The production of Z boson pairs in proton-proton ( p p ) collisions, p p → ( Z / γ ∗ ) ( Z / γ ∗ ) → 2 ℓ 2 ℓ ' , where ℓ , ℓ ' = e or μ , is studied at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb - 1 , collected during 2016-2018. The Z Z production cross section, σ tot ( p p → Z Z ) = 17.4 ± 0.3 (stat) ± 0.5 (syst) ± 0.4 (theo) ± 0.3 (lumi) pb , measured for events with two pairs of opposite-sign, same-flavor leptons produced in the mass region 60 < m ℓ + ℓ - < 120 GeV is consistent with standard model predictions. Differential cross sections are also measured and agree with theoretical predictions. The invariant mass distribution of the four-lepton system is used to set limits on anomalous Z Z Z and Z Z γ couplings.
Searches are presented for direct production of top or bottom squark pairs in proton-proton collisions at the CERN LHC. Two searches, based on complementary techniques, are performed in all-jet final states that are characterized by a significant imbalance in transverse momentum. An additional search requires the presence of a charged lepton isolated from other activity in the event. The data were collected in 2015 at a centre-of-mass energy of 13[Formula: see text] with the CMS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 2.3[Formula: see text]. No statistically significant excess of events is found beyond the expected contribution from standard model processes. Exclusion limits are set in the context of simplified models of top or bottom squark pair production. Models with top and bottom squark masses up to 830 and 890[Formula: see text], respectively, are probed for light neutralinos. For models with top squark masses of 675[Formula: see text], neutralino masses up to 260[Formula: see text] are excluded at 95% confidence level.
A measurement of the top quark mass is reported in events containing a single top quark produced via the electroweak t channel. The analysis is performed using data from proton-proton collisions collected with the CMS detector at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb[Formula: see text]. Top quark candidates are reconstructed from their decay to a [Formula: see text] boson and a b quark, with the [Formula: see text] boson decaying leptonically to a muon and a neutrino. The final state signature and kinematic properties of single top quark events in the t channel are used to enhance the purity of the sample, suppressing the contribution from top quark pair production. A fit to the invariant mass distribution of reconstructed top quark candidates yields a value of the top quark mass of [Formula: see text]. This result is in agreement with the current world average, and represents the first measurement of the top quark mass in event topologies not dominated by top quark pair production, therefore contributing to future averages with partially uncorrelated systematic uncertainties and a largely uncorrelated statistical uncertainty.
A measurement of the W boson pair production cross section in proton-proton collisions at [Formula: see text] TeV is presented. The data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.4[Formula: see text]. The [Formula: see text] candidates are selected from events with two charged leptons, electrons or muons, and large missing transverse energy. The measured [Formula: see text] cross section is [Formula: see text], consistent with the standard model prediction. The [Formula: see text] cross sections are also measured in two different fiducial phase space regions. The normalized differential cross section is measured as a function of kinematic variables of the final-state charged leptons and compared with several perturbative QCD predictions. Limits on anomalous gauge couplings associated with dimension-six operators are also given in the framework of an effective field theory. The corresponding 95 % confidence level intervals are [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], in the HISZ basis.
A search for narrow resonances decaying to an electron and a muon is presented. The [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] mass spectrum is also investigated for non-resonant contributions from the production of quantum black holes (QBHs). The analysis is performed using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7[Formula: see text] collected in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8[Formula: see text] with the CMS detector at the LHC. With no evidence for physics beyond the standard model in the invariant mass spectrum of selected [Formula: see text] pairs, upper limits are set at 95 [Formula: see text] confidence level on the product of cross section and branching fraction for signals arising in theories with charged lepton flavour violation. In the search for narrow resonances, the resonant production of a [Formula: see text] sneutrino in R-parity violating supersymmetry is considered. The [Formula: see text] sneutrino is excluded for masses below 1.28[Formula: see text] for couplings [Formula: see text], and below 2.30[Formula: see text] for [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. These are the most stringent limits to date from direct searches at high-energy colliders. In addition, the resonance searches are interpreted in terms of a model with heavy partners of the [Formula: see text] boson and the photon. In a framework of TeV-scale quantum gravity based on a renormalization of Newton's constant, the search for non-resonant contributions to the [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] mass spectrum excludes QBH production below a threshold mass [Formula: see text] of 1.99[Formula: see text]. In models that invoke extra dimensions, the bounds range from 2.36[Formula: see text] for one extra dimension to 3.63[Formula: see text] for six extra dimensions. This is the first search for QBHs decaying into the [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] final state.
