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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. 

A<sc>bstract</sc> The first measurement of the dijet transverse momentum balancex_jin proton-lead (pPb) collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of$$\sqrt{{s}_{\text{NN}}}$$= 8.16 TeV is presented. Thex_jobservable, defined as the ratio of the subleading over leading jet transverse momentum in a dijet pair, is used to search for jet quenching effects. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 174.6 nb⁻¹, were collected with the CMS detector in 2016. Thex_jdistributions and their average values are studied as functions of the charged-particle multiplicity of the events and for various dijet rapidity selections. The latter enables probing hard scattering of partons carrying distinct nucleon momentum fractionsxin the proton- and lead-going directions. The former, aided by the high-multiplicity triggers, allows probing for potential jet quenching effects in high-multiplicity events (with up to 400 charged particles), for which collective phenomena consistent with quark-gluon plasma (QGP) droplet formation were previously observed. The ratios ofx_jdistributions for high- to low-multiplicity events are used to quantify the possible medium effects. These ratios are consistent with simulations of the hard-scattering process that do not include QGP production. These measurements set an upper limit on medium-induced energy loss of the subleading jet of 1.26% of its transverse momentum at the 90% confidence level in high multiplicity pPb events. 

A<sc>bstract</sc> The jet axis decorrelation in inclusive jets is studied using lead-lead (PbPb) collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.02 TeV. The jet axis decorrelation is defined as the angular difference between two definitions of the jet axis. It is obtained by applying two recombination schemes on all the constituents of a given jet reconstructed by the anti-k_Tsequential algorithm with a distance parameter ofR= 0.4. The data set, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.66 nb⁻¹, was collected in 2018 with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The jet axis decorrelations are examined across collision centrality selections and intervals of jet transverse momentum. A centrality dependent evolution of the measured distributions is observed, with a progressive narrowing seen in more central events. This narrowing could result from medium-induced modification of the internal jet structure or reflect color charge effects in energy loss. This new measurement probes jet substructure in previously unexplored kinematic domains and show great promise for providing new insights on the color charge dependence of energy loss to jet-quenching models.