Xiaoyue Liu

Abstract

A search for dark mesons originating from strongly-coupled, SU(2) dark flavor symmetry conserving models and decaying gaugephobically to pure Standard Model final states containing top and bottom quarks is presented. The search targets fully hadronic final states and final states with exactly one electron or muon and multiple jets. The analyzed data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions collected at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess over the Standard Model background expectation is observed and the results are used to set the first direct constraints on this type of model. The two-dimensional signal space of dark pion masses mπD and dark rho-meson masses mρD is scanned. For mπD/mρD = 0.45, dark pions with masses mπD< 940 GeV are excluded at the 95% CL, while for mπD/mρD = 0.25 masses mπD< 740 GeV are excluded.

Abstract

This paper presents a search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson into a pair of new pseudoscalar particles, Formula Presented, where one pseudoscalar decays into a Formula Presented-quark pair and the other decays into a Formula Presented-lepton pair, in the mass range Formula Presented. The analysis uses Formula Presented collision data at Formula Presented collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of Formula Presented. No significant excess above the Standard Model (SM) prediction is observed. Assuming the SM Higgs boson production cross section, the search sets upper limits at 95% confidence level on the branching ratio of Higgs bosons decaying into Formula Presented, Formula Presented), between 2.2% and 3.9% depending on the pseudoscalar mass.

Abstract

A search is presented for direct pair production of the stop, the supersymmetric partner of the top quark, in a decay through an Formula Presented-parity violating coupling to a charged lepton and a Formula Presented-quark. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of Formula Presented of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of Formula Presented collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The final state has two charged leptons (electrons or muons) and two Formula Presented-jets. The results of the search are interpreted in the context of a Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with an additional Formula Presented gauge symmetry that is spontaneously broken. No significant excess is observed over the Standard Model background, and exclusion limits on stop pair production are set at 95% confidence level. The corresponding lower limits on the stop mass for 100% branching ratios to a Formula Presented-quark and an electron, muon, or tau-lepton are 1.9 TeV, 1.8 TeV and 800 GeV, respectively, extending the reach of previous LHC searches.

Abstract

A search for heavy right-handed Majorana neutrinos is performed with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, using the (Formula Presented) of proton-proton collision data at (Formula Presented) collected during Run 2. This search targets (Formula Presented) production, in which both top quarks decay into a bottom quark and a (Formula Presented) boson, where one of the (Formula Presented) bosons decays hadronically and the other decays into an electron or muon and a heavy neutral lepton. The heavy neutral lepton is identified through a decay into an electron or muon and another (Formula Presented) boson, resulting in a pair of same-charge same-flavor leptons in the final state. This paper presents the first search for heavy neutral leptons in the mass range of 15-75 GeV using (Formula Presented) events. No significant excess is observed over the background expectation, and upper limits are placed on the signal cross sections. Assuming a benchmark scenario of the phenomenological type-I seesaw model, these cross section limits are then translated into upper limits on the mixing parameters of the heavy Majorana neutrino with Standard Model neutrinos.

Abstract

A search for neutral long-lived particles (LLPs) decaying in the ATLAS hadronic calorimeter using 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV delivered by the LHC is presented. The analysis is composed of three channels. The first targets pair-produced LLPs, where at least one LLP is produced with sufficiently low boost that its decay products can be resolved as separate jets. The second and third channels target LLPs respectively produced in association with a W or Z boson that decays leptonically. In each channel, different search regions target different kinematic regimes, to cover a broad range of LLP mass hypotheses and models. No excesses of events relative to the background predictions are observed. Higgs boson branching fractions to pairs of hadronically decaying neutral LLPs larger than 1% are excluded at 95% confidence level for proper decay lengths in the range of 30 cm to 4.5 m depending on the LLP mass, a factor of three improvement on previous searches in the hadronic calorimeter. The production of long-lived dark photons in association with a Z boson with cross-sections above 0.1 pb is excluded for dark photon mean proper decay lengths in the range of 20 cm to 50 m, improving previous ATLAS results by an order of magnitude. Finally, long-lived photo-phobic axion-like particle models are probed for the first time by ATLAS, with production cross-sections above 0.1 pb excluded in the 0.1 mm to 10 m range.