A search is presented for narrow heavy resonances X decaying into pairs of Higgs bosons ([Formula: see text]) in proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at [Formula: see text]. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7[Formula: see text]. The search considers [Formula: see text] resonances with masses between 1 and 3[Formula: see text], having final states of two b quark pairs. Each Higgs boson is produced with large momentum, and the hadronization products of the pair of b quarks can usually be reconstructed as single large jets. The background from multijet and [Formula: see text] events is significantly reduced by applying requirements related to the flavor of the jet, its mass, and its substructure. The signal would be identified as a peak on top of the dijet invariant mass spectrum of the remaining background events. No evidence is observed for such a signal. Upper limits obtained at 95 % confidence level for the product of the production cross section and branching fraction [Formula: see text] range from 10 to 1.5[Formula: see text] for the mass of X from 1.15 to 2.0[Formula: see text], significantly extending previous searches. For a warped extra dimension theory with a mass scale [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text], the data exclude radion scalar masses between 1.15 and 1.55[Formula: see text].
A search for invisible decays of Higgs bosons is performed using the vector boson fusion and associated ZH production modes. In the ZH mode, the Z boson is required to decay to a pair of charged leptons or a [Formula: see text] quark pair. The searches use the 8 [Formula: see text] pp collision dataset collected by the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of up to 19.7 [Formula: see text]. Certain channels include data from 7 [Formula: see text] collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 [Formula: see text]. The searches are sensitive to non-standard-model invisible decays of the recently observed Higgs boson, as well as additional Higgs bosons with similar production modes and large invisible branching fractions. In all channels, the observed data are consistent with the expected standard model backgrounds. Limits are set on the production cross section times invisible branching fraction, as a function of the Higgs boson mass, for the vector boson fusion and ZH production modes. By combining all channels, and assuming standard model Higgs boson cross sections and acceptances, the observed (expected) upper limit on the invisible branching fraction at [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] is found to be 0.58 (0.44) at 95 % confidence level. We interpret this limit in terms of a Higgs-portal model of dark matter interactions.
A search is presented for a heavy vector resonance decaying into a Z boson and the standard model Higgs boson, where the Z boson is identified through its leptonic decays to electrons, muons, or neutrinos, and the Higgs boson is identified through its hadronic decays. The search is performed in a Lorentz-boosted regime and is based on data collected from 2016 to 2018 at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb - 1 . Upper limits are derived on the production of a narrow heavy resonance Z ' , and a mass below 3.5 and 3.7 Te is excluded at 95% confidence level in models where the heavy vector boson couples predominantly to fermions and to bosons, respectively. These are the most stringent limits placed on the Heavy Vector Triplet Z ' model to date. If the heavy vector boson couples exclusively to standard model bosons, upper limits on the product of the cross section and branching fraction are set between 23 and 0.3 fb for a Z ' mass between 0.8 and 4.6 Te , respectively. This is the first limit set on a heavy vector boson coupling exclusively to standard model bosons in its production and decay.
A search for charged Higgs bosons produced in vector boson fusion processes and decaying into vector bosons, using proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV at the LHC, is reported. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb - 1 collected with the CMS detector. Events are selected by requiring two or three electrons or muons, moderate missing transverse momentum, and two jets with a large rapidity separation and a large dijet mass. No excess of events with respect to the standard model background predictions is observed. Model independent upper limits at 95% confidence level are reported on the product of the cross section and branching fraction for vector boson fusion production of charged Higgs bosons as a function of mass, from 200 to 3000 GeV . The results are interpreted in the context of the Georgi-Machacek model.
