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Abstract A precise knowledge of the quark and gluon structure of the proton, encoded by the parton distribution functions (PDFs), is of paramount importance for the interpretation of high-energy processes at present and future lepton–hadron and hadron–hadron colliders. Motivated by recent progress in the PDF determinations carried out by the CT, MSHT, and NNPDF groups, we present an updated combination of global PDF fits: PDF4LHC21. It is based on the Monte Carlo combination of the CT18, MSHT20, and NNPDF3.1 sets followed by either its Hessian reduction or its replica compression. Extensive benchmark studies are carried out in order to disentangle the origin of the differences between the three global PDF sets. In particular, dedicated fits based on almost identical theory settings and input datasets are performed by the three groups, highlighting the role played by the respective fitting methodologies. We compare the new PDF4LHC21 combination with its predecessor, PDF4LHC15, demonstrating their good overall consistency and a modest reduction of PDF uncertainties for key LHC processes such as electroweak gauge boson production and Higgs boson production in gluon fusion. We study the phenomenological implications of PDF4LHC21 for a representative selection of inclusive, fiducial, and differential cross sections at the LHC. The PDF4LHC21 combination is made available via the LHAPDF library and provides a robust, user-friendly, and efficient method to estimate the PDF uncertainties associated to theoretical calculations for the upcoming Run III of the LHC and beyond. 

Abstract High energy collisions at the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (LHC) produce a large number of particles along the beam collision axis, outside of the acceptance of existing LHC experiments. The proposed Forward Physics Facility (FPF), to be located several hundred meters from the ATLAS interaction point and shielded by concrete and rock, will host a suite of experiments to probe standard model (SM) processes and search for physics beyond the standard model (BSM). In this report, we review the status of the civil engineering plans and the experiments to explore the diverse physics signals that can be uniquely probed in the forward region. FPF experiments will be sensitive to a broad range of BSM physics through searches for new particle scattering or decay signatures and deviations from SM expectations in high statistics analyses with TeV neutrinos in this low-background environment. High statistics neutrino detection will also provide valuable data for fundamental topics in perturbative and non-perturbative QCD and in weak interactions. Experiments at the FPF will enable synergies between forward particle production at the LHC and astroparticle physics to be exploited. We report here on these physics topics, on infrastructure, detector, and simulation studies, and on future directions to realize the FPF’s physics potential. 

Abstract The semiconductor tracker (SCT) is one of the tracking systems for charged particles in the ATLAS detector. It consists of 4088 silicon strip sensor modules.During Run 2 (2015–2018) the Large Hadron Collider delivered an integrated luminosity of 156 fb -1 to the ATLAS experiment at a centre-of-mass proton-proton collision energy of 13 TeV. The instantaneous luminosity and pile-up conditions were far in excess of those assumed in the original design of the SCT detector.Due to improvements to the data acquisition system, the SCT operated stably throughout Run 2.It was available for 99.9% of the integrated luminosity and achieved a data-quality efficiency of 99.85%.Detailed studies have been made of the leakage current in SCT modules and the evolution of the full depletion voltage, which are used to study the impact of radiation damage to the modules.