Person:

Spearman, William

This thesis presents a measurement of the mass, natural width, and signal strength, defined as the yield normalized to the Standard Model prediction, of the Higgs boson in the (H \rightarrow ZZ^{(*)} \rightarrow 4l) decay channel using an approach which utilizes event-by-event detector response information. The measurement is performed on p-p collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The data corresponds to an integrated luminosity of (25 fb^{-1}) with center-of-mass energies of 7 TeV and 8 TeV. The measured mass of the Higgs boson is (m_H = 124.57_{-0.43}^{+0.48} GeV). The signal strength was estimated at (\mu = 1.76_{-0.37}^{+0.46}). Finally, the natural width of the Higgs was determined to be < 2.6 GeV with 95% confidence. The event-by-event approach used in this analysis involves the parameterization of the behavior of single leptons in the ATLAS detector and the convolution of a mass response with the Higgs truth distribution to derive the reconstruction level signal model.

The production rates of prompt and non-prompt J/ψ and ψ(2S) mesons are measured using 2.1 fb−1 and 11.4 fb−1 of data collected with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC, in proton-proton collisions at s√=7 and 8 TeV respectively. Production cross-sections for both prompt and non-prompt production sources, ratios of ψ(2S) to J/ψ production, and fractions of non-prompt to inclusive production for J/ψ and ψ(2S) are measured double-differentially as a function of meson pT and rapidity. These measurements are made in a restricted fiducial volume and also corrected for geometrical acceptance after which they are compared to a variety of theoretical predictions.

A measurement of the correlations between the polar angles of leptons from the decay of pair-produced t and t¯ quarks in the helicity basis is reported, using proton-proton collision data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.6fb−1 at a center-of-mass energy of s√=7TeV collected during 2011. Candidate events are selected in the dilepton topology with large missing transverse momentum and at least two jets. The angles θ1 and θ2 between the charged leptons and the direction of motion of the parent quarks in the tt¯ rest frame are sensitive to the spin information, and the distribution of {\mbox{cosθ1⋅cosθ2}} is sensitive to the spin correlation between the t and t¯ quarks. The distribution is unfolded to parton level and compared to the next-to-leading order prediction. A good agreement is observed.

The production of D∗±, D± and D±s charmed mesons has been measured with the ATLAS detector in pp collisions at s√=7 TeV at the LHC, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 280nb−1. The charmed mesons have been reconstructed in the range of transverse momentum 3.5<pT(D)<100 GeV and pseudorapidity |η(D)|<2.1. The differential cross sections as a function of transverse momentum and pseudorapidity were measured for D∗± and D± production. The next-to-leading-order QCD predictions are consistent with the data in the visible kinematic region within the large theoretical uncertainties. Using the visible D cross sections and an extrapolation to the full kinematic phase space, the strangeness-suppression factor in charm fragmentation, the fraction of charged non-strange D mesons produced in a vector state, and the total cross section of charm production at s√=7 TeV were derived.

This article reports on a search for dark matter pair production in association with a Higgs boson decaying to a pair of bottom quarks, using data from 20.3fb−1 of pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The decay of the Higgs boson is reconstructed as a high-momentum bb¯ system with either a pair of small-radius jets, or a single large-radius jet with substructure. The observed data are found to be consistent with the expected Standard Model backgrounds. Model-independent upper limits are placed on the visible cross-sections for events with a Higgs boson decaying into bb¯ and large missing transverse momentum with thresholds ranging from 150 GeV to 400 GeV. Results are interpreted using a simplified model with a Z′ gauge boson decaying into different Higgs bosons predicted in a two-Higgs-doublet model, of which the heavy pseudoscalar Higgs decays into a pair of dark matter particles. Exclusion limits are also presented for the mass scales of various effective field theory operators that describe the interaction between dark matter particles and the Higgs boson.

Additional jet activity in dijet events is measured using pp collisions at ATLAS at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=7 TeV, for jets reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with radius parameter R=0.6. This is done using variables such as the fraction of dijet events without an additional jet in the rapidity interval bounded by the dijet subsystem and correlations between the azimuthal angles of the dijet s. They are presented, both with and without a veto on additional jet activity in the rapidity interval, as a function of the scalar average of the transverse momenta of the dijet s and of the rapidity interval size. The double differential dijet cross section is also measured as a function of the interval size and the azimuthal angle between the dijet s. These variables probe differences in the approach to resummation of large logarithms when performing QCD calculations. The data are compared to POWHEG, interfaced to the PYTHIA 8 and HERWIG parton shower generators, as well as toHEJ with and without interfacing it to the ARIADNE parton shower generator. None of the theoretical predictions agree with the data across the full phase-space considered; however, POWHEG+PYTHIA 8 and HEJ+ARIADNE are found to provide the best agreement with the data. These measurements use the full data sample collected with the ATLAS detector in √s=7 TeV pp collisions at the LHC and correspond to integrated luminosities of 36.1pb−1 and 4.5fb−1 for data collected during 2010 and 2011, respectively.