A search for heavy, right-handed neutrinos, [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]), and right-handed [Formula: see text] bosons, which arise in the left-right symmetric extensions of the standard model, has been performed by the CMS experiment. The search was based on a sample of two lepton plus two jet events collected in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8[Formula: see text] corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 [Formula: see text]. For models with strict left-right symmetry, and assuming only one [Formula: see text] flavor contributes significantly to the [Formula: see text] decay width, the region in the two-dimensional [Formula: see text] mass plane excluded at a 95 % confidence level extends to approximately [Formula: see text] and covers a large range of neutrino masses below the [Formula: see text] boson mass, depending on the value of [Formula: see text]. This search significantly extends the [Formula: see text] exclusion region beyond previous results.
The observation of WWγ production in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 138 fb^{-1} is presented. The observed (expected) significance is 5.6 (5.1) standard deviations. Events are selected by requiring exactly two leptons (one electron and one muon) of opposite charge, moderate missing transverse momentum, and a photon. The measured fiducial cross section for WWγ is 5.9±0.8(stat)±0.8(syst)±0.7(modeling) fb, in agreement with the next-to-leading order quantum chromodynamics prediction. The analysis is extended with a search for the associated production of the Higgs boson and a photon, which is generated by a coupling of the Higgs boson to light quarks. The result is used to constrain the Higgs boson couplings to light quarks.
Two related searches for phenomena beyond the standard model (BSM) are performed using events with hadronic jets and significant transverse momentum imbalance. The results are based on a sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 Te , collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016-2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb - 1 . The first search is inclusive, based on signal regions defined by the hadronic energy in the event, the jet multiplicity, the number of jets identified as originating from bottom quarks, and the value of the kinematic variable M T 2 for events with at least two jets. For events with exactly one jet, the transverse momentum of the jet is used instead. The second search looks in addition for disappearing tracks produced by BSM long-lived charged particles that decay within the volume of the tracking detector. No excess event yield is observed above the predicted standard model background. This is used to constrain a range of BSM models that predict the following: the pair production of gluinos and squarks in the context of supersymmetry models conserving R-parity, with or without intermediate long-lived charginos produced in the decay chain; the resonant production of a colored scalar state decaying to a massive Dirac fermion and a quark; or the pair production of scalar and vector leptoquarks each decaying to a neutrino and a top, bottom, or light-flavor quark. In most of the cases, the results obtained are the most stringent constraints to date.
A search is presented for baryon number violating interactions in top quark production and decay. The analysis uses data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 138 fb^{-1}. Candidate events are selected by requiring two oppositely charged leptons (electrons or muons) and exactly one jet identified as originating from a bottom quark. Multivariate discriminants are used to separate the signal from the background. No significant deviation from the standard model prediction is observed. Upper limits are placed on the strength of baryon number violating couplings. For the first time the production of single top quarks via baryon number violating interactions is studied. This allows the search to set the most stringent constraints to date on the branching fraction of the top quark decay to a lepton, an up-type quark (u or c), and a down-type quark (d, s, or b). The results improve the previous bounds by 3 to 6 orders of magnitude based on the fermion flavor combination of the baryon number violating interactions.
The dependence of the ratio between the B_{s}^{0} and B^{+} hadron production fractions, f_{s}/f_{u}, on the transverse momentum (p_{T}) and rapidity of the B mesons is studied using the decay channels B_{s}^{0}→J/ψϕ and B^{+}→J/ψK^{+}. The analysis uses a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment in 2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 61.6 fb^{-1}. The f_{s}/f_{u} ratio is observed to depend on the B p_{T} and to be consistent with becoming asymptotically constant at large p_{T}. No rapidity dependence is observed. The ratio of the B^{0} to B^{+} meson production fractions, f_{d}/f_{u}, is also measured, for the first time in proton-proton collisions, using the B^{0}→J/ψK^{*0} decay channel. The result is found to be within 1 standard deviation of unity and independent of p_{T} and rapidity, as expected from isospin invariance.
A measurement of the top quark-antiquark pair production cross section σ t t ¯ in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 Te is presented. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb - 1 , recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in 2016. Dilepton events ( e ± μ ∓ , μ + μ - , e + e - ) are selected and the cross section is measured from a likelihood fit. For a top quark mass parameter in the simulation of m t MC = 172.5 Ge the fit yields a measured cross section σ t t ¯ = 803 ± 2 (stat) ± 25 (syst) ± 20 (lumi) pb , in agreement with the expectation from the standard model calculation at next-to-next-to-leading order. A simultaneous fit of the cross section and the top quark mass parameter in the powheg simulation is performed. The measured value of m t MC = 172.33 ± 0.14 (stat) - 0.72 + 0.66 (syst) Ge is in good agreement with previous measurements. The resulting cross section is used, together with the theoretical prediction, to determine the top quark mass and to extract a value of the strong coupling constant with different sets of parton distribution functions.
