Briefings

Searching for supersymmetric needles in the LHC haystack

The ATLAS Collaboration has published three new results in this challenging area, using Boosted Decision Trees (BDTs) to isolate potential signals and ultimately set stringent constraints on the masses of SUSY particles.

Physics Briefing |

ATLAS gains momentum in study of charmonium

The ATLAS Collaboration has measured the production cross section of the J/ψ and ψ(2S) charmonium states in terms of the transverse momentum and the rapidity. For both states, they examined the widest range of transverse momentum so far, thus providing new input for theoretical models.

Physics Briefing |

ATLAS and CMS unite to weigh in on the top quark

The ATLAS and CMS Experiments at CERN have just released a new measurement of the mass of the top quark. The new result combines 15 previous measurements to give the most precise determination of the top-quark mass to date.

Physics Briefing |

ATLAS achieves highest-energy detection of quantum entanglement

In a new result from the ATLAS Collaboration, physicists observed – for the first time – quantum entanglement between a pair of quarks. This is the highest-energy measurement of entanglement to date.

Physics Briefing |

Shedding light on Higgs-boson self-interactions

The ATLAS Collaboration has released two brand-new results searching for di-Higgs events in the full LHC Run-2 dataset. In one, researchers looked for events where one Higgs boson decays into two bottom quarks and the other decays into two photons. In the other, they looked for events where one Higgs boson decays into two bottom quarks, and the other into two tau leptons or W/Z bosons, which subsequently decay into leptons.

Physics Briefing |

ATLAS observes top quarks in proton-lead collisions

The ATLAS Collaboration at CERN observes the production of top-quark pairs in proton-lead ion collisions. ATLAS’ new result confirms and builds upon an earlier observation made by the CMS Collaboration, expanding it into a new decay channel.

Physics Briefing |

When jets go dark

For the very first time, the ATLAS Collaboration has searched for dark jets that closely resemble QCD jets. Instead of originating from Standard-Model particles, these dark jets would be produced through a new, heavy particle called the Z' boson.

Physics Briefing |

ATLAS measures ZZ production using Run-3 data and a new slim data format

The ATLAS Collaboration has just released a new measurement of the production cross section of two Z bosons. This highlight result examines data collected during Run 3 of the LHC and pioneers the use of PHYSLITE, a new, reduced data format that requires significantly less storage.

Physics Briefing |

ATLAS searches for new phenomena using unsupervised machine learning for anomaly detection

In a new paper submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett., the ATLAS Collaboration pioneers the use of unsupervised machine learning to search for anomalous collision events which could be from new physics phenomena.

Physics Briefing |

Quest for the curious magnetic monopole continues

In a new study presented at the EPS-HEP 2023 conference, the ATLAS Collaboration combed through the full LHC Run-2 dataset (recorded 2015-2018) in search for magnetic monopoles and HECOs (see Figure 1). The result places some of the tightest limits yet on the production rate of magnetic monopoles.

Physics Briefing |

ATLAS releases comprehensive review of supersymmetric dark matter

In new results presented today, the ATLAS Collaboration provides its most comprehensive overview of the searches for weakly-interacting supersymmetric particles. By developing new search algorithms and exploiting machine learning techniques, researchers have probed deep into this difficult-to-reach territory.

Physics Briefing |

Three’s no crowd: ATLAS measures tri-boson production

The ATLAS Collaboration has announced the first observation of two different tri-boson processes: the simultaneous production of a W boson with two photons (Wγγ) and the production of a W boson, a Z boson and a photon (WZγ). The production of a Z boson with two photons (Zγγ) was first observed in 2016 using data from LHC Run 1 (2010-2013). In a new publication, the ATLAS Collaboration expanded the scope of this initial observation using Run 2 data.

Physics Briefing |

ATLAS hunts for new physics in the scattering of W bosons

Vector boson scattering processes play a special role within the Standard Model, as they are closely related to the Higgs mechanism and can proceed via an exchange of a Higgs boson. By studying these processes, ATLAS physicists are exploring multiple new-physics models, including anomalous self-interactions of the W bosons and extended Higgs sector with additional Higgs bosons.

Physics Briefing |

Machine learning is revolutionising our understanding of particle “jets”

This week, ATLAS physicists presented four exciting new results about jet tagging using AI algorithms at the BOOST 2023 conference held at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (USA).

Physics Briefing |

Signal and noise

The ATLAS Collaboration has released two new results explaining how detector timing measurements and calorimeter signal calibration using artificial intelligence (AI) are being used to further improve the quality of data recorded by the experiment.

Physics Briefing |

ATLAS measures Higgs boson mass with unprecedented precision

This week, at the Lepton-Photon Conference in Melbourne (Australia), the ATLAS Collaboration presented its measurement of the Higgs-boson mass in studies of Higgs decays to two photons using the full LHC Run 2 dataset (“H→yy” or the diphoton channel), and a new combination of this measurement with the 2022 measurement of the Higgs-boson mass in studies of the Higgs decays to four leptons (the “H→4l channel”).

Physics Briefing |

Giving collisions a new shape

When studying the shape of LHC collision events, physicists ask: how similar or different is their energy flow? The ATLAS Collaboration recently published a measurement of new collision event shapes in high-energy multijet events at the LHC.

Physics Briefing |

Evolving ATLAS conditions data architecture for LHC Runs 3 and 4

For Run 3 of the LHC (2022–ongoing), the ATLAS Collaboration decided to change how it stores and processes conditions data. The significant efforts that went into this change – and the motivations for them – were presented at the 26th International Conference on Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics in May.

Experiment Briefing |

Not a jet all the way: is dark matter hiding in plain sight?

What happens if dark-matter particles are produced inside a jet of Standard-Model particles? This leads to a novel detector signature known as semi-visible jets! The ATLAS Collaboration has come up with a new search for semi-visible jets, looking for them in a general production mode where two protons interact by exchanging an intermediate particle, which is then converted into two jets.

Physics Briefing |

LHC experiments see first evidence for rare Higgs boson decay into two different bosons

The ATLAS and CMS Collaborations have joined forces to report first evidence of the Higgs boson decaying into a Z boson and a photon.

Physics Briefing |

New high-precision measurements of W and Z boson properties

At the 2023 LHCP conference, ATLAS physicists presented precise new measurements of the W± and Z boson transverse momentum distributions at two centre-of-mass energies: 13 TeV and, for the first time, 5.02 TeV. These results give unprecedented information on these transverse-momentum shape spectra, providing crucial input for other studies of these bosons.

Physics Briefing |

ATLAS measures the Higgs boson at 13.6 TeV

The ATLAS Collaboration just released new measurements of the production rate (or cross-section) of Higgs bosons at 13.6 TeV using data collected in the second half of 2022.

Physics Briefing |

Probing fundamental symmetries of nature with the Higgs boson

In the new results presented at the Moriond conferences, the ATLAS Collaboration tested the CP invariance of Higgs-boson interactions with vector bosons (W or Z bosons).

Physics Briefing |

LHC passes a new milestone

The ATLAS Collaboration has just published the most precise measurement to date of the production cross section of top-quark pairs. The measured value is 829 ± 15 picobarns and has a relative uncertainty of just 1.8%.

Physics Briefing |

ATLAS confirms mild tension in production of top-quark pairs with a W boson

The ATLAS Collaboration has released the most detailed analysis to date of the production of top-quark pairs alongside a W boson.

Physics Briefing |