A search has been performed for long-lived particles that could have come to rest within the CMS detector, using the time intervals between LHC beam crossings. The existence of such particles could be deduced from observation of their decays via energy deposits in the CMS calorimeter appearing at times that are well separated from any proton-proton collisions. Using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 18.6[Formula: see text] of 8[Formula: see text] proton-proton collisions, and a search interval corresponding to 281 h of trigger livetime, 10 events are observed, with a background prediction of [Formula: see text] events. Limits are presented at 95 % confidence level on gluino and top squark production, for over 13 orders of magnitude in the mean proper lifetime of the stopped particle. Assuming a cloud model of R-hadron interactions, a gluino with mass [Formula: see text]1000[Formula: see text] and a top squark with mass [Formula: see text]525[Formula: see text] are excluded, for lifetimes between 1 [Formula: see text]s and 1000[Formula: see text]. These results are the most stringent constraints on stopped particles to date.
Results are presented from a search for particle dark matter (DM), extra dimensions, and unparticles using events containing a jet and an imbalance in transverse momentum. The data were collected by the CMS detector in proton-proton collisions at the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7[Formula: see text]at a centre-of-mass energy of 8[Formula: see text]. The number of observed events is found to be consistent with the standard model prediction. Limits are placed on the DM-nucleon scattering cross section as a function of the DM particle mass for spin-dependent and spin-independent interactions. Limits are also placed on the scale parameter [Formula: see text] in the Arkani-Hamed, Dimopoulos, and Dvali (ADD) model of large extra dimensions, and on the unparticle model parameter [Formula: see text]. The constraints on ADD models and unparticles are the most stringent limits in this channel and those on the DM-nucleon scattering cross section are an improvement over previous collider results.
A search for a standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a top-quark pair and decaying to bottom quarks is presented. Events with hadronic jets and one or two oppositely charged leptons are selected from a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.5[Formula: see text] collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in [Formula: see text] collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8[Formula: see text]. In order to separate the signal from the larger [Formula: see text] + jets background, this analysis uses a matrix element method that assigns a probability density value to each reconstructed event under signal or background hypotheses. The ratio between the two values is used in a maximum likelihood fit to extract the signal yield. The results are presented in terms of the measured signal strength modifier, [Formula: see text], relative to the standard model prediction for a Higgs boson mass of 125[Formula: see text]. The observed (expected) exclusion limit at a 95 % confidence level is [Formula: see text] (3.3), corresponding to a best fit value [Formula: see text].
The first search for scalar leptoquarks produced in τ-lepton-quark collisions is presented. It is based on a set of proton-proton collision data recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb^{-1}. The reconstructed final state consists of a jet, significant missing transverse momentum, and a τ lepton reconstructed through its hadronic or leptonic decays. Limits are set on the product of the leptoquark production cross section and branching fraction and interpreted as exclusions in the plane of the leptoquark mass and the leptoquark-τ-quark coupling strength.
A search for the resonant production of high-mass photon pairs is presented. The analysis is based on samples of proton-proton collision data collected by the CMS experiment at center-of-mass energies of 8 and 13 TeV, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 19.7 and 3.3 fb^{-1}, respectively. The interpretation of the search results focuses on spin-0 and spin-2 resonances with masses between 0.5 and 4 TeV and with widths, relative to the mass, between 1.4×10^{-4} and 5.6×10^{-2}. Limits are set on scalar resonances produced through gluon-gluon fusion, and on Randall-Sundrum gravitons. A modest excess of events compatible with a narrow resonance with a mass of about 750 GeV is observed. The local significance of the excess is approximately 3.4 standard deviations. The significance is reduced to 1.6 standard deviations once the effect of searching under multiple signal hypotheses is considered. More data are required to determine the origin of this excess.
A search for nonresonant Higgs boson (H) pair production via gluon and vector boson (V) fusion is performed in the four-bottom-quark final state, using proton-proton collision data at 13 TeV corresponding to 138 fb^{-1} collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The analysis targets Lorentz-boosted H pairs identified using a graph neural network. It constrains the strengths relative to the standard model of the H self-coupling and the quartic VVHH couplings, κ_{2V}, excluding κ_{2V}=0 for the first time, with a significance of 6.3 standard deviations when other H couplings are fixed to their standard model values.