Abstract

A search is presented for non-resonant Higgs boson pair production, targeting the bbZZ, 4V (V = W or Z), VVττ, 4τ, γγVV and γγττ decay channels. Events are categorised based on the multiplicity of light charged leptons (electrons or muons), hadronically decaying tau leptons, and photons. The search is based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1. No evidence of the signal is found and the observed (expected) upper limit on the cross-section for non-resonant Higgs boson pair production is determined to be 17 (11) times the Standard Model predicted cross-section at 95% confidence level under the background-only hypothesis. The observed (expected) constraints on the HHH coupling modifier, κλ, are determined to be −6.2 < κλ< 11.6 (−4.5 < κλ< 9.6) at 95% confidence level, assuming the Standard Model for the expected limits and that new physics would only affect κλ.

Abstract

A search for Higgs boson pair production via vector-boson fusion is performed in the Lorentz-boosted regime, where a Higgs boson candidate is reconstructed as a single large-radius jet, using 140 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at s=13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Only Higgs boson decays into bottom quark pairs are considered. The search is particularly sensitive to the quartic coupling between two vector bosons and two Higgs bosons relative to its Standard Model prediction, κ2V. This study constrains κ2V to 0.55<κ2V<1.49 at the 95% confidence level. The value κ2V=0 is excluded with a significance of 3.8 standard deviations with other Higgs boson couplings fixed to their Standard Model values. A search for new heavy spin-0 resonances that would mediate Higgs boson pair production via vector-boson fusion is carried out in the mass range of 1–5 TeV for the first time under several model and decay-width assumptions. No significant deviation from the Standard Model hypothesis is observed and exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level are derived.

Abstract

A search is presented for the pair production of heavy vectorlike quarks (VLQs) that each decay into a W boson and a light quark. This study focuses on events where one W boson decays into leptons and the other into hadrons. The search analyzed 140 fb−1 of pp collision data with pffiffi s ¼ 13 TeV, recorded by the ATLAS detector from 2015 to 2018 during run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider. The final state is characterized by a high-transverse-momentum isolated electron or muon, large missing transverse momentum, multiple small-radius jets, and a single large-radius jet identified as originating from the hadronic decay of a boosted W boson. With higher center-of-mass energy and integrated luminosity than in the run 1 search, and improved analysis tools, this analysis excludes VLQs (Q) with masses below 1530 GeV at 95% confidence level for the branching ratio BðQ → WqÞ ¼ 1, an improvement of 840 GeV on the previous ATLAS limit.

Abstract

(Formula presented) boson events at the Large Hadron Collider can be selected with high purity and are sensitive to a diverse range of QCD phenomena. As a result, these events are often used to probe the nature of the strong force, improve Monte Carlo event generators, and search for deviations from standard model predictions. All previous measurements of (Formula presented) boson production characterize the event properties using a small number of observables and present the results as differential cross sections in predetermined bins. In this analysis, a machine learning method called omnifold is used to produce a simultaneous measurement of twenty-four (Formula presented) observables using (Formula presented) of proton-proton collisions at (Formula presented) collected with the ATLAS detector. Unlike any previous fiducial differential cross-section measurement, this result is presented unbinned as a dataset of particle-level events, allowing for flexible reuse in a variety of contexts and for new observables to be constructed from the twenty-four measured observables.

Abstract

Social determinants of health (SDoH), the conditions in which people live, work, play, and pray, are recognized as the key contributors to disparities in cardiovascular health. These conditions contribute to the adoption and maintenance of health behaviors and cardiovascular disease (CVD). This chapter reviews the epidemiological evidence demonstrating associations between SDoH and cardiovascular health. Additionally, the assessment of social determinants and their influence on prevention of cardiovascular conditions and interventions that mitigate the effects of adverse SDoH are outlined.