Search

A search for pairs of Higgs bosons produced via gluon and vector boson fusion is presented, focusing on the four b quark final state. The data sample consists of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{; ; ; -1}; ; ; $. No deviation from the background-only hypothesis is observed. A 95% confidence level upper limit on the Higgs boson pair production cross section is observed at 3.9 times the standard model prediction for an expected value of 7.8. Constraints are also set on the modifiers of the Higgs field self-coupling, $\kappa_\lambda$, and of the coupling of two Higgs bosons to two vector bosons, $\kappa_\mathrm{; ; ; 2V}; ; ; $. The observed (expected) allowed intervals at the 95% confidence level are $-$2.3 $\lt$ $\kappa_\lambda$ $\lt$ 9.4 ($-$5.0 $\lt$ $\kappa_\lambda$ $\lt$ 12.0) and $-$0.1 $\lt$ $\kappa_\mathrm{; ; ; 2V}; ; ; $ $\lt$ 2.2 ($-$0.4 $\lt$ $\kappa_\mathrm{; ; ; 2V}; ; ; $ $\lt$ 2.5). These are the most stringent observed constraints to date on the HH production cross section and on the $\kappa_\mathrm{; ; ; 2V}; ; ; $ coupling.

A search for resonances decaying into a W boson and a radion, where the radion decays into two W bosons, is presented. The data analyzed correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{; ; ; -1}; ; ; $ recorded in proton-proton collisions with the CMS detector at $\sqrt{; ; ; s}; ; ; =$ 13 TeV. One isolated charged lepton is required, together with missing transverse momentum and one or two massive large-radius jets, containing the decay products of either two or one W bosons, respectively. No excess over the background estimation is observed. The results are combined with those from a complementary channel with an all-hadronic final state, described in an accompanying paper. Limits are set on parameters of an extended warped extra-dimensional model. These searches are the first of their kind at the LHC.

A measurement of the W+W- boson pair production cross section in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV is presented. The data used in this study are collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1). The W+W- candidate events are selected by requiring two oppositely charged leptons (electrons or muons). Two methods for reducing background contributions are employed. In the first one, a sequence of requirements on kinematic quantities is applied allowing a measurement of the total production cross section, 117.6 +/- 6.8 pb, which agrees well with the theoretical prediction. Fiducial cross sections are also reported for events with zero or one jet, and the change in the zero-jet fiducial cross section with the jet transverse momentum threshold is measured. Normalized differential cross sections are reported within the fiducial region. A second method for suppressing background contributions employs two random forest classifiers. The analysis based on this method includes a measurement of the total production cross section and also a measurement of the normalized jet multiplicity distribution in W+W- events. Finally, a dilepton invariant mass distribution is used to probe for physics beyond the standard model in the context of an effective field theory, and constraints on the presence of dimension-6 operators are derived.

A search is conducted for a low-mass charged Higgs boson produced in a top quark decay and subsequently decaying into a charm and a strange quark. The data sample was recorded in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV by the CMS experiment at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1). The search is performed in the process of top quark pair production, where one top quark decays to a bottom quark and a charged Higgs boson and the other to a bottom quark and a W boson. With the W boson decaying to a charged lepton (electron or muon) and a neutrino, the final state comprises an isolated lepton, missing transverse momentum, and at least four jets, of which two are tagged as b jets. To enhance the search sensitivity, one of the jets originating from the charged Higgs boson is required to satisfy a charm tagging selection. No significant excess beyond standard model predictions is found in the dijet invariant mass distribution. An upper limit in the range 1.68%-0.25% is set on the branching fraction of the top quark decay to the charged Higgs boson and bottom quark for a charged Higgs boson mass between 80 and 160 GeV.

The elliptic azimuthal anisotropy coefficient (upsilon(2)) is measured for charm (D-0) and strange (K-S(0), Lambda, Xi(-), and Omega(-)) hadrons, using a data sample of p + Pb collisions collected by the CMS experiment, at a nucleonnucleon center-of- mass energy of root(NN)-N-s = 8.16 TeV. A significant positive upsilon(2) signal from long- range azimuthal correlations is observed for all particle species in high- multiplicity p + Pb collisions. The measurement represents the first observation of possible long-range collectivity for open heavy flavor hadrons in small systems. The results suggest that charm quarks have a smaller upsilon(2) than the lighter quarks, probably reflecting a weaker collective behavior. This effect is not seen in the larger PbPb collision system at root(NN)-N- s = 5.02 TeV, also presented.

