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A bstract A direct search for Higgs bosons produced via vector-boson fusion and subsequently decaying into invisible particles is reported. The analysis uses 139 fb − 1 of pp collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of $$ \sqrt{s} $$ s = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The observed numbers of events are found to be in agreement with the background expectation from Standard Model processes. For a scalar Higgs boson with a mass of 125 GeV and a Standard Model production cross section, an observed upper limit of 0 . 145 is placed on the branching fraction of its decay into invisible particles at 95% confidence level, with an expected limit of 0 . 103. These results are interpreted in the context of models where the Higgs boson acts as a portal to dark matter, and limits are set on the scattering cross section of weakly interacting massive particles and nucleons. Invisible decays of additional scalar bosons with masses from 50 GeV to 2 TeV are also studied, and the derived upper limits on the cross section times branching fraction decrease with increasing mass from 1 . 0 pb for a scalar boson mass of 50 GeV to 0 . 1 pb at a mass of 2 TeV. 

A bstract Measurements of the production cross-sections of the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson ( H ) decaying into a pair of τ -leptons are presented. The measurements use data collected with the ATLAS detector from pp collisions produced at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of $$ \sqrt{s} $$ s = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb − 1 . Leptonic ( τ → ℓν ℓ ν τ ) and hadronic ( τ → hadrons ν τ ) decays of the τ -lepton are considered. All measurements account for the branching ratio of H → ττ and are performed with a requirement |y H | < 2 . 5, where y H is the true Higgs boson rapidity. The cross-section of the pp → H → ττ process is measured to be 2 . 94 ± $$ 0.21{\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)}_{-0.32}^{+0.37} $$ 0.21 stat − 0.32 + 0.37 (syst) pb, in agreement with the SM prediction of 3 . 17 ± 0 . 09 pb. Inclusive cross-sections are determined separately for the four dominant production modes: 2 . 65 ± $$ 0.41{\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)}_{-0.67}^{+0.91} $$ 0.41 stat − 0.67 + 0.91 (syst) pb for gluon-gluon fusion, 0 . 197 ± $$ 0.028{\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)}_{-0.026}^{+0.032} $$ 0.028 stat − 0.026 + 0.032 (syst) pb for vector-boson fusion, 0 . 115 ± $$ 0.058{\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)}_{-0.040}^{+0.042} $$ 0.058 stat − 0.040 + 0.042 (syst) pb for vector-boson associated production, and 0 . 033 ± $$ 0.031{\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)}_{-0.017}^{+0.022} $$ 0.031 stat − 0.017 + 0.022 (syst) pb for top-quark pair associated production. Measurements in exclusive regions of the phase space, using the simplified template cross-section framework, are also performed. All results are in agreement with the SM predictions. 

Abstract A search for long-lived charginos produced either directly or in the cascade decay of heavy prompt gluino states is presented. The search is based on proton–proton collision data collected at a centre-of-mass energy of $$\sqrt{s}$$ s  = 13 T $$\text {eV}$$ eV between 2015 and 2018 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 136 fb $$^{-1}$$ - 1 . Long-lived charginos are characterised by a distinct signature of a short and then disappearing track, and are reconstructed using at least four measurements in the ATLAS pixel detector, with no subsequent measurements in the silicon-microstrip tracking volume nor any associated energy deposits in the calorimeter. The final state is complemented by a large missing transverse-momentum requirement for triggering purposes and at least one high-transverse-momentum jet. No excess above the expected backgrounds is observed. Exclusion limits are set at 95% confidence level on the masses of the chargino and gluino for different chargino lifetimes. Chargino masses up to 660 (210) G $$\text {eV}$$ eV are excluded in scenarios where the chargino is a pure wino (higgsino). For charginos produced during the cascade decay of a heavy gluino, gluinos with masses below 2.1 T $$\text {eV}$$ eV are excluded for a chargino mass of 300 G $$\text {eV}$$ eV and a lifetime of 0.2 ns. 

A bstract Searches are conducted for new spin-0 or spin-1 bosons using events where a Higgs boson with mass 125 GeV decays into four leptons ( ℓ = e , μ ). This decay is presumed to occur via an intermediate state which contains two on-shell, promptly decaying bosons: H → XX/ZX → 4 ℓ , where the new boson X has a mass between 1 and 60 GeV. The search uses pp collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb − 1 at a centre-of-mass energy $$ \sqrt{s} $$ s = 13 TeV. The data are found to be consistent with Standard Model expectations. Limits are set on fiducial cross sections and on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson to decay into XX/ZX , improving those from previous publications by a factor between two and four. Limits are also set on mixing parameters relevant in extensions of the Standard Model containing a dark sector where X is interpreted to be a dark boson. 

