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Incoherent $J/\psi$photoproduction in heavy ion ultraperipheral collisions (UPCs) provides a sensitive probe of localized, fluctuating gluonic structures within heavy nuclei. This Letter reports the first measurement of the photon-nucleon center-of-mass energy ( $W_{\gamma \mathrm{N}}$) dependence of this process in PbPb UPCs at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV, using $1.52{\mathrm{nb}}^{-1}$of data recorded by the CMS experiment. The measurement covers a wide $W_{\gamma \mathrm{N}}$range of $\approx 40–400\mathrm{GeV}$, probing gluons carrying a fraction $x$of nucleon momentum down to an unexplored regime of $6.5\times {10}^{-5}$. Compared to baseline predictions neglecting nuclear effects, the measured cross sections exhibit significantly greater suppression at lower $x$. Additionally, the ratio of incoherent to coherent photoproduction is found to be constant across the probed $W_{\gamma \mathrm{N}}$and $x$range, disfavoring the establishment of the black disk limit. This Letter provides critical insights into the $x$-dependent evolution of fluctuating gluonic structures within nuclei and calls for further advancements in theoretical models incorporating nuclear shadowing and gluon saturation. 

The polarization of the $\mathrm{\Lambda }$and $\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda }}$hyperons along the beam direction has been measured in proton-lead ( $p\text{-Pb}$) collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 8.16 TeV. The data were obtained with the CMS detector at the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of $186.0\pm 6.5{\mathrm{nb}}^{-1}$. A significant azimuthal dependence of the hyperon polarization, characterized by the second-order Fourier sine coefficient $P_{z,\mathrm{s}2}$, is observed. The $P_{z,\mathrm{s}2}$values decrease as a function of charged particle multiplicity, but increase with transverse momentum. A hydrodynamic model that describes the observed $P_{z,\mathrm{s}2}$values in nucleus-nucleus collisions by introducing vorticity effects does not reproduce either the sign or the magnitude of the $p\text{-Pb}$results. These observations pose a challenge to the current theoretical implementation of spin polarization in heavy ion collisions and offer new insights into the origin of spin polarization in hadronic collisions at LHC energies. 

Bound states of charm and anticharm quarks, known as charmonia, have a rich spectroscopic structure that can be used to probe the dynamics of hadron production in high-energy hadron collisions. Here, the cross section ratio of excited $\left(\psi \left(2S\right)\right)$and ground state $\left(J/\psi \right)$vector mesons is measured as a function of the charged-particle multiplicity in proton-lead ( $p\mathrm{Pb}$) collisions at a center-of-mass (CM) energy per nucleon pair of 8.16 TeV. The data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $175{\mathrm{nb}}^{-1}$were collected using the CMS detector. The ratio is measured separately for prompt and nonprompt charmonia in the transverse momentum range $6.5<p_{\mathrm{T}}<30\mathrm{GeV}$and in four rapidity ranges spanning $-2.865<y_{\mathrm{CM}}<1.935$. For the first time, a statistically significant multiplicity dependence of the prompt cross section ratio is observed in proton-nucleus collisions. There is no clear rapidity dependence in the ratio. The prompt measurements are compared with a theoretical model which includes interactions with nearby particles during the evolution of the system. These results provide additional constraints on hadronization models of heavy quarks in nuclear collisions. 

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. 

The first search for a heavy neutral spin-1 gauge boson ( $Z^{\prime }$) with nonuniversal fermion couplings produced via vector boson fusion processes and decaying to tau leptons or $W$bosons is presented. The analysis is performed using LHC data at $\sqrt{s}=13\mathrm{TeV}$, collected from 2016 to 2018 with the CMS experiment and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $138{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$. The data are consistent with the standard model predictions. Upper limits are set on the product of the cross section for production of the $Z^{\prime }$boson and its branching fraction to $\tau \tau$or $WW$. The presence of a $Z^{\prime }$boson decaying to ${\tau }^{+}{\tau }^{-}$( $W^{+}{W}^{-}$) is excluded for masses up to 2.45(1.60) TeV, depending on the $Z^{\prime }$boson coupling to standard model weak bosons, and assuming a $Z^{\prime }\to {\tau }^{+}{\tau }^{-}$( $W^{+}{W}^{-}$) branching fraction of 50%. 

Charged hadron elliptic anisotropies ( $v_2$) are presented over a wide transverse momentum ( $p_{\mathrm{T}}$) range for proton-lead ( $p\mathrm{Pb}$) and lead-lead (PbPb) collisions at nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energies of 8.16 and 5.02 TeV, respectively. The data were recorded by the CMS experiment and correspond to integrated luminosities of 186 and $0.607{\mathrm{nb}}^{-1}$for the $p\mathrm{Pb}$and PbPb systems, respectively. A four-particle cumulant analysis is performed using subevents separated in pseudorapidity to effectively suppress noncollective effects. At high $p_{\mathrm{T}}$( $p_{\mathrm{T}}>8\mathrm{GeV}$), significant positive $v_2$values that are similar between $p\mathrm{Pb}$and PbPb collisions at comparable charged particle multiplicities are observed. This observation suggests a common origin for the multiparticle collectivity for high- $p_{\mathrm{T}}$particles in the two systems. 

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.