Measurement of the single-top-quark t-channel cross section in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV

A measurement of the single-top-quark t-channel production cross section in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC is presented. Two different and complementary approaches have been followed. The first approach exploits the distributions of the pseudorapidity of the recoil jet and reconstructed top-quark mass using background estimates determined from control samples in data. The second approach is based on multivariate analysis techniques that probe the compatibility of the candidate events with the signal. Data have been collected for the muon and electron final states, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 1.17 and 1.56 fb-1, respectively. The single-top-quark production cross section in the t-channel is measured to be 67.2±6.1 pb, in agreement with the approximate next-to-next-to-leading- order standard model prediction. Using the standard model electroweak couplings, the CKM matrix element |V tb| is measured to be 1.020 ± 0.046 (meas.) ± 0.017 (theor.). © 2012 CERN for the benefit of the CMS collaboration.

Search for third-generation leptoquarks and scalar bottom quarks in pp collisions at √s=7Tev

Results are presented from a search for third-generation leptoquarks and scalar bottom quarks in a sample of proton-proton collisions at √s=7Tev collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb-1. A scenario where the new particles are pair produced and each decays to a b quark plus a tau neutrino or neutralino is considered. The number of observed events is found to be in agreement with the standard model prediction. Upper limits are set at 95% confidence level on the production cross sections. Leptoquarks with masses below ~450 GeV are excluded. Upper limits in the mass plane of the scalar quark and neutralino are set such that scalar bottom quark masses up to 410 GeV are excluded for neutralino masses of 50 GeV. © 2012 CERN for the benefit of CMS collaboration.

Measurement of the top-quark mass in t̄t events with lepton+jets final states in pp collisions at √s =7 TeV

The mass of the top quark is measured using a sample of t̄t candidate events with one electron or muon and at least four jets in the final state, collected by CMS in pp collisions at √s =7 TeV at the LHC. A total of 5174 candidate events is selected from data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb-1. For each event the mass is reconstructed from a kinematic fit of the decay products to a t̄t hypothesis. The top-quark mass is determined simultaneously with the jet energy scale (JES), constrained by the known mass of the W boson in q̄q decays, to be 173.49 ± 0.43 (stat. + JES) ±0.98 (syst.) GeV. © 2012 CERN for the benefit of the CMS collaboration.

A search for a doubly-charged Higgs boson in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV

A search for a doubly-charged Higgs boson in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV is presented. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4. 9 fb-1, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The search is performed using events with three or more isolated charged leptons of any flavor, giving sensitivity to the decays of pair-produced triplet components Φ++Φ--, and Φ++Φ- from associated production. No excess is observed compared to the background prediction, and upper limits at the 95 % confidence level are set on the Φ++ production cross section, under specific assumptions on its branching fractions. Lower bounds on the Φ++ mass are reported, providing significantly more stringent constraints than previously published limits. © 2012 CERN for the benefit of the CMS collaboration.

Measurement of the elliptic anisotropy of charged particles produced in PbPb collisions at √sNN=2.76 TeV

The anisotropy of the azimuthal distributions of charged particles produced in √sNN=2.76 TeV PbPb collisions is studied with the CMS experiment at the LHC. The elliptic anisotropy parameter, v2, defined as the second coefficient in a Fourier expansion of the particle invariant yields, is extracted using the event-plane method, two- and four-particle cumulants, and Lee-Yang zeros. The anisotropy is presented as a function of transverse momentum (pT), pseudorapidity (η) over a broad kinematic range, 0.3lasses of collision centrality from 0 to 80%. The results are compared to those obtained at lower center-of-mass energies, and various scaling behaviors are examined. When scaled by the geometric eccentricity of the collision zone, the elliptic anisotropy is found to obey a universal scaling with the transverse particle density for different collision systems and center-of-mass energies. © 2013 CERN. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Forward-backward asymmetry of Drell-Yan lepton pairs in pp collisions at s=7TeV

A measurement of the forward-backward asymmetry (AFB) of Drell-Yan lepton pairs in pp collisions at s=7TeV is presented. The data sample, collected with the CMS detector, corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5fb-1. The asymmetry is measured as a function of dilepton mass and rapidity in the dielectron and dimuon channels. Combined results from the two channels are presented, and are compared with the standard model predictions. The AFB measurement in the dimuon channel and the combination of the two channels are the first such results obtained at a hadron collider. The measured asymmetries are consistent with the standard model predictions. © 2012 CERN.

