Hayrapetyan, A.; Makarenko, V.; Tumasyan, A.; Adam, W.; Andrejkovic, J.W.; Benato, L.; Bergauer, T.; Dragicevic, M.; Giordano, C.; Hussain, P.S.

For the first time, correlations among mixed-order moments of two or three flow harmonics —(vnk,vml) and (vnk,vml,vpq), with k, l , and q denoting the respective orders—are measured in xenon–xenon (XeXe) collisions and compared with lead–lead (PbPb) results, providing a novel probe of collective behavior in heavy ion collisions. These measurements compare a nearly spherical, doubly-magic 208Pb nucleus to a triaxially deformed 129Xe nucleus, emphasizing the sensitivity to initial-state geometry fluctuations arising from nuclear deformation. The dependence of these results (vn , n=2,3,4) on the shape and size of the nuclear overlap region is studied. Comparisons between v 2, v 3, and v 4 demonstrate the importance of v 3 and v 4 in exploring the nonlinear hydrodynamic response of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) to the initial spatial anisotropy. The results constrain initial-state model parameters that influence the evolution of the QGP. The CMS detector was used to collect XeXe and PbPb data at nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energies of SNN=5.44 and 5.36 TeV, respectively. Correlations are extracted using multiparticle mixed-harmonic cumulants (up to eight-particle cumulants) with charged particles in the pseudorapidity range | η | ' 2.4 and transverse momentum range 0.5 ' pT ' 3 GeV/c.

Tumasyan, A.; Adam, W.; Andrejkovic, J.W.; Bergauer, T.; Chatterjee, S.; Damanakis, K.; Dragicevic, M.; Escalante Del Valle, A.; Hussain, P.S.; Jeitler, M.

The azimuthal anisotropy of [Formula presented] mesons in high-multiplicity proton-lead collisions is studied using data collected by the CMS experiment at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 8.16TeV. The [Formula presented] mesons are reconstructed using their dimuon decay channel. The anisotropy is characterized by the second Fourier harmonic coefficients, found using a two-particle correlation technique, in which the [Formula presented] mesons are correlated with charged hadrons. A large pseudorapidity gap is used to suppress short-range correlations. Nonflow contamination from the dijet background is removed using a low-multiplicity subtraction method, and the results are presented as a function of [Formula presented] transverse momentum. The azimuthal anisotropies are smaller than those found for charmonia in proton-lead collisions at the same collision energy, but are consistent with values found for [Formula presented] mesons in lead-lead interactions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV.

Hayrapetyan, A.; Tumasyan, A.; Adam, W.; Andrejkovic, J.W.; Bergauer, T.; Chatterjee, S.; Damanakis, K.; Dragicevic, M.; Hussain, P.S.; Jeitler, M.

A search for the lepton flavor violating τ→3μ decay is performed using proton-proton collision events at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2017–2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 97.7 fb−1. Tau leptons produced in both heavy-flavor hadron and W boson decays are exploited in the analysis. No evidence for the decay is observed. The results of this search are combined with an earlier null result based on data collected in 2016 to obtain a total integrated luminosity of 131 fb−1. The observed (expected) upper limits on the branching fraction B(τ→3μ) at confidence levels of 90 and 95% are 2.9×10−8 (2.4×10−8) and 3.6×10−8 (3.0×10−8), respectively.

Hayrapetyan, A.; Tumasyan, A.; Adam, W.; Andrejkovic, J.W.; Bergauer, T.; Chatterjee, S.; Damanakis, K.; Dragicevic, M.; Hussain, P.S.; Jeitler, M.

A search is presented for new Higgs bosons in proton-proton (pp) collision events in which a same-sign top quark pair is produced in association with a jet, via the pp→tH/A→ttc‾ and pp→tH/A→ttu‾ processes. Here, H and A represent the extra scalar and pseudoscalar boson, respectively, of the second Higgs doublet in the generalized two-Higgs-doublet model (g2HDM). The search is based on pp collision data collected at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. Final states with a same-sign lepton pair in association with jets and missing transverse momentum are considered. New Higgs bosons in the 200–1000 GeV mass range and new Yukawa couplings between 0.1 and 1.0 are targeted in the search, for scenarios in which either H or A appear alone, or in which they coexist and interfere. No significant excess above the standard model prediction is observed. Exclusion limits are derived in the context of the g2HDM.

Hayrapetyan, A.; Tumasyan, A.; Adam, W.; Andrejkovic, J.W.; Bergauer, T.; Chatterjee, S.; Damanakis, K.; Dragicevic, M.; Escalante Del Valle, A.; Hussain, P.S.

A search for an exotic decay of the Higgs boson to a Z boson and a light pseudoscalar particle (a), decaying to a pair of leptons and a pair of photons, respectively, is presented. The search is based on proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of s=13TeV, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138fb−1. The analysis probes pseudoscalar masses ma between 1 and 30 GeV, leading to two pairs of well-isolated leptons and photons. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the Higgs boson production cross section times its branching fraction to two leptons and two photons. The observed (expected) limits are in the range of 1.1–17.8 (1.7–17.9) fb within the probed ma interval. An excess of data above the expected standard model background with a local (global) significance of 2.6 (1.3) standard deviations is observed for a mass hypothesis of ma=3GeV. Limits on models involving axion-like particles, formulated as an effective field theory, are also reported.

