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Creators/Authors contains: "Smith, Michelle K"

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  1. A<sc>bstract</sc> Differential cross sections for top quark pair ($$ \textrm{t}\overline{\textrm{t}} $$ t t ¯ ) production are measured in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV using a sample of events containing two oppositely charged leptons. The data were recorded with the CMS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. The differential cross sections are measured as functions of kinematic observables of the$$ \textrm{t}\overline{\textrm{t}} $$ t t ¯ system, the top quark and antiquark and their decay products, as well as of the number of additional jets in the event. The results are presented as functions of up to three variables and are corrected to the parton and particle levels. When compared to standard model predictions based on quantum chromodynamics at different levels of accuracy, it is found that the calculations do not always describe the observed data. The deviations are found to be largest for the multi-differential cross sections. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available February 1, 2026
  2. A<sc>bstract</sc> A search is presented for the resonant production of a pair of standard model-like Higgs bosons using data from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC in 2016–2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. The final state consists of two b quark-antiquark pairs. The search is conducted in the region of phase space where at least one of the pairs is highly Lorentz-boosted and is reconstructed as a single large-area jet. The other pair may be either similarly merged or resolved, the latter reconstructed using two b-tagged jets. The data are found to be consistent with standard model processes and are interpreted as 95% confidence level upper limits on the product of the cross sections and the branching fractions of the spin-0 radion and the spin-2 bulk graviton that arise in warped extradimensional models. The limits set are in the range 9.74–0.29 fb and 4.94–0.19 fb for a narrow radion and a graviton, respectively, with masses between 1 and 3 TeV. For a radion and for a bulk graviton with widths 10% of their masses, the limits are in the range 12.5–0.35 fb and 8.23–0.23 fb, respectively, for the same masses. These limits result in the exclusion of a narrow-width graviton with a mass below 1.2 TeV, and of narrow and 10%-width radions with masses below 2.6, and 2.9 TeV, respectively. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available February 1, 2026
  3. A<sc>bstract</sc> A search for the central exclusive production of top quark-antiquark pairs ($$ \textrm{t}\overline{\textrm{t}} $$ t t ¯ ) is performed for the first time using proton-tagged events in proton-proton collisions at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 29.4 fb−1. The$$ \textrm{t}\overline{\textrm{t}} $$ t t ¯ decay products are reconstructed using the central CMS detector, while forward protons are measured in the CMS-TOTEM precision proton spectrometer. An observed (expected) upper bound on the production cross section of 0.59 (1.14) pb is set at 95% confidence level, for collisions of protons with fractional momentum losses between 2 and 20%. 
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  4. Abstract The Precision Proton Spectrometer (PPS) of the CMS and TOTEM experiments collected 107.7 fb -1 in proton-proton (pp) collisions at the LHC at 13 TeV (Run 2). This paper describes the key features of the PPS alignment and optics calibrations, the proton reconstruction procedure, as well as the detector efficiency and the performance of the PPS simulation. The reconstruction and simulation are validated using a sample of (semi)exclusive dilepton events. The performance of PPS has proven the feasibility of continuously operating a near-beam proton spectrometer at a high luminosity hadron collider. 
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  5. A<sc>bstract</sc> A search for a charged Higgs boson H±decaying into a heavy neutral Higgs boson H and a W boson is presented. The analysis targets the H decay into a pair of tau leptons with at least one of them decaying hadronically and with an additional electron or muon present in the event. The search is based on proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS experiment during 2016–2018 at$$ \sqrt{s} $$ s = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. The data are consistent with standard model background expectations. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the product of the cross section and branching fraction for an H±in the mass range of 300–700 GeV, assuming an H with a mass of 200 GeV. The observed limits range from 0.085 pb for an H±mass of 300 Ge V to 0.019 pb for a mass of 700 GeV. These are the first limits on H±production in the H±→HW±decay channel at the LHC. 
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