Skip to main content
eScholarship
Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (25 results)

  • Article
  • Peer Reviewed
UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2023)
A search for decays to invisible particles of Higgs bosons produced in association with a top-antitop quark pair or a vector boson, which both decay to a fully hadronic final state, has been performed using proton-proton collision data collected at s=13TeV by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138fb-1. The 95% confidence level upper limit set on the branching fraction of the 125GeV Higgs boson to invisible particles, B(H→inv), is 0.54 (0.39 expected), assuming standard model production cross sections. The results of this analysis are combined with previous B(H→inv) searches carried out at s=7, 8, and 13TeV in complementary production modes. The combined upper limit at 95% confidence level on B(H→inv) is 0.15 (0.08 expected).
    Cover page: A search for decays of the Higgs boson to invisible particles in events with a top-antitop quark pair or a vector boson in proton-proton collisions at s=13TeV
    • Article
    • Peer Reviewed
    UC Riverside Previously Published Works (2019)
    A search for the standard model production of four top quarks (pp → t t ¯ t t ¯) is reported using single-lepton plus jets and opposite-sign dilepton plus jets signatures. Proton-proton collisions are recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV in a sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.8 fb−1. A multivariate analysis exploiting global event and jet properties is used to discriminate t t ¯ t t ¯ from t t ¯ production. No significant deviation is observed from the predicted background. An upper limit is set on the cross section for t t ¯ t t ¯ production in the standard model of 48 fb at 95% confidence level. When combined with a previous measurement by the CMS experiment from an analysis of other final states, the observed signal significance is 1.4 standard deviations, and the combined cross section measurement is 13−9+11 fb. The result is also interpreted in the framework of effective field theory. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].
      Cover page: Search for the production of four top quarks in the single-lepton and opposite-sign dilepton final states in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV
      • Article
      • Peer Reviewed
      UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2024)
      A search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson (H) with a mass of 125GeV to a pair of light pseudoscalars a1 is performed in final states where one pseudoscalar decays to two b quarks and the other to a pair of muons or τ leptons. A data sample of proton-proton collisions at s=13TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138fb-1 recorded with the CMS detector is analyzed. No statistically significant excess is observed over the standard model backgrounds. Upper limits are set at 95% confidence level (CL) on the Higgs boson branching fraction to μμbb and to ττbb, via a pair of a1s. The limits depend on the pseudoscalar mass ma1 and are observed to be in the range (0.17-3.3) ×10-4 and (1.7-7.7) ×10-2 in the μμbb and ττbb final states, respectively. In the framework of models with two Higgs doublets and a complex scalar singlet (2HDM+S), the results of the two final states are combined to determine upper limits on the branching fraction B(H→a1a1→ℓℓbb) at 95% CL, with ℓ being a muon or a τ lepton. For different types of 2HDM+S, upper bounds on the branching fraction B(H→a1a1) are extracted from the combination of the two channels. In most of the Type II 2HDM+S parameter space, B(H→a1a1) values above 0.23 are excluded at 95% CL for ma1 values between 15 and 60GeV.
        Cover page: Search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson to a pair of pseudoscalars in the μμbb and ττbb final states.
        • Article
        • Peer Reviewed
        UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2020)
        This paper reports on a search for an extension to the scalar sector of the standard model, where a new CP-even (odd) boson decays to a Z boson and a lighter CP-odd (even) boson, and the latter further decays to a b quark pair. The Z boson is reconstructed via its decays to electron or muon pairs. The analysed data were recorded in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy s = 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC during 2016, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1. Data and predictions from the standard model are in agreement within the uncertainties. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the production cross section times branching fraction, with masses of the new bosons up to 1000 GeV. The results are interpreted in the context of the two-Higgs-doublet model. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].
