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We present the first unquenched lattice-QCD calculation of the form factors for the decay$$B\rightarrow D^*\ell \nu $$$B\to D^{\ast }\ell \nu$at nonzero recoil. Our analysis includes 15 MILC ensembles with$$N_f=2+1$$$N_f=2+1$flavors of asqtad sea quarks, with a strange quark mass close to its physical mass. The lattice spacings range from$$a\approx 0.15$$$a\approx 0.15$fm down to 0.045 fm, while the ratio between the light- and the strange-quark masses ranges from 0.05 to 0.4. The valencebandcquarks are treated using the Wilson-clover action with the Fermilab interpretation, whereas the light sector employs asqtad staggered fermions. We extrapolate our results to the physical point in the continuum limit using rooted staggered heavy-light meson chiral perturbation theory. Then we apply a model-independent parametrization to extend the form factors to the full kinematic range. With this parametrization we perform a joint lattice-QCD/experiment fit using several experimental datasets to determine the CKM matrix element$$|V_{cb}|$$$|V_{\mathrm{cb}}|$. We obtain$$\left| V_{cb}\right| = (38.40 \pm 0.68_{\text {th}} \pm 0.34_{\text {exp}} \pm 0.18_{\text {EM}})\times 10^{-3}$$$\left(V_{\mathrm{cb}}\right)=(38.40\pm 0.{68}_{\text{th}}\pm 0.{34}_{\text{exp}}\pm 0.{18}_{\text{EM}})\times {10}^{-3}$. The first error is theoretical, the second comes from experiment and the last one includes electromagnetic and electroweak uncertainties, with an overall$$\chi ^2\text {/dof} = 126/84$$${\chi }^2\text{/dof}=126/84$, which illustrates the tensions between the experimental data sets, and between theory and experiment. This result is inmore »agreement with previous exclusive determinations, but the tension with the inclusive determination remains. Finally, we integrate the differential decay rate obtained solely from lattice data to predict$$R(D^*) = 0.265 \pm 0.013$$$R\left(D^{\ast }\right)=0.265\pm 0.013$, which confirms the current tension between theory and experiment.

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A bstract A search for heavy Higgs bosons produced in association with a vector boson and decaying into a pair of vector bosons is performed in final states with two leptons (electrons or muons) of the same electric charge, missing transverse momentum and jets. A data sample of proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider between 2015 and 2018 is used. The data correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 139 fb − 1 . The observed data are in agreement with Standard Model background expectations. The results are interpreted using higher-dimensional operators in an effective field theory. Upper limits on the production cross-section are calculated at 95% confidence level as a function of the heavy Higgs boson’s mass and coupling strengths to vector bosons. Limits are set in the Higgs boson mass range from 300 to 1500 GeV, and depend on the assumed couplings. The highest excluded mass for a heavy Higgs boson with the coupling combinations explored is 900 GeV. Limits on coupling strengths are also provided.

Abstract A study of the charge conjugation and parity ( $$\textit{CP}$$ CP ) properties of the interaction between the Higgs boson and $$\tau $$ τ -leptons is presented. The study is based on a measurement of $$\textit{CP}$$ CP -sensitive angular observables defined by the visible decay products of $$\tau $$ τ -leptons produced in Higgs boson decays. The analysis uses 139 fb $$^{-1}$$ - 1 of proton–proton collision data recorded at a centre-of-mass energy of $$\sqrt{s}= 13$$ s = 13  TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Contributions from $$\textit{CP}$$ CP -violating interactions between the Higgs boson and $$\tau $$ τ -leptons are described by a single mixing angle parameter $$\phi _{\tau }$$ ϕ τ in the generalised Yukawa interaction. Without constraining the $$H\rightarrow \tau \tau $$ H → τ τ signal strength to its expected value under the Standard Model hypothesis, the mixing angle $$\phi _{\tau }$$ ϕ τ is measured to be $$9^{\circ } \pm 16^{\circ }$$ 9 ∘ ± 16 ∘ , with an expected value of $$0^{\circ } \pm 28^{\circ }$$ 0 ∘ ± 28 ∘ at the 68% confidence level. The pure $$\textit{CP}$$ CP -odd hypothesis is disfavoured at a level ofmore »3.4 standard deviations. The results are compatible with the predictions for the Higgs boson in the Standard Model.« less

