Person:

Roloff, Jennifer

This paper describes the algorithms for the reconstruction and identification of electrons in the central region of the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). These algorithms were used for all ATLAS results with electrons in the final state that are based on the 2012 pp collision data produced by the LHC at s√ = 8 TeV. The efficiency of these algorithms, together with the charge misidentification rate, is measured in data and evaluated in simulated samples using electrons from Z→ee, Z→eeγ and J/ψ→ee decays. For these efficiency measurements, the full recorded data set, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1, is used. Based on a new reconstruction algorithm used in 2012, the electron reconstruction efficiency is 97% for electrons with ET=15 GeV and 99% at ET=50 GeV. Combining this with the efficiency of additional selection criteria to reject electrons from background processes or misidentified hadrons, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify electrons at the ATLAS experiment varies from 65% to 95%, depending on the transverse momentum of the electron and background rejection.

The tracking performance parameters of the ATLAS Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT) as part of the ATLAS inner detector are described in this paper for different data-taking conditions in proton-proton, proton-lead and lead-lead collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The performance is studied using data collected during the first period of LHC operation (Run 1) and is compared with Monte Carlo simulations. The performance of the TRT, operating with two different gas mixtures (xenon-based and argon-based) and its dependence on the TRT occupancy is presented. These studies show that the tracking performance of the TRT is similar for the two gas mixtures and that a significant contribution to the particle momentum resolution is made by the TRT up to high particle densities.

We present charged-particle distributions sensitive to the underlying event, measured by the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, in low-luminosity Large Hadron Collider fills corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.6 nb−1. The distributions were constructed using charged particles with absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.5 and with transverse momentum greater than 500 MeV, in events with at least one such charged particle with transverse momentum above 1 GeV. These distributions characterise the angular distribution of energy and particle flows with respect to the charged particle with highest transverse momentum, as a function of both that momentum and of charged-particle multiplicity. The results have been corrected for detector effects and are compared to the predictions of various Monte Carlo event generators, experimentally establishing the level of underlying-event activity at LHC Run 2 energies and providing inputs for the development of event generator modelling. The current models in use for UE modelling typically describe this data to 5% accuracy, compared with data uncertainties of less than 1%.

Same- and opposite-sign charge asymmetries are measured in lepton+jets tt¯ events in which a b-hadron decays semileptonically to a soft muon, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1 from proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s√=8 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. The charge asymmetries are based on the charge of the lepton from the top-quark decay and the charge of the soft muon from the semileptonic decay of a b-hadron and are measured in a fiducial region corresponding to the experimental acceptance. Four CP asymmetries (one mixing and three direct) are measured and are found to be compatible with zero and consistent with the Standard Model.

Measurements of jet activity in top-quark pair events produced in proton--proton collisions are presented, using 3.2 fb−1 of pp collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Events are chosen by requiring an opposite-charge eμ pair and two b-tagged jets in the final state. The normalised differential cross-sections of top-quark pair production are presented as functions of additional-jet multiplicity and transverse momentum, pT. The fraction of signal events that do not contain additional jet activity in a given rapidity region, the gap fraction, is measured as a function of the pT threshold for additional jets, and is also presented for different invariant mass regions of the eμbb¯ system. All measurements are corrected for detector effects and presented as particle-level distributions compared to predictions with different theoretical approaches for QCD radiation. While the kinematics of the jets from top-quark decays are described well, the generators show differing levels of agreement with the measurements of observables that depend on the production of additional jets.

This paper presents a measurement of the polarisation of W bosons from tt¯ decays, reconstructed in events with one high-pT lepton and at least four jets. Data from pp collisions at the LHC were collected at s√ = 8 TeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb−1. The angle θ∗ between the b-quark from the top quark decay and a direct W boson decay product in the W boson rest frame is sensitive to the W boson polarisation. Two different W decay products are used as polarisation analysers: the charged lepton and the down-type quark for the leptonically and hadronically decaying W boson, respectively. The most precise measurement of the W boson polarisation via the distribution of cosθ∗ is obtained using the leptonic analyser and events in which at least two of the jets are tagged as b-quark jets. The fitted fractions of longitudinal, left- and right-handed polarisation states are F0=0.709±0.019, FL=0.299±0.015 and FR=−0.008±0.014, and are the most precisely measured W boson polarisation fractions to date. Limits on anomalous couplings of the Wtb vertex are set.

A measurement of the inclusive pp→tt¯+X production cross section in the τ+jets final state using only the hadronic decays of the τ lepton is presented. The measurement is performed using 20.2 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data recorded at a center-of-mass energy of s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The cross section is measured via a counting experiment by imposing a set of selection criteria on the identification and kinematic variables of the reconstructed particles and jets, and on event kinematic variables and characteristics. The production cross section is measured to be σtt¯=239±29 pb, which is in agreement with the measurements in other final states and the theoretical predictions at this center-of-mass energy.

To probe the Wtb vertex structure, top-quark and W-boson polarisation observables are measured from t-channel single-top-quark events produced in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb−1, recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Selected events contain one isolated electron or muon, large missing transverse momentum and exactly two jets, with one of them identified as likely to contain a b-hadron. Stringent selection requirements are applied to discriminate t-channel single-top-quark events from background. The polarisation observables are extracted from asymmetries in angular distributions measured with respect to spin quantisation axes appropriately chosen for the top quark and the W boson. The asymmetry measurements are performed at parton level by correcting the observed angular distributions for detector effects and hadronisation after subtracting the background contributions. The measured top-quark and W-boson polarisation values are in agreement with the Standard Model predictions. Limits on the imaginary part of the anomalous coupling gR are also set from model-independent measurements.

The production of W boson pairs in association with one jet in pp collisions at s√=8 TeV is studied using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1 collected by the ATLAS detector during 2012 at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The cross section is measured in a fiducial phase-space region defined by the presence of exactly one electron and one muon, missing transverse momentum and exactly one jet with a transverse momentum above 25 GeV and a pseudorapidity of |η|<4.5. The leptons are required to have opposite electric charge and to pass transverse momentum and pseudorapidity requirements. The fiducial cross section is found to be σfid,1-jetWW=136±6(stat)±14(syst)±3(lumi) fb. In combination with a previous measurement restricted to leptonic final states with no associated jets, the fiducial cross section of WW production with zero or one jet is measured to be σfid,≤1-jetWW=511±9(stat)±26(syst)±10(lumi) fb. The ratio of fiducial cross sections in final states with one and zero jets is determined to be 0.36±0.05. Finally, a total cross section extrapolated from the fiducial measurement of WW production with zero or one associated jet is reported. The measurements are compared to theoretical predictions and found in good agreement.

Inclusive isolated-photon production in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is studied with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using a data set with an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb−1. The cross section is measured as a function of the photon transverse energy above 125 GeV in different regions of photon pseudorapidity. Next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD and Monte Carlo event-generator predictions are compared to the cross-section measurements and provide an adequate description of the data.