A search for narrow resonances decaying into dijet final states is performed on data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 18.8 fb^{-1}. The data were collected with the CMS detector using a novel technique called data scouting, in which the information associated with these selected events is much reduced, permitting collection of larger data samples. This technique enables CMS to record events containing jets at a rate of 1 kHz, by collecting the data from the high-level-trigger system. In this way, the sensitivity to low-mass resonances is increased significantly, allowing previously inaccessible couplings of new resonances to quarks and gluons to be probed. The resulting dijet mass distribution yields no evidence of narrow resonances. Upper limits are presented on the resonance cross sections as a function of mass, and compared with a variety of models predicting narrow resonances. The limits are translated into upper limits on the coupling of a leptophobic resonance Z_{B}^{'} to quarks, improving on the results obtained by previous experiments for the mass range from 500 to 800 GeV.
A search for narrow resonances in proton-proton collisions at sqrt[s]=13 TeV is presented. The invariant mass distribution of the two leading jets is measured with the CMS detector using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.4 fb^{-1}. The highest observed dijet mass is 6.1 TeV. The distribution is smooth and no evidence for resonant particles is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the production cross section for narrow resonances with masses above 1.5 TeV. When interpreted in the context of specific models, the limits exclude string resonances with masses below 7.0 TeV, scalar diquarks below 6.0 TeV, axigluons and colorons below 5.1 TeV, excited quarks below 5.0 TeV, color-octet scalars below 3.1 TeV, and W^{'} bosons below 2.6 TeV. These results significantly extend previously published limits.
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.
A search for the standard model (SM) Higgs boson (H) produced with transverse momentum (p_{T}) greater than 450 GeV and decaying to a charm quark-antiquark (cc[over ¯]) pair is presented. The search is performed using proton-proton collision data collected at sqrt[s]=13 TeV by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb^{-1}. Boosted H→cc[over ¯] decay products are reconstructed as a single large-radius jet and identified using a deep neural network charm tagging technique. The method is validated by measuring the Z→cc[over ¯] decay process, which is observed in association with jets at high p_{T} for the first time with a signal strength of 1.00_{-0.14}^{+0.17}(syst)±0.08(theo)±0.06(stat), defined as the ratio of the observed process rate to the SM expectation. The observed (expected) upper limit on σ(H)B(H→cc[over ¯]) is set at 47 (39) times the SM prediction at 95% confidence level.
A search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying to a charm quark-antiquark pair, H→cc[over ¯], produced in association with a leptonically decaying V (W or Z) boson is presented. The search is performed with proton-proton collisions at sqrt[s]=13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb^{-1}. Novel charm jet identification and analysis methods using machine learning techniques are employed. The analysis is validated by searching for Z→cc[over ¯] in VZ events, leading to its first observation at a hadron collider with a significance of 5.7 standard deviations. The observed (expected) upper limit on σ(VH)B(H→cc[over ¯]) is 0.94 (0.50_{-0.15}^{+0.22})pb at 95% confidence level (C.L.), corresponding to 14 (7.6_{-2.3}^{+3.4}) times the standard model prediction. For the Higgs-charm Yukawa coupling modifier, κ_{c}, the observed (expected) 95% C.L. interval is 1.1
We present the first direct search for exotic Higgs boson decays H→AA, A→γγ in events with two photonlike objects. The hypothetical particle A is a low-mass spin-0 particle decaying promptly to a merged diphoton reconstructed as a single photonlike object. We analyze the data collected by the CMS experiment at sqrt[s]=13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 136 fb^{-1}. No excess above the estimated background is found. We set upper limits on the branching fraction B(H→AA→4γ) of (0.9-3.3)×10^{-3} at 95% confidence level for masses of A in the range 0.1-1.2 GeV.
A first search for pair production of dark matter candidates through vector boson fusion in proton-proton collisions at sqrt[s]=8 TeV is performed with the CMS detector. The vector boson fusion topology enhances missing transverse momentum, providing a way to probe supersymmetry, even in the case of a compressed mass spectrum. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 18.5 fb^{-1}, recorded by the CMS experiment. The observed dijet mass spectrum is consistent with the standard model expectation. In an effective field theory, dark matter masses are explored as a function of contact interaction strength. The most stringent limit on bottom squark production with mass below 315 GeV is also reported, assuming a 5 GeV mass difference with respect to the lightest neutralino.