Differential and double-differential cross sections for the production of top quark pairs in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV are measured as a function of kinematic variables of the top quarks and the top quark- antiquark (t (t) over bar) system. In addition, kinematic variables and multiplicities of jets associated with the t (t) over bar production are measured. This analysis is based on data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.8 fb(-1). The measurements are performed in the lepton + jets decay channels with a single muon or electron and jets in the final state. The differential cross sections are presented at the particle level, within a phase space close to the experimental acceptance, and at the parton level in the full phase space. The results are compared to several standard model predictions that use different methods and approximations. The kinematic variables of the top quarks and the t (t) over bar system are reasonably described in general, though none predict all the measured distributions. In particular, the transverse momentum distribution of the top quarks is more steeply falling than predicted. The kinematic distributions and multiplicities of jets are adequately modeled by certain combinations of next-to-leading-order calculations and parton shower models.

Measurements of fragmentation functions for jets associated with an isolated photon are presented for the first time in pp and Pb-Pb collisions. The analysis uses data collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. Fragmentation functions are obtained for jets with pjetT>30 GeV/c in events containing an isolated photon with pγT>60 GeV/c, using charged tracks with transverse momentum ptrkT>1 GeV/c in a cone around the jet axis. The association with an isolated photon constrains the initial pT and azimuthal angle of the parton whose shower produced the jet. For central Pb-Pb collisions, modifications of the jet fragmentation functions are observed when compared to those measured in pp collisions, while no significant differences are found in the 50% most peripheral collisions. Jets in central Pb-Pb events show an excess (depletion) of low (high) pT particles, with a transition around 3 GeV/c. This measurement shows for the first time the in-medium shower modifications of partons (quark dominated) with well-defined initial kinematics. It constitutes a new well-controlled reference for testing theoretical models of the parton passage through the quark-gluon plasma.

A search for evidence of particle dark matter (DM) and unparticle production at the LHC has been performed using events containing two charged leptons, consistent with the decay of a Z boson, and large missing transverse momentum. This study is based on data collected with the CMS detector corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns of pp collisions at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. No significant excess of events is observed above the number expected from the standard model contributions. The results are interpreted in terms of 90% confidence level limits on the DM-nucleon scattering cross section, as a function of the DM particle mass, for both spin-dependent and spin-independent scenarios. Limits are set on the effective cutoff scale Lambda, and on the annihilation rate for DM particles, assuming that their branching fraction to quarks is 100%. Additionally, the most stringent 95% confidence level limits to date on the unparticle model parameters are obtained.

The top quark pair production cross section is measured for the first time in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 42 inverse picobarns. The measurement is performed by analyzing events with at least one electron and one muon of opposite charge, and at least two jets. The measured cross section is 746 +/- 58 (stat) +/- 53 (syst) +/- 36 (lumi) pb, in agreement with the expectation from the standard model.

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 inverse femtobarns. 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 is presented for the production of both first- and second-generation scalar leptoquarks with a final state of either two electrons and one jet or two muons and one jet. A data sample of proton-proton collisions at center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 8 TeV recorded with the CMS detector corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 19.6 inverse femtobarns. Upper limits are set on both the first- and second-generation leptoquark production cross sections as functions of the leptoquark mass and the leptoquark couplings to a lepton and a quark. Results are compared with theoretical predictions to obtain lower limits on the leptoquark mass. At 95% confidence level, single production of first-generation leptoquarks with a coupling and branching fraction of 1.0 is excluded for masses below 1730 GeV, and second-generation leptoquarks with a coupling and branching fraction of 1.0 is excluded for masses below 530 GeV. These are the best overall limits on the production of first-generation leptoquarks to date.

A search for fermionic top quark partners T of charge 2/3 is presented. The search is carried out in proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns collected at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 8 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The T quarks are assumed to be produced strongly in pairs and can decay into tH, tZ, and bW. The multilepton channel, two all- hadronic channels optimized either for the bW or the tH decay, and one channel in which the Higgs boson decays into two photons. The results are found to be compatible with the standard model expectations in all the investigated final states. A statistical combination of these results is performed and lower limits on the T quark mass are set. Depending on the branching fractions, lower mass limits between 720 and 920 GeV at 95% confidence level are found. These are among the strongest limits on vector-like T quarks obtained to date.

The production cross sections of the B+, B0, and B0s mesons, and of their charge conjugates, are measured via exclusive hadronic decays in pPb collisions at the center-of- mass energy sqrt(s_NN) = 5.02 TeV with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The dataset used for this analysis corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 34.6 inverse- nanobarns. The production cross sections are measured in the transverse momentum range between 10 and 60 GeV/c. No significant modification is observed compared to proton- proton perturbative QCD calculations scaled by the number of incoherent nucleon-nucleon collisions. These results provide a baseline for the study of in-medium b quark energy loss in PbPb collisions.