Studies of jet quenching using isolated-photon+jet correlations in PbPb and pp collisions at sNN=2.76TeV

Results from the first study of isolated-photon+jet correlations in relativistic heavy ion collisions are reported. The analysis uses data from PbPb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 2.76TeV per nucleon pair corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 150μb-1 recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC. For events containing an isolated photon with transverse momentum pTγ>60GeV/c and an associated jet with pTJet>30GeV/c, the photon+jet pT imbalance is studied as a function of collision centrality and compared to pp data and pythia calculations at the same collision energy. Using the pTγ of the isolated photon as an estimate of the momentum of the associated parton at production, this measurement allows an unbiased characterisation of the in-medium parton energy loss. For more central PbPb collisions, a significant decrease in the ratio pTJet/pTγ relative to that in the pythia reference is observed. Furthermore, significantly more pTγ>60GeV/c photons in PbPb are observed not to have an associated pTJet>30GeV/c jet, compared to the reference. However, no significant broadening of the photon+jet azimuthal correlation is observed. © 2012 CERN.

Observation of long-range, near-side angular correlations in pPb collisions at the LHC

Results on two-particle angular correlations for charged particles emitted in pPb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV are presented. The analysis uses two million collisions collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The correlations are studied over a broad range of pseudorapidity, η, and full azimuth, φ, as a function of charged particle multiplicity and particle transverse momentum, pT. In high-multiplicity events, a long-range (2<|δη|<4), near-side (δφ≈0) structure emerges in the two-particle δη-δφ correlation functions. This is the first observation of such correlations in proton-nucleus collisions, resembling the ridge-like correlations seen in high-multiplicity pp collisions at s=7 TeV and in AA collisions over a broad range of center-of-mass energies. The correlation strength exhibits a pronounced maximum in the range of pT=1-1.5 GeV/c and an approximately linear increase with charged particle multiplicity for high-multiplicity events. These observations are qualitatively similar to those in pp collisions when selecting the same observed particle multiplicity, while the overall strength of the correlations is significantly larger in pPb collisions. © 2012 CERN.

Search for new physics in events with opposite-sign leptons, jets, and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at s=7 TeV

A search is presented for physics beyond the standard model (BSM) in final states with a pair of opposite-sign isolated leptons accompanied by jets and missing transverse energy. The search uses LHC data recorded at a center-of-mass energy s=7 TeV with the CMS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 5 fb-1. Two complementary search strategies are employed. The first probes models with a specific dilepton production mechanism that leads to a characteristic kinematic edge in the dilepton mass distribution. The second strategy probes models of dilepton production with heavy, colored objects that decay to final states including invisible particles, leading to very large hadronic activity and missing transverse energy. No evidence for an event yield in excess of the standard model expectations is found. Upper limits on the BSM contributions to the signal regions are deduced from the results, which are used to exclude a region of the parameter space of the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model. Additional information related to detector efficiencies and response is provided to allow testing specific models of BSM physics not considered in this Letter. © 2012 CERN.

Observation of a diffractive contribution to dijet production in proton-proton collisions at √s=7 TeV

The cross section for dijet production in proton-proton collisions at √s=7 TeV is presented as a function of a variable that approximates the fractional momentum loss of the scattered proton in single-diffractive events. The analysis is based on an integrated luminosity of 2.7 nb-1 collected with the CMS detector at the LHC at low instantaneous luminosities, and uses events with jet transverse momentum of at least 20 GeV. The dijet cross section results are compared to the predictions of diffractive and nondiffractive models. The low- data show a significant contribution from diffractive dijet production, observed for the first time at the LHC. The associated rapidity gap survival probability is estimated. © 2013 CERN. Published by the American Physical Society.

Measurement of the azimuthal anisotropy of neutral pions in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN=2.76 TeV

First measurements of the azimuthal anisotropy of neutral pions produced in Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy of √sNN=2.76 TeV are presented. The amplitudes of the second Fourier component (v2) of the π0 azimuthal distributions are extracted using an event-plane technique. The values of v2 are studied as a function of the neutral pion transverse momentum (pT) for different classes of collision centrality in the kinematic range 1.6within the pseudorapidity interval |η|<0.8. The CMS measurements of v 2(pT) are similar to previously reported π0 azimuthal anisotropy results from √sNN=200 GeV Au-Au collisions at RHIC, despite a factor of ∼14 increase in the center-of-mass energy. In the momentum range 2.5l pion anisotropies are found to be smaller than those observed by CMS for inclusive charged particles. © 2013 CERN.