Hayrapetyan, A.; Tumasyan, A.; Adam, W.; Andrejkovic, J.W.; Bergauer, T.; Chatterjee, S.; Damanakis, K.; Dragicevic, M.; Escalante Del Valle, A.; Hussain, P.S.

The first evidence for the standard model production of a top quark in association with a W boson and a Z boson is reported. The measurement is performed in multilepton final states, where the Z boson is reconstructed via its decays to electron or muon pairs. At least one W boson, associated or from top quark decay, decays leptonically, too. The analysed data were recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in 2016–2018 in proton-proton collisions at s=13 TeV, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. The measured cross section is 354±54(stat)±95(syst) fb, and corresponds to a statistical significance of 3.4 standard deviations.

Hayrapetyan, A.; Tumasyan, A.; Adam, W.; Andrejkovic, J.W.; Bergauer, T.; Chatterjee, S.; Damanakis, K.; Dragicevic, M.; Hussain, P.S.; Jeitler, M.

A search for violation of Lorentz invariance in the production of top quark pairs (tt‾) is presented. The measured normalized differential tt‾ production cross section, as a function of the sidereal time, is examined for potential modulations induced by Lorentz-invariance breaking operators in an effective field theory extension of the standard model (SM). The cross section is measured from collision events collected by the CMS detector at a center-of-mass-energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 77.8 fb−1, and containing one electron and one muon. The results are found to be compatible with zero, in agreement with the SM, and are used to place upper limits at 68% confidence level on the magnitude of the Lorentz-violating couplings ranging from 1–8×10−3. This is the first precision test of the isotropy in special relativity with top quarks at the LHC, restricting further the bounds on such couplings by up to two orders of magnitude with respect to previous searches conducted at the Tevatron.

Hayrapetyan, A.; Tumasyan, A.; Adam, W.; Andrejkovic, J.W.; Bergauer, T.; Chatterjee, S.; Damanakis, K.; Dragicevic, M.; Hussain, P.S.; Jeitler, M.

The polarizations of prompt and non-prompt [Formula presented] and ψ(2S) mesons are measured in proton-proton collisions at s=13 TeV, using data samples collected by the CMS experiment in 2017 and 2018, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 103.3fb−1. Based on the analysis of the dimuon decay angular distributions in the helicity frame, the polar anisotropy, λϑ, is measured as a function of the transverse momentum, pT, of the charmonium states, in the 25–120 and 20–100 GeV ranges for the [Formula presented] and ψ(2S), respectively. The non-prompt polarizations agree with predictions based on the hypothesis that, for pT≳25GeV, the non-prompt [Formula presented] and ψ(2S) are predominantly produced in two-body B meson decays. The prompt results clearly exclude strong transverse polarizations, even for pT exceeding 30 times the [Formula presented] mass, where λϑ tends to an asymptotic value around 0.3. Taken together with previous measurements, by CMS and LHCb at s=7 TeV, the prompt polarizations show a significant variation with pT, at low pT.

Tumasyan, A.; Adam, W.; Andrejkovic, J.W.; Bergauer, T.; Chatterjee, S.; Damanakis, K.; Dragicevic, M.; Escalante Del Valle, A.; Frühwirth, R.; Jeitler, M.

Decays of the Higgs boson into a [Formula presented] boson and a [Formula presented] or [Formula presented] meson are searched for in four-lepton final states with the CMS detector at the LHC. A data set of proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138fb−1 is used. Using the same data set, decays of the Higgs and [Formula presented] boson into quarkonium pairs are also searched for. An observation of such decays with this sample would indicate the presence of physics beyond the standard model. No evidence for these decays has been observed and upper limits at the 95% confidence level are placed on the corresponding branching fractions (B). Assuming longitudinal polarization of the Higgs boson decay products, 95% confidence level observed upper limits for [Formula presented] and [Formula presented] are 1.9×10−3 and 6.6×10−3, respectively.

Tumasyan, A.; Adam, W.; Andrejkovic, J.W.; Bergauer, T.; Chatterjee, S.; Damanakis, K.; Dragicevic, M.; Del Valle, A. Escalante; Hussain, P.S.; Jeitler, M.

A search for the nonresonant production of Higgs boson pairs (HH ) via gluon-gluon and vector boson fusion processes in final states with two bottom quarks and two tau leptons is presented. The search uses data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of s=13TeV recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138fb−1. Events in which at least one tau lepton decays hadronically are considered and multiple machine learning techniques are used to identify and extract the signal. The data are found to be consistent, within uncertainties, with the standard model (SM) predictions. Upper limits on the HH production cross section are set to constrain the parameter space for anomalous Higgs boson couplings. The observed (expected) upper limit at 95% confidence level corresponds to 3.3 (5.2) times the SM prediction for the inclusive HH cross section and to 124 (154) times the SM prediction for the vector boson fusion HH cross section. At 95% confidence level, the Higgs field self-coupling is constrained to be within −1.7 and 8.7 times the SM expectation, and the coupling of two Higgs bosons to two vector bosons is constrained to be within −0.4 and 2.6 times the SM expectation.