Two searches for physics beyond the standard model in events containing photons are presented. The data sample used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, collected with the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC. The analyses pursue different inclusive search strategies. One analysis requires at least one photon, at least two jets, and a large amount of transverse momentum imbalance, while the other selects events with at least two photons and at least one jet, and uses the razor variables to search for signal events. The background expected from standard model processes is evaluated mainly from data. The results are interpreted in the context of general gauge-mediated supersymmetry, with the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle either a bino- or wino- like neutralino, and within simplified model scenarios. Upper limits at the 95% confidence level are obtained for cross sections as functions of the masses of the intermediate supersymmetric particles.

A search for resonances and quantum black holes is performed using the dijet mass spectra measured in proton- proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns. In a search for narrow resonances that couple to quark-quark, quark-gluon, or gluon-gluon pairs, model-independent upper limits, at 95% confidence level, are obtained on the production cross section of resonances, with masses above 1.2 TeV. When interpreted in the context of TeV ; excited quarks below 3.5 TeV ; scalar diquarks below 4.7 TeV ; W' bosons below 1.9 TeV or between 2.0 and 2.2 TeV ; Z' bosons below 1.7 TeV ; and Randall-Sundrum gravitons below 1.6 TeV. A separate search is conducted for narrow resonances that decay to final states including b quarks. The first exclusion limit is set for excited b quarks, with a lower mass limit between 1.2 and 1.6 TeV depending on their decay properties. Searches are also carried out for wide resonances, assuming for the first time width-to-mass ratios up to 30%, and for quantum black holes with a range of model parameters. The wide resonance search excludes axigluons and colorons with mass below 3.6 TeV, and color-octet scalars with mass below 2.5 TeV. Lower bounds between 5.0 and 6.3 TeV are set on the masses of quantum black holes.

A search for new physics in proton-proton collisions having final states with an electron or muon and missing transverse energy is presented. The analysis uses data collected in 2012 with the CMS detector, at an LHC center- of-mass energy of 8 TeV, and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns. No significant deviation of the transverse mass distribution of the charged lepton-neutrino system from the standard model prediction is found. Mass exclusion limits of up to 3.28 TeV at a 95% confidence level for a W' boson with the same couplings as that of the standard model W boson are determined. Results are also derived in the framework of split universal extra dimensions, and exclusion limits on Kaluza-Klein W[KK, 2] states are found. The final state with large missing transverse energy also enables a search for dark matter production with a recoiling W boson, with limits set on the mass and the production cross section of potential candidates. Finally, limits are established for a model including interference between a left- handed W' boson and the standard model W boson, and for a compositeness model.

Measurements of differential cross sections are presented for the production of a Z boson and at least one hadronic jet in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, recorded by the CMS detector, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 inverse femtobarns. The jet multiplicity distribution is measured for up to six jets. The differential cross sections are measured as a function of jet transverse momentum and pseudorapidity for the four highest transverse momentum jets. The distribution of the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta is also measured as a function of the jet multiplicity. The measurements are compared with theoretical predictions at leading and next- to-leading order in perturbative QCD.

Measurements of diffractive dissociation cross sections in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV are presented in kinematic regions defined by the masses M[X] and M[Y] of the two final-state hadronic systems separated by the largest rapidity gap in the event. Differential cross sections are measured as a function of xi[X]= M[X]^2/s in the region -5.5 < log[10]xi[X] < -2.5, for log[10]M[Y] < 0.5, dominated by single dissociation (SD), and 0.5 < log[10]M[Y] < 1.1, dominated by double dissociation (DD), where M[X] and M[Y] are given in GeV. The inclusive pp cross section is also measured as a function of the width of the central pseudorapidity gap Delta eta for Delta eta > 3, log[10]M[X] > 1.1, and log[10]M[Y] > 1.1, a region dominated by DD. The cross sections integrated over these regions are found to be, respectively, 2.99 +/- 0.02 (stat) +0.32 -0.29 (syst) mb, 1.18 +/- 0.02 (stat) +/- 0.13 (syst) mb, and 0.58 +/- 0.01 (stat) +0.13 -0.11 (syst) mb, and are used to extract total SD and DD cross sections. In addition, the inclusive differential cross section, d sigma /d Delta eta[F], for events with a pseudorapidity gap adjacent to the edge of the detector, is measured over Delta eta[F] = 8.4 units of pseudorapidity. The results are compared to those of other experiments and to theoretical predictions, and found compatible with slowly- rising diffractive cross sections as a function of center-of- mass energy.