Search for new phenomena with the M T 2 variable in the all-hadronic final state produced in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV

Introduction to Charged Lepton Flavor Violation

Neutrino masses are evidence of lepton flavor violation, but no violation in the interactions among the charged leptons has been observed yet. Many models of Physics Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) predict Charged Lepton Flavor Violation (CLFV) in a wide spectrum of processes with rates in reach of upcoming experiments. The experimental searches that provide the current best limits on the CLFV searches are reviewed, with a particular emphasis on the muon-based experiments that give the most stringent constraints on the BSM parameter space. The next generation of muon-based experiments (MEG-II, Mu2e, COMET, Mu3e) aims to reach improvements by many orders of magnitude with respect to the current best limits, thanks to several technological advancements. We review popular heavy BSM theories, and we present the calculations of the predicted CLFV branching ratios, focusing on the more sensitive μ→e sector.

Analyzing Transverse Momentum Spectra of Pions, Kaons and Protons in p-p, p-A and A-A Collisions via the Blast-Wave Model with Fluctuations

The transverse momentum spectra of different types of particles, π±, K±, p and p¯, produced at mid-(pseudo)rapidity in different centrality lead-lead (Pb-Pb) collisions at 2.76 TeV; proton-lead (p-Pb) collisions at 5.02 TeV; xenon-xenon (Xe-Xe) collisions at 5.44 TeV; and proton-proton (p-p) collisions at 0.9, 2.76, 5.02, 7 and 13 TeV, were analyzed by the blast-wave model with fluctuations. With the experimental data measured by the ALICE and CMS Collaborations at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the kinetic freeze-out temperature, transverse flow velocity and proper time were extracted from fitting the transverse momentum spectra. In nucleus-nucleus (A-A) and proton-nucleus (p-A) collisions, the three parameters decrease with the decrease of event centrality from central to peripheral, indicating higher degrees of excitation, quicker expansion velocities and longer evolution times for central collisions. In p-p collisions, the kinetic freeze-out temperature is nearly invariant with the increase of energy, though the transverse flow velocity and proper time increase slightly, in the considered energy range.

Searches for physics beyond the standard model with the M T 2 variable in hadronic final states with and without disappearing tracks in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 Te

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 137fb - 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.

Search for Leptoquarks Coupled to Third-Generation Quarks in Proton-Proton Collisions at sqrt[s]=13 TeV

Three of the most significant measured deviations from standard model predictions, the enhanced decay rate for B→D^{(*)}τν, hints of lepton universality violation in B→K^{(*)}ℓℓ decays, and the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, can be explained by the existence of leptoquarks (LQs) with large couplings to third-generation quarks and masses at the TeV scale. The existence of these states can be probed at the LHC in high energy proton-proton collisions. A novel search is presented for pair production of LQs coupled to a top quark and a muon using data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9  fb^{-1}, recorded by the CMS experiment. No deviation from the standard model prediction has been observed and scalar LQs decaying exclusively into tμ are excluded up to masses of 1420 GeV. The results of this search are combined with those from previous searches for LQ decays into tτ and bν, which excluded scalar LQs below masses of 900 and 1080 GeV. Vector LQs are excluded up to masses of 1190 GeV for all possible combinations of branching fractions to tμ, tτ and bν. With this analysis, all relevant couplings of LQs with an electric charge of -1/3 to third-generation quarks are probed for the first time.

Search for electroweak production of supersymmetric particles in final states with two or three leptons at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for the electroweak production of charginos, neutralinos and sleptons decaying into final states involving two or three electrons or muons is presented. The analysis is based on 36.1 fb- 1 ofs = 13  TeV proton-proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Several scenarios based on simplified models are considered. These include the associated production of the next-to-lightest neutralino and the lightest chargino, followed by their decays into final states with leptons and the lightest neutralino via either sleptons or Standard Model gauge bosons; direct production of chargino pairs, which in turn decay into leptons and the lightest neutralino via intermediate sleptons; and slepton pair production, where each slepton decays directly into the lightest neutralino and a lepton. No significant deviations from the Standard Model expectation are observed and stringent limits at 95% confidence level are placed on the masses of relevant supersymmetric particles in each of these scenarios. For a massless lightest neutralino, masses up to 580 GeV are excluded for the associated production of the next-to-lightest neutralino and the lightest chargino, assuming gauge-boson mediated decays, whereas for slepton-pair production masses up to 500 GeV are excluded assuming three generations of mass-degenerate sleptons.

Search for third-generation scalar leptoquarks decaying to a top quark and a τ lepton at s = 13 Te

A search for pair production of heavy scalar leptoquarks (LQs), each decaying into a top quark and a τ lepton, is presented. The search considers final states with an electron or a muon, one or two τ leptons that decayed to hadrons, and additional jets. The data were collected in 2016 in proton-proton collisions ats = 13 Te with the CMS detector at the LHC, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35.9fb - 1 . No evidence for pair production of LQs is found. Assuming a branching fraction of unity for the decay LQ → t τ , upper limits on the production cross section are set as a function of LQ mass, excluding masses below 900Ge at 95% confidence level. These results provide the most stringent limits to date on the production of scalar LQs that decay to a top quark and a τ lepton.

Likelihood analysis of the pMSSM11 in light of LHC 13-TeV data

We use MasterCode to perform a frequentist analysis of the constraints on a phenomenological MSSM model with 11 parameters, the pMSSM11, including constraints from ∼ 36 /fb of LHC data at 13 TeV and PICO, XENON1T and PandaX-II searches for dark matter scattering, as well as previous accelerator and astrophysical measurements, presenting fits both with and without the ( g - 2 ) μ constraint. The pMSSM11 is specified by the following parameters: 3 gaugino masses M 1 , 2 , 3 , a common mass for the first-and second-generation squarks m q ~ and a distinct third-generation squark mass m q ~ 3 , a common mass for the first-and second-generation sleptons m ℓ ~ and a distinct third-generation slepton mass m τ ~ , a common trilinear mixing parameter A, the Higgs mixing parameter μ , the pseudoscalar Higgs mass M A and tan β . In the fit including ( g - 2 ) μ , a Bino-like χ ~ 1 0 is preferred, whereas a Higgsino-like χ ~ 1 0 is mildly favoured when the ( g - 2 ) μ constraint is dropped. We identify the mechanisms that operate in different regions of the pMSSM11 parameter space to bring the relic density of the lightest neutralino, χ ~ 1 0 , into the range indicated by cosmological data. In the fit including ( g - 2 ) μ , coannihilations with χ ~ 2 0 and the Wino-like χ ~ 1 ± or with nearly-degenerate first- and second-generation sleptons are active, whereas coannihilations with the χ ~ 2 0 and the Higgsino-like χ ~ 1 ± or with first- and second-generation squarks may be important when the ( g - 2 ) μ constraint is dropped. In the two cases, we present χ 2 functions in two-dimensional mass planes as well as their one-dimensional profile projections and best-fit spectra. Prospects remain for discovering strongly-interacting sparticles at the LHC, in both the scenarios with and without the ( g - 2 ) μ constraint, as well as for discovering electroweakly-interacting sparticles at a future linear e + e - collider such as the ILC or CLIC.