The relative modification of the prompt ψ(2S) and J/ψ yields from pp to PbPb collisions, at the center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV per nucleon pair, is presented. The analysis is based on pp and PbPb data samples collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2015, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 28.0 pb^{-1} and 464 μb^{-1}, respectively. The double ratio of measured yields of prompt charmonia reconstructed through their decays into muon pairs, (N_{ψ(2S)}/N_{J/ψ})_{PbPb}/(N_{ψ(2S)}/N_{J/ψ})_{pp}, is determined as a function of PbPb collision centrality and charmonium transverse momentum p_{T}, in two kinematic intervals: |y|<1.6 covering 6.5J/ψ yield in the explored phase space.
Quasireal photons exchanged in relativistic heavy ion interactions are powerful probes of the gluonic structure of nuclei. The coherent J/ψ photoproduction cross section in ultraperipheral lead-lead collisions is measured as a function of photon-nucleus center-of-mass energies per nucleon (W_{γN}^{Pb}) over a wide range of 40
The first search exploiting the vector boson fusion process to probe heavy Majorana neutrinos and the Weinberg operator at the LHC is presented. The search is performed in the same-sign dimuon final state using a proton-proton collision dataset recorded at sqrt[s]=13 TeV, collected with the CMS detector and corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 138 fb^{-1}. The results are found to agree with the predictions of the standard model. For heavy Majorana neutrinos, constraints on the squared mixing element between the muon and the heavy neutrino are derived in the heavy neutrino mass range 50 GeV-25 TeV; for masses above 650 GeV these are the most stringent constraints from searches at the LHC to date. A first test of the Weinberg operator at colliders provides an observed upper limit at 95% confidence level on the effective μμ Majorana neutrino mass of 10.8 GeV.
Properties of the Higgs boson with mass near 125[Formula: see text] are measured in proton-proton collisions with the CMS experiment at the LHC. Comprehensive sets of production and decay measurements are combined. The decay channels include [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] pairs. The data samples were collected in 2011 and 2012 and correspond to integrated luminosities of up to 5.1[Formula: see text] at 7[Formula: see text] and up to 19.7[Formula: see text] at 8[Formula: see text]. From the high-resolution [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] channels, the mass of the Higgs boson is determined to be [Formula: see text]. For this mass value, the event yields obtained in the different analyses tagging specific decay channels and production mechanisms are consistent with those expected for the standard model Higgs boson. The combined best-fit signal relative to the standard model expectation is [Formula: see text] at the measured mass. The couplings of the Higgs boson are probed for deviations in magnitude from the standard model predictions in multiple ways, including searches for invisible and undetected decays. No significant deviations are found.
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}.
Observation of the diphoton decay mode of the recently discovered Higgs boson and measurement of some of its properties are reported. The analysis uses the entire dataset collected by the CMS experiment in proton-proton collisions during the 2011 and 2012 LHC running periods. The data samples correspond to integrated luminosities of 5.1[Formula: see text]at [Formula: see text] and 19.7[Formula: see text]at 8[Formula: see text] . A clear signal is observed in the diphoton channel at a mass close to 125[Formula: see text] with a local significance of [Formula: see text], where a significance of [Formula: see text] is expected for the standard model Higgs boson. The mass is measured to be [Formula: see text] , and the best-fit signal strength relative to the standard model prediction is [Formula: see text][Formula: see text][Formula: see text]. Additional measurements include the signal strength modifiers associated with different production mechanisms, and hypothesis tests between spin-0 and spin-2 models.
A search for the rare η→μ^{+}μ^{-}μ^{+}μ^{-} double-Dalitz decay is performed using a sample of proton-proton collisions, collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC with high-rate muon triggers during 2017 and 2018 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb^{-1}. A signal having a statistical significance well in excess of 5 standard deviations is observed. Using the η→μ^{+}μ^{-} decay as normalization, the branching fraction B(η→μ^{+}μ^{-}μ^{+}μ^{-})=[5.0±0.8(stat)±0.7(syst)±0.7(B_{2μ})]×10^{-9} is measured, where the last term is the uncertainty in the normalization channel branching fraction. This work achieves an improved precision of over 5 orders of magnitude compared to previous results, leading to the first measurement of this branching fraction, which is found to agree with theoretical predictions.