          Cover page: Search for new neutral Higgs bosons through the H→ZA→ℓ+ℓ−bb¯ process in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV
          • Article
          • Peer Reviewed
          UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2020)
          The cross section of top quark pair production is measured in the tt¯→(ℓνℓ)(τhντ)bb¯ final state, where τh refers to the hadronic decays of the τ lepton, and ℓ is either an electron or a muon. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1 collected in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV with the CMS detector. The measured cross section is σtt ¯ = 781 ± 7 (stat) ± 62 (syst) ± 20 (lumi) pb, and the ratio of the partial width Γ(t → τντb) to the total decay width of the top quark is measured to be 0.1050 ± 0.0009 (stat) ± 0.0071 (syst). This is the first measurement of the t t ¯ production cross section in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV that explicitly includes τ leptons. The ratio of the cross sections in the ℓτh and ℓℓ final states yields a value Rℓτh/ll = 0.973 ± 0.009 (stat) ± 0.066 (syst), consistent with lepton universality. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]
            Cover page: Measurement of the top quark pair production cross section in dilepton final states containing one τ lepton in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV
            • Article
            • Peer Reviewed
            UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2020)
            A search is presented for a charged Higgs boson heavier than the top quark, produced in association with a top quark, or with a top and a bottom quark, and decaying into a top-bottom quark-antiquark pair. The search is performed using proton-proton collision data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1. Events are selected by the presence of a single isolated charged lepton (electron or muon) or an opposite-sign dilepton (electron or muon) pair, categorized according to the jet multiplicity and the number of jets identified as originating from b quarks. Multivariate analysis techniques are used to enhance the discrimination between signal and background in each category. The data are compatible with the standard model, and 95% confidence level upper limits of 9.6–0.01 pb are set on the charged Higgs boson production cross section times branching fraction to a top-bottom quark-antiquark pair, for charged Higgs boson mass hypotheses ranging from 200 GeV to 3 TeV. The upper limits are interpreted in different minimal supersymmetric extensions of the standard model. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]
              Cover page: Search for a charged Higgs boson decaying into top and bottom quarks in events with electrons or muons in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV
              • Article
              • Peer Reviewed
              UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2020)
              A search for new physics in events with two highly Lorentz-boosted Z bosons and large missing transverse momentum is presented. The analyzed proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb−1, were recorded at s = 13 TeV by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC. The search utilizes the substructure of jets with large radius to identify quark pairs from Z boson decays. Backgrounds from standard model processes are suppressed by requirements on the jet mass and the missing transverse momentum. No significant excess in the event yield is observed beyond the number of background events expected from the standard model. For a simplified supersymmetric model in which the Z bosons arise from the decay of gluinos, an exclusion limit of 1920 GeV on the gluino mass is set at 95% confidence level. This is the first search for beyond-standard-model production of pairs of boosted Z bosons plus large missing transverse momentum. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]
                Cover page: Search for supersymmetry in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV in events with high-momentum Z bosons and missing transverse momentum
                • Article
                • Peer Reviewed
                UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2020)
                A search for a heavy Higgs boson in the mass range from 0.2 to 3.0 TeV, decaying to a pair of W bosons, is presented. The analysis is based on proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2016, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1. The W boson pair decays are reconstructed in the 2ℓ2ν and ℓν2q final states (with ℓ = e or μ). Both gluon fusion and vector boson fusion production of the signal are considered. Interference effects between the signal and background are also taken into account. The observed data are consistent with the standard model (SM) expectation. Combined upper limits at 95% confidence level on the product of the cross section and branching fraction exclude a heavy Higgs boson with SM-like couplings and decays up to 1870 GeV. Exclusion limits are also set in the context of a number of two-Higgs-doublet model formulations, further reducing the allowed parameter space for SM extensions. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]
                  Cover page: Search for a heavy Higgs boson decaying to a pair of W bosons in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV
                  • Article
                  • Peer Reviewed
                  LBL Publications (2023)
                  Production cross sections of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to a pair of W bosons are measured in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV. The analysis targets Higgs bosons produced via gluon fusion, vector boson fusion, and in association with a W or Z boson. Candidate events are required to have at least two charged leptons and moderate missing transverse momentum, targeting events with at least one leptonically decaying W boson originating from the Higgs boson. Results are presented in the form of inclusive and differential cross sections in the simplified template cross section framework, as well as couplings of the Higgs boson to vector bosons and fermions. The data set collected by the CMS detector during 2016-2018 is used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138fb-1. The signal strength modifier μ, defined as the ratio of the observed production rate in a given decay channel to the standard model expectation, is measured to be μ=0.95-0.09+0.10. All results are found to be compatible with the standard model within the uncertainties.
                    Cover page: Measurements of the Higgs boson production cross section and couplings in the W boson pair decay channel in proton-proton collisions at s=13TeV.
                    • Article
                    • Peer Reviewed
                    UC Riverside Previously Published Works (2021)
                    Angular distributions of the decay B+→ K∗(892)+μ+μ− are studied using events collected with the CMS detector in s = 8 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.0 fb−1. The forward-backward asymmetry of the muons and the longitudinal polarization of the K∗(892)+ meson are determined as a function of the square of the dimuon invariant mass. These are the first results from this exclusive decay mode and are in agreement with a standard model prediction. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]
                      Cover page: Angular analysis of the decay B+→ K∗(892)+μ+μ− in proton-proton collisions at s = 8 TeV
                      Top