A bstract A search for the exotic decay of the Higgs boson ( H ) into a b $$ \overline{b} $$ b ¯ resonance plus missing transverse momentum is described. The search is performed with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider using 139 fb − 1 of pp collisions at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ s = 13 TeV. The search targets events from ZH production in an NMSSM scenario where H → $$ {\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_2^0{\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0 $$ χ ~ 2 0 χ ~ 1 0 , with $$ {\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_2^0 $$ χ ~ 2 0 → $$ a{\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0 $$ a χ ~ 1 0 , where a is a light pseudoscalar Higgs boson and $$ {\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_{1,2}^0 $$ χ ~ 1 , 2 0 are the two lightest neutralinos. The decay of the a boson into a pair of b -quarks results in a peak in the dijet invariant mass distribution. The final-state signature consists of two leptons, two or more jets, at least one of which is identified as originating from a b -quark, and missing transverse momentum. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations and upper limits are set on the product of cross section times branching ratio for a three-dimensional scan of the masses of the $$ {\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_2^0 $$ χ ~ 2 0 , $$ {\overset{\sim }{\chi}}_1^0 $$ χ ~ 1 0 and a boson. 

Abstract Several improvements to the ATLAS triggers used to identify jets containing b -hadrons ( b -jets) were implemented for data-taking during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider from 2016 to 2018. These changes include reconfiguring the b -jet trigger software to improve primary-vertex finding and allow more stable running in conditions with high pile-up, and the implementation of the functionality needed to run sophisticated taggers used by the offline reconstruction in an online environment. These improvements yielded an order of magnitude better light-flavour jet rejection for the same b -jet identification efficiency compared to the performance in Run 1 (2011–2012). The efficiency to identify b -jets in the trigger, and the conditional efficiency for b -jets that satisfy offline b -tagging requirements to pass the trigger are also measured. Correction factors are derived to calibrate the b -tagging efficiency in simulation to match that observed in data. The associated systematic uncertainties are substantially smaller than in previous measurements. In addition, b -jet triggers were operated for the first time during heavy-ion data-taking, using dedicated triggers that were developed to identify semileptonic b -hadron decays by selecting events with geometrically overlapping muons and jets. 

A bstract The fragmentation properties of jets containing b -hadrons are studied using charged B mesons in 139 fb − 1 of pp collisions at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ s = 13 TeV, recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during the period from 2015 to 2018. The B mesons are reconstructed using the decay of B ± into J/ψK ± , with the J/ψ decaying into a pair of muons. Jets are reconstructed using the anti- k t algorithm with radius parameter R = 0 . 4. The measurement determines the longitudinal and transverse momentum profiles of the reconstructed B hadrons with respect to the axes of the jets to which they are geometrically associated. These distributions are measured in intervals of the jet transverse momentum, ranging from 50 GeV to above 100 GeV. The results are corrected for detector effects and compared with several Monte Carlo predictions using different parton shower and hadronisation models. The results for the longitudinal and transverse profiles provide useful inputs to improve the description of heavy-flavour fragmentation in jets. 

Abstract A search for chargino–neutralino pair production in three-lepton final states with missing transverse momentum is presented. The study is based on a dataset of $$\sqrt{s} = 13$$ s = 13  TeV pp collisions recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  $$\hbox {fb}^{-1}$$ fb - 1 . No significant excess relative to the Standard Model predictions is found in data. The results are interpreted in simplified models of supersymmetry, and statistically combined with results from a previous ATLAS search for compressed spectra in two-lepton final states. Various scenarios for the production and decay of charginos ( $${\tilde{\chi }}^\pm _1$$ χ ~ 1 ± ) and neutralinos ( $${\tilde{\chi }}^0_2$$ χ ~ 2 0 ) are considered. For pure higgsino $${\tilde{\chi }}^\pm _1{\tilde{\chi }}^0_2$$ χ ~ 1 ± χ ~ 2 0 pair-production scenarios, exclusion limits at 95% confidence level are set on $${\tilde{\chi }}^0_2$$ χ ~ 2 0 masses up to 210 GeV. Limits are also set for pure wino $${\tilde{\chi }}^\pm _1{\tilde{\chi }}^0_2$$ χ ~ 1 ± χ ~ 2 0 pair production, on $${\tilde{\chi }}^0_2$$ χ ~ 2 0 masses up to 640 GeV for decays via on-shell W and Z bosons, up to 300 GeV for decays via off-shell W and Z bosons, and up to 190 GeV for decays via W and Standard Model Higgs bosons. 

A bstract A measurement of prompt photon-pair production in proton-proton collisions at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ s = 13 TeV is presented. The data were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb − 1 . Events with two photons in the well-instrumented region of the detector are selected. The photons are required to be isolated and have a transverse momentum of $$ {p}_{\mathrm{T}{,}_{\gamma 1(2)}} $$ p T , γ 1 2 > 40 (30) GeV for the leading (sub-leading) photon. The differential cross sections as functions of several observables for the diphoton system are measured and compared with theoretical predictions from state-of-the-art Monte Carlo and fixed-order calculations. The QCD predictions from next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations and multi-leg merged calculations are able to describe the measured integrated and differential cross sections within uncertainties, whereas lower-order calculations show significant deviations, demonstrating that higher-order perturbative QCD corrections are crucial for this process. The resummed predictions with parton showers additionally provide an excellent description of the low transverse-momentum regime of the diphoton system.