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This report presents a comprehensive collection of searches for new physics performed by the ATLAS Collaboration during the Run~2 period of data taking at the Large Hadron Collider, from 2015 to 2018, corresponding to about 140~$$^{-1}$$ of $$\sqrt{s}=13$$~TeV proton--proton collision data. These searches cover a variety of beyond-the-standard model topics such as dark matter candidates, new vector bosons, hidden-sector particles, leptoquarks, or vector-like quarks, among others. Searches for supersymmetric particles or extended Higgs sectors are explicitly excluded as these are the subject of separate reports by the Collaboration. For each topic, the most relevant searches are described, focusing on their importance and sensitivity and, when appropriate, highlighting the experimental techniques employed. In addition to the description of each analysis, complementary searches are compared, and the overall sensitivity of the ATLAS experiment to each type of new physics is discussed. Summary plots and statistical combinations of multiple searches are included whenever possible. 

A<sc>bstract</sc> A study of the Higgs boson decaying into bottom quarks (H→$$ b\overline{b} $$ $b\overline{b}$) and charm quarks (H→$$ c\overline{c} $$ $c\overline{c}$) is performed, in the associated production channel of the Higgs boson with aWorZboson, using 140 fb⁻¹of proton-proton collision data at$$ \sqrt{s} $$ $\sqrt{s}$= 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector. The individual production ofWHandZHwithH→$$ b\overline{b} $$ $b\overline{b}$is established with observed (expected) significances of 5.3 (5.5) and 4.9 (5.6) standard deviations, respectively. Differential cross-section measurements of the gauge boson transverse momentum within the simplified template cross-section framework are performed in a total of 13 kinematical fiducial regions. The search for theH→$$ c\overline{c} $$ $c\overline{c}$decay yields an observed (expected) upper limit at 95% confidence level of 11.5 (10.6) times the Standard Model prediction. The results are also used to set constraints on the charm coupling modifier, resulting in|κ_c| <4.2 at 95% confidence level. Combining theH→$$ b\overline{b} $$ $b\overline{b}$andH→$$ c\overline{c} $$ $c\overline{c}$measurements constrains the absolute value of the ratio of Higgs-charm and Higgs-bottom coupling modifiers (|κ_c/κ_b|) to be less than 3.6 at 95% confidence level. 

The ATLAS experiment has developed extensive software and distributed computing systems for Run 3 of the LHC. These systems are described in detail, including software infrastructure and workflows, distributed data and workload management, database infrastructure, and validation. The use of these systems to prepare the data for physics analysis and assess its quality are described, along with the software tools used for data analysis itself. An outlook for the development of these projects towards Run 4 is also provided. 

A search is performed for dark matter particles produced in association with a resonantly produced pair of b-quarks with 30 < mbb < 150 GeV using 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. This signature is expected in extensions of the standard model predicting the production of dark matter particles, in particular those containing a dark Higgs boson s that decays into bb¯. The highly boosted s → bb¯ topology is reconstructed using jet reclustering and a new identification algorithm. This search places stringent constraints across regions of the dark Higgs model parameter space that satisfy the observed relic density, excluding dark Higgs bosons with masses between 30 and 150 GeV in benchmark scenarios with Z0 mediator masses up to 4.8 TeV at 95% confidence level. 

A<sc>bstract</sc> Differential measurements of Higgs boson production in theτ-lepton-pair decay channel are presented in the gluon fusion, vector-boson fusion (VBF),VHand$$ t\overline{t}H $$ $t\overline{t}H$associated production modes, with particular focus on the VBF production mode. The data used to perform the measurements correspond to 140 fb⁻¹of proton-proton collisions collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Two methods are used to perform the measurements: theSimplified Template Cross-Section(STXS) approach and anUnfolded Fiducial Differentialmeasurement considering only the VBF phase space. For the STXS measurement, events are categorized by their production mode and kinematic properties such as the Higgs boson’s transverse momentum ($$ {p}_{\textrm{T}}^{\textrm{H}} $$ $p_T^H$), the number of jets produced in association with the Higgs boson, or the invariant mass of the two leading jets (m_jj). For the VBF production mode, the ratio of the measured cross-section to the Standard Model prediction form_jj> 1.5 TeV and$$ {p}_{\textrm{T}}^{\textrm{H}} $$ $p_T^H$> 200 GeV ($$ {p}_{\textrm{T}}^{\textrm{H}} $$ $p_T^H$< 200 GeV) is$$ {1.29}_{-0.34}^{+0.39} $$ ${1.29}_{-0.34}^{+0.39}$($$ {0.12}_{-0.33}^{+0.34} $$ ${0.12}_{-0.33}^{+0.34}$). This is the first VBF measurement for the higher-$$ {p}_{\textrm{T}}^{\textrm{H}} $$ $p_T^H$criteria, and the most precise for the lower-$$ {p}_{\textrm{T}}^{\textrm{H}} $$ $p_T^H$criteria. Thefiducialcross-section measurements, which only consider the kinematic properties of the event, are performed as functions of variables characterizing the VBF topology, such as the signed ∆ϕ_jjbetween the two leading jets. The measurements have a precision of 30%–50% and agree well with the Standard Model predictions. These results are interpreted in the SMEFT framework, and place the strongest constraints to date on the CP-odd Wilson coefficient$$ {c}_{H\overset{\sim }{W}} $$ $c_{H\tilde{W}}$. 