A search is presented for τ slepton pairs produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV . The search is carried out in events containing two τ leptons in the final state, on the assumption that each τ slepton decays primarily to a τ lepton and a neutralino. Events are considered in which each τ lepton decays to one or more hadrons and a neutrino, or in which one of the τ leptons decays instead to an electron or a muon and two neutrinos. The data, collected with the CMS detector in 2016 and 2017, correspond to an integrated luminosity of 77.2 fb - 1 . The observed data are consistent with the standard model background expectation. The results are used to set 95% confidence level upper limits on the cross section for τ slepton pair production in various models for τ slepton masses between 90 and 200 GeV and neutralino masses of 1, 10, and 20 GeV . In the case of purely left-handed τ slepton production and decay to a τ lepton and a neutralino with a mass of 1 GeV , the strongest limit is obtained for a τ slepton mass of 125 GeV at a factor of 1.14 larger than the theoretical cross section.
A search for new phenomena is performed using events with jets and significant transverse momentum imbalance, as inferred through the M T 2 variable. The results are based on a sample of proton-proton collisions collected in 2016 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the CMS detector and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb -1 . No excess event yield is observed above the predicted standard model background, and the results are interpreted as exclusion limits at 95% confidence level on the masses of predicted particles in a variety of simplified models of R-parity conserving supersymmetry. Depending on the details of the model, 95% confidence level lower limits on the gluino (light-flavor squark) masses are placed up to 2025 (1550) GeV . Mass limits as high as 1070 (1175) GeV are set on the masses of top (bottom) squarks. Information is provided to enable re-interpretation of these results, including model-independent limits on the number of non-standard model events for a set of simplified, inclusive search regions.
We present an observation of photon-photon production of τ lepton pairs in ultraperipheral lead-lead collisions. The measurement is based on a data sample with an integrated luminosity of 404 μb^{-1} collected by the CMS experiment at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02 TeV. The γγ→τ^{+}τ^{-} process is observed for τ^{+}τ^{-} events with a muon and three charged hadrons in the final state. The measured fiducial cross section is σ(γγ→τ^{+}τ^{-})=4.8±0.6(stat)±0.5(syst) μb, where the second (third) term corresponds to the statistical (systematic) uncertainty in σ(γγ→τ^{+}τ^{-}) in agreement with leading-order QED predictions. Using σ(γγ→τ^{+}τ^{-}), we estimate a model-dependent value of the anomalous magnetic moment of the τ lepton of a_{τ}=0.001_{-0.089}^{+0.055}.
Central exclusive and semiexclusive production of pairs is measured with the CMS detector in proton-proton collisions at the LHC at center-of-mass energies of 5.02 and 13TeV. The theoretical description of these nonperturbative processes, which have not yet been measured in detail at the LHC, poses a significant challenge to models. The two pions are measured and identified in the CMS silicon tracker based on specific energy loss, whereas the absence of other particles is ensured by calorimeter information. The total and differential cross sections of exclusive and semiexclusive central production are measured as functions of invariant mass, transverse momentum, and rapidity of the system in the fiducial region defined as transverse momentum and pseudorapidity . The production cross sections for the four resonant channels , , , and are extracted using a simple model. These results represent the first measurement of this process at the LHC collision energies of 5.02 and 13TeV.
A search for dark matter in events with a displaced nonresonant muon pair and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is performed using an integrated luminosity of 138 fb^{-1} of proton-proton (pp) collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV produced by the LHC in 2016-2018. No significant excess over the predicted backgrounds is observed. Upper limits are set on the product of the inelastic dark matter production cross section σ(pp→A^{'}→χ_{1}χ_{2}) and the decay branching fraction B(χ_{2}→χ_{1}μ^{+}μ^{-}), where A^{'} is a dark photon and χ_{1} and χ_{2} are states in the dark sector with near mass degeneracy. This is the first dedicated collider search for inelastic dark matter.