Search for a narrow, spin-2 resonance decaying to a pair of Z bosons in the qq̄ℓ+ℓ- final state

Results are presented from a search for a narrow, spin-2 resonance decaying into a pair of Z bosons, with one Z-boson decaying into leptons (e+e- or μ+μ-) and the other into jets. An example of such a resonance is the Kaluza-Klein graviton, GKK, predicted in Randall-Sundrum models. The analysis is based on a 4.9 fb-1 sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. Kinematic and topological properties including decay angular distributions are used to discriminate between signal and background. No evidence for a resonance is observed, and upper limits on the production cross sections times branching fractions are set. In two models that predict Z-boson spin correlations in graviton decays, graviton masses are excluded lower than a value which varies between 610 and 945 GeV, depending on the model and the strength of the graviton couplings. © 2012 CERN.

Search for flavor changing neutral currents in top quark decays in pp collisions at 7 TeV

The results of a search for flavor changing neutral currents in top quark decays t→Zq in events with a topology compatible with the decay chain tt̄→Wb+Zq→ℓνb+ℓℓq are presented. The search is performed with a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb-1 of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The observed number of events agrees with the standard model prediction and no evidence for flavor changing neutral currents in top quark decays is found. A t→Zq branching fraction greater than 0.21% is excluded at the 95% confidence level. © 2012 CERN.

Identification of sperm head subpopulations with defined pleiomorphic characteristics in ejaculates of captive Goeldi's monkeys (Callimico goeldii)

The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of pleiomorphisms and its influence on the distribution of sperm morphometric subpopulations in ejaculates from the vulnerable Goeldi's monkey (Callimico goeldii) by using a combination of computerized analysis system and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) methods Each sperm head was measured for four primary spermatozoal head dimensional parameters (area [A (μm2)], perimeter [P (μm)], length [L (μm)] and width [W (μm)]) and three head shape derived parameters (ellipticity [(L/W)], elongation [(L-W)/(L+W)] and rugosity [(4πA/P2)]) Six separate subpopulations (SPs) were identified: SP1, constituted by very large, narrow and very elliptical spermatozoa (A=16.85±1.56μm2, W=2.75±0.42μm and ellipticity=2.16±0.24); SP2, characterized by average sized, short, wide and round spermatozoa (A=15.00±1.92μm2, L=5.06±0.49μm, W=3.51±0.31μm and ellipticity=1.44±0.15); SP3, represented by small, wide and slightly round spermatozoa (A=14.95±1.75μm2, W=3.47±0.29μm and ellipticity=1.48±0.14); SP4 included very small, short and very round spermatozoa (A=14.15±2.38μm2, L=4.90±0.57μm and elongation=0.18±0.05); SP5 consisted of average sized and slightly elliptical spermatozoa (A=15.14±1.72μm2 and ellipticity=1.49±0.14); and SP6 included large and round spermatozoa (A=16.30±1.62μm2 and elongation=0.19±0.04) There were differences in the sperm subpopulation distribution (P<0.001) among the five donors analyzed In conclusion, the results of the current study confirmed that the use of computer sperm analysis methods combined with PCA cluster analyses are useful methods to identify, classify, and characterize different sperm head morphometric subpopulations in neotropical primates Broadening our knowledge of C goeldii sperm morphometric abnormalities as well as developing reliable techniques for sperm evaluation may be essential for ex situ conservation of this threatened species © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Search for contact interactions in μ+μ- events in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV

Results are reported from a search for the effects of contact interactions using events with a high-mass, oppositely charged muon pair. The events are collected in proton-proton collisions at √s=7 TeV using the Compact Muon Solenoid detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.3 fb-1. The observed dimuon mass spectrum is consistent with that expected from the standard model. The data are interpreted in the context of a quark- and muon-compositeness model with a left-handed isoscalar current and an energy scale parameter Λ. The 95% confidence level lower limit on Λ is 9.5 TeV under the assumption of destructive interference between the standard model and contact-interaction amplitudes. For constructive interference, the limit is 13.1 TeV. These limits are comparable to the most stringent ones reported to date. © 2013 CERN. Published by the American Physical Society.