A measurement of charged-particle distributions sensitive to the properties of the underlying event is presented for an inclusive sample of events containing a Z -boson, decaying to an electron or muon pair. The measurement is based on data collected using the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb [superscript −1]. Distributions of the charged particle multiplicity and of the charged particle transverse momentum are measured in regions of azimuthal angle defined with respect to the Z -boson direction. The measured distributions are compared to similar distributions measured in jet events, and to the predictions of various Monte Carlo generators implementing different underlying event models.

The decays B+c→J/ψD+s and B+c→J/ψD∗+s are studied with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using a dataset corresponding to integrated luminosities of 4.9 and 20.6 fb−1 of pp collisions collected at centre-of-mass energies √s=7 TeV and 8 TeV, respectively. Signal candidates are identified through J/ψ→μ+μ− and D(∗)+s→ϕπ+(γ/π0) decays. With a two-dimensional likelihood fit involving the B+c reconstructed invariant mass and an angle between the μ+ and D+s candidate momenta in the muon pair rest frame, the yields of B+c→J/ψD+s and B+c→J/ψD∗+s, and the transverse polarisation fraction in B+c→J/ψD∗+s decay are measured. The transverse polarisation fraction is determined to be Γ±±(B+c→J/ψD∗+s)/Γ(B+c→J/ψD∗+s)=0.38±0.23±0.07, and the derived ratio of the branching fractions of the two modes is BB+c→J/ψD∗+s/BB+c→J/ψD+s=2.8+1.2−0.8±0.3, where the first error is statistical and the second is systematic. Finally, a sample of B+c→J/ψπ+ decays is used to derive the ratios of branching fractions BB+c→J/ψD+s/BB+c→J/ψπ+=3.8±1.1±0.4±0.2 and BB+c→J/ψD∗+s/BB+c→J/ψπ+=10.4±3.1±1.5±0.6, where the third error corresponds to the uncertainty of the branching fraction of D+s→ϕ(K+K−)π+ decay. The available theoretical predictions are generally consistent with the measurement.

The production of a Z boson in association with a J/ψ meson in proton-proton collisions probes the production mechanisms of quarkonium and heavy flavour in association with vector bosons, and allows studies of multiple parton scattering. Using 20.3fb−1 of data collected with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at √s=8TeV, the first measurement of associated Z+J/ψ production is presented for both prompt and non-prompt J/ψ production, with both signatures having a significance in excess of 5σ. The inclusive production cross-sections for Z boson production (analysed in μ+μ− or e+e− decay modes) in association with prompt and non-prompt J/ψ(→μ+μ−) are measured relative to the inclusive production rate of Z bosons in the same fiducial volume to be (36.8±6.7±2.5)×10−7 and (65.8±9.2±4.2)×10−7 respectively. Normalised differential production cross-section ratios are also determined as a function of the J/ψ transverse momentum. The fraction of signal events arising from single and double parton scattering is estimated, and a lower limit of 5.3 (3.7)mb at 68 (95)% confidence level is placed on the effective cross-section regulating double parton interactions.

This article reports on a search for dark matter pair production in association with bottom or top quarks in 20.3 fb−1 of pp collisions collected at s√=8 TeV by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events with large missing transverse momentum are selected when produced in association with high-momentum jets of which one or more are identified as jets containing b-quarks. Final states with top quarks are selected by requiring a high jet multiplicity and in some cases a single lepton. The data are found to be consistent with the Standard Model expectations and limits are set on the mass scale of effective field theories that describe scalar and tensor interactions between dark matter and Standard Model particles. Limits on the dark-matter--nucleon cross-section for spin-independent and spin-dependent interactions are also provided. These limits are particularly strong for low-mass dark matter. Using a simplified model, constraints are set on the mass of dark matter and of a coloured mediator suitable to explain a possible signal of annihilating dark matter.