top production on the $qqtt$ type of operators is already competitive with the measurements of top-pair production, even though the precision level of the latter is more than two orders of magnitude better. This is explained by the enhanced sensitivity of the four-top cross section to $qqtt$ operators, due to multiple insertion of operators in the squared amplitude, and to the large threshold energ…
We present discovery limits for heavy quarks in the Bestest Little Higgs model via pair production at the LHC running at $\sqrt{s} = 7 \mathrm{TeV}$. We study pair produced heavy top-like quarks decaying to $b\bar{b}W^+W^-$ and $t\bar{t}ZZ$ final states and singly produced heavy top-like quarks via t-channel $W$ exchange. These results are compared to currently available limits on heavy top-like quark cross sections from CMS (with 1.14 fb$^{-1}$ integrated luminosity) for two scenarios of Yukawa couplings. We find that the CMS data limits the mass of the lightest top partner to larger than 413…
The Large Hadron Collider is the world's largest and highest center-of-mass energy particle accelerator. During the Phase I operation it is expected that the LHC operated at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV will deliver to the CMS experiment total integrated luminosity of $\sim$300 fb$^{-1}$ till 2023. The High Luminosity LHC upgrade is expected to run at a centre-of-mass energy of 14 TeV and will allow ATLAS and CMS to collect integrated luminosities of the order of 300 fb$^{-1}$ per year, and up to 3000 fb$^{-1}$ during the HL-LHC projected lifetime of ten years. The large expected integrat…
The presence of a non-baryonic Dark Matter (DM) component in the Universe is inferred from the observation of its gravitational interaction. The ATLAS and CMS experiments located at the LHC have developed a broad search program for DM candidates, including resonance searches for the mediator and searches with large missing transverse momentum. Additionally, searches have been conducted in models where the Higgs Sector and the Dark Sector are connected leading for example to invisible Higgs boson decays. The results of recent searches on 13 TeV $pp$ data, their interplay and interpretation are …
LHC searches for non-standard Higgs bosons decaying into tau lepton pairs constitute a sensitive experimental probe for physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM), such as Supersymmetry (SUSY). Recently, the limits obtained from these searches have been presented by the CMS collaboration in a nearly model-independent fashion - as a narrow resonance model - based on the full 8 TeV dataset. In addition to publishing a 95% C.L. exclusion limit, the full likelihood information for the narrow resonance model has been released. This provides valuable information that can be incorporated into global BSM…