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A<sc>bstract</sc> Inclusive and differential cross sections for Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13.6 TeV are measured using data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2022, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34.7 fb⁻¹. Events with the diphoton final state are selected, and the measured inclusive fiducial cross section is$${\sigma }_{\text{fid}}={74}\pm {11}{\left({\text{stat}}\right)}_{-4}^{+5}\left({\text{syst}}\right)$$fb, in agreement with the standard model prediction of 67.8 ± 3.8 fb. Differential cross sections are measured as functions of several observables: the Higgs boson transverse momentum and rapidity, the number of associated jets, and the transverse momentum of the leading jet in the event. Within the uncertainties, the differential cross sections agree with the standard model predictions. 

Incoherent $J/\psi$photoproduction in heavy ion ultraperipheral collisions (UPCs) provides a sensitive probe of localized, fluctuating gluonic structures within heavy nuclei. This Letter reports the first measurement of the photon-nucleon center-of-mass energy ( $W_{\gamma \mathrm{N}}$) dependence of this process in PbPb UPCs at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV, using $1.52{\mathrm{nb}}^{-1}$of data recorded by the CMS experiment. The measurement covers a wide $W_{\gamma \mathrm{N}}$range of $\approx 40–400\mathrm{GeV}$, probing gluons carrying a fraction $x$of nucleon momentum down to an unexplored regime of $6.5\times {10}^{-5}$. Compared to baseline predictions neglecting nuclear effects, the measured cross sections exhibit significantly greater suppression at lower $x$. Additionally, the ratio of incoherent to coherent photoproduction is found to be constant across the probed $W_{\gamma \mathrm{N}}$and $x$range, disfavoring the establishment of the black disk limit. This Letter provides critical insights into the $x$-dependent evolution of fluctuating gluonic structures within nuclei and calls for further advancements in theoretical models incorporating nuclear shadowing and gluon saturation. 

The polarization of the $\mathrm{\Lambda }$and $\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda }}$hyperons along the beam direction has been measured in proton-lead ( $p\text{-Pb}$) collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 8.16 TeV. The data were obtained with the CMS detector at the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of $186.0\pm 6.5{\mathrm{nb}}^{-1}$. A significant azimuthal dependence of the hyperon polarization, characterized by the second-order Fourier sine coefficient $P_{z,\mathrm{s}2}$, is observed. The $P_{z,\mathrm{s}2}$values decrease as a function of charged particle multiplicity, but increase with transverse momentum. A hydrodynamic model that describes the observed $P_{z,\mathrm{s}2}$values in nucleus-nucleus collisions by introducing vorticity effects does not reproduce either the sign or the magnitude of the $p\text{-Pb}$results. These observations pose a challenge to the current theoretical implementation of spin polarization in heavy ion collisions and offer new insights into the origin of spin polarization in hadronic collisions at LHC energies. 

A<sc>bstract</sc> A search is performed for dark matter (DM) produced in association with a single top quark or a pair of top quarks using the data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to 138 fb⁻¹of integrated luminosity. An excess of events with a large imbalance of transverse momentum is searched for across 0, 1 and 2 lepton final states. Novel multivariate techniques are used to take advantage of the differences in kinematic properties between the two DM production mechanisms. No significant deviations with respect to the standard model predictions are observed. The results are interpreted considering a simplified model in which the mediator is either a scalar or pseudoscalar particle and couples to top quarks and to DM fermions. Axion-like particles that are coupled to top quarks and DM fermions are also considered. Expected exclusion limits of 410 and 380 GeV for scalar and pseudoscalar mediator masses, respectively, are set at the 95% confidence level. A DM particle mass of 1 GeV is assumed, with mediator couplings to fermions and DM particles set to unity. A small signal-like excess is observed in data, with the largest local significance observed to be 1.9 standard deviations for the 150 GeV pseudoscalar mediator hypothesis. Because of this excess, mediator masses are only excluded below 310 (320) GeV for the scalar (pseudoscalar) mediator. The results are also translated into model-independent 95% confidence level upper limits on the visible cross section of DM production in association with top quarks, ranging from 1 pb to 0.02 pb. 

A<sc>bstract</sc> Measurements of light-by-light scattering (LbL,γγ → γγ) and the Breit-Wheeler process (BW,γγ →e⁺e⁻) are reported in ultraperipheral PbPb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.02 TeV. The data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.7 nb⁻¹, was collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in 2018. Events with an exclusively producedγγore⁺e⁻pair with invariant massesm^γγ,ee>5 GeV, along with other fiducial criteria, are selected. The measured BW fiducial production cross section,σ_fid(γγ → e⁺e⁻) = 263.5±1.8(stat)±17.8(syst)μb, as well as the differential distributions for various kinematic observables, are in agreement with leading-order quantum electrodynamics predictions complemented with final-state photon radiation. The measured differential BW cross sections allow discrimination between different theoretical descriptions of the photon flux of the lead ion. In the LbL final state, 26 exclusive diphoton candidate events are observed compared with 12.0 ± 2.9 expected for the background. Combined with previous results, the observed significance of the LbL signal with respect to the background-only hypothesis is above five standard deviations. The measured fiducial LbL scattering cross section,σ_fid(γγ→γγ) = 107 ± 24(stat) ± 13(syst) nb, is in agreement with next- to-leading-order predictions. Limits on the production of axion-like particles coupled to photons are set over the mass range 5–100 GeV, including the most stringent limits to date in the range of 5–10 GeV.