A<sc>bstract</sc> This paper presents measurements of top-antitop quark pair ($$ t\overline{t} $$ $t\overline{t}$) production in association with additionalb-jets. The analysis utilises 140 fb⁻¹of proton–proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Fiducial cross-sections are extracted in a final state featuring one electron and one muon, with at least three or fourb-jets. Results are presented at the particle level for both integrated cross-sections and normalised differential cross-sections, as functions of global event properties, jet kinematics, andb-jet pair properties. Observable quantities characterisingb-jets originating from the top quark decay and additionalb-jets are also measured at the particle level, after correcting for detector effects. The measured integrated fiducial cross-sections are consistent with$$ t\overline{t}b\overline{b} $$ $t\overline{t}b\overline{b}$predictions from various next-to-leading-order matrix element calculations matched to a parton shower within the uncertainties of the predictions. State-of-the-art theoretical predictions are compared with the differential measurements; none of them simultaneously describes all observables. Differences between any two predictions are smaller than the measurement uncertainties for most observables. 

This paper describes a measurement of the jet radius dependence of the dijet momentum balance between leading back-to-back jets in $1.72{\mathrm{nb}}^{-1}$of $\text{Pb}+\text{Pb}$collisions collected in 2018 and $255{\mathrm{pb}}^{-1}$of $pp$collisions collected in 2017 by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Both datasets were collected at $\sqrt{s_{\text{NN}}}=5.02$TeV. Jets are reconstructed using the anti- $k_t$algorithm with jet radius parameters $R=0.2$, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6. The dijet momentum balance distributions are constructed for leading jets with transverse momentum $p_{\text{T}}$from 100 to 562 GeV for $R=0.2$, 0.3, and 0.4 jets, and from 158 to 562 GeV for $R=0.5$and 0.6 jets. The absolutely normalized dijet momentum balance distributions are constructed to compare measurements of the dijet yields in $\text{Pb}+\text{Pb}$collisions directly to the dijet cross sections in $pp$collisions. For all jet radii considered here, there is a suppression of more balanced dijets in $\text{Pb}+\text{Pb}$collisions compared with $pp$collisions, while for more imbalanced dijets there is an enhancement. There is a jet radius dependence to the dijet yields, being stronger for more imbalanced dijets than for more balanced dijets. Additionally, jet pair nuclear modification factors are measured. The subleading jet yields are found to be more suppressed than leading jet yields in dijets. A jet radius dependence of the pair nuclear modification factors is observed, with the suppression decreasing with increasing jet radius. These measurements provide new constraints on jet quenching scenarios in the quark-gluon plasma. ©2024 CERN, for the ATLAS Collaboration2024CERN 

This paper presents a search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson into a pair of new pseudoscalar particles, H → aa, where one pseudoscalar decays into a b-quark pair and the other decays into a τ-lepton pair, in the mass range 12 ≤ ma ≤ 60 GeV. The analysis uses pp collision data at \sqrt{s} = 13 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1. No significant excess above the Standard Model (SM) prediction is observed. Assuming the SM Higgs boson production cross section, the search sets upper limits at 95% confidence level on the branching ratio of Higgs bosons decaying into BR (H → aa → bb\tau\tau), between 2.2% and 3.9% depending on the pseudoscalar mass. 

A search for the nonresonant production of Higgs boson pairs in the $HH\to b\overline{b}{\tau }^{+}{\tau }^{-}$channel is performed using $140{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The analysis strategy is optimized to probe anomalous values of the Higgs boson self-coupling modifier ${\kappa }_{\lambda }$and of the quartic $HHVV$( $V=W,Z$) coupling modifier ${\kappa }_{2V}$. No significant excess above the expected background from Standard Model processes is observed. An observed (expected) upper limit ${\mu }_{HH}<5.9\left(3.3\right)$is set at 95% confidence-level on the Higgs boson pair production cross section normalized to its Standard Model prediction. The coupling modifiers are constrained to an observed (expected) 95% confidence interval of $-3.1<{\kappa }_{\lambda }<9.0$( $-2.5<{\kappa }_{\lambda }<9.3$) and $-0.5<{\kappa }_{2V}<2.7$( $-0.2<{\kappa }_{2V}<2.4$), assuming all other Higgs boson couplings are fixed to the Standard Model prediction. The results are also interpreted in the context of effective field theories via constraints on anomalous Higgs boson couplings and Higgs boson pair production cross sections assuming different kinematic benchmark scenarios. © 2024 CERN, for the ATLAS Collaboration2024CERN