A bstract A search for Higgs boson pair production in events with two b -jets and two τ -leptons is presented, using a proton–proton collision dataset with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb − 1 collected at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ s = 13 TeV by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Higgs boson pairs produced non-resonantly or in the decay of a narrow scalar resonance in the mass range from 251 to 1600 GeV are targeted. Events in which at least one τ -lepton decays hadronically are considered, and multivariate discriminants are used to reject the backgrounds. No significant excess of events above the expected background is observed in the non-resonant search. The largest excess in the resonant search is observed at a resonance mass of 1 TeV, with a local (global) significance of 3 . 1 σ (2 . 0 σ ). Observed (expected) 95% confidence-level upper limits are set on the non-resonant Higgs boson pair-production cross-section at 4.7 (3.9) times the Standard Model prediction, assuming Standard Model kinematics, and on the resonant Higgs boson pair-production cross-section at between 21 and 900 fb (12 and 840 fb), depending on the mass of the narrow scalar resonance.

A bstract A combination of measurements of the inclusive top-quark pair production cross-section performed by ATLAS and CMS in proton–proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV at the LHC is presented. The cross-sections are obtained using top-quark pair decays with an opposite-charge electron–muon pair in the final state and with data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 5 fb − 1 at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ s = 7 TeV and about 20 fb − 1 at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ s = 8 TeV for each experiment. The combined cross-sections are determined to be 178 . 5 ± 4 . 7 pb at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ s = 7 TeV and $$ {243.3}_{-5.9}^{+6.0} $$ 243.3 − 5.9 + 6.0 pb at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ s = 8 TeV with a correlation of 0.41, using a reference top-quark mass value of 172.5 GeV. The ratio of the combined cross-sections is determined to be R 8 / 7 = 1 . 363 ± 0 . 032. The combined measured cross-sections and their ratio agree well with theory calculations using several parton distribution function (PDF) sets. The values of the top-quark pole mass (with the strong coupling fixed at 0.118)more »and the strong coupling (with the top-quark pole mass fixed at 172.5 GeV) are extracted from the combined results by fitting a next-to-next-to-leading-order plus next-to-next-to-leading-log QCD prediction to the measurements. Using a version of the NNPDF3.1 PDF set containing no top-quark measurements, the results obtained are $$ {m}_t^{\textrm{pole}}={173.4}_{-2.0}^{+1.8} $$ m t pole = 173.4 − 2.0 + 1.8 GeV and $$ {\alpha}_{\textrm{s}}\left({m}_Z\right)={0.1170}_{-0.0018}^{+0.0021} $$ α s m Z = 0.1170 − 0.0018 + 0.0021 .« less

Abstract The accurate simulation of additional interactions at the ATLAS experiment for the analysis of proton–proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider presents a significant challenge to the computing resources. During the LHC Run 2 (2015–2018), there were up to 70 inelastic interactions per bunch crossing, which need to be accounted for in Monte Carlo (MC) production. In this document, a new method to account for these additional interactions in the simulation chain is described. Instead of sampling the inelastic interactions and adding their energy deposits to a hard-scatter interaction one-by-one, the inelastic interactions are presampled, independent of the hard scatter, and stored as combined events. Consequently, for each hard-scatter interaction, only one such presampled event needs to be added as part of the simulation chain. For the Run 2 simulation chain, with an average of 35 interactions per bunch crossing, this new method provides a substantial reduction in MC production CPU needs of around 20%, while reproducing the properties of the reconstructed quantities relevant for physics analyses with good accuracy.