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A measurement of the top quark pair production (t-tbar) cross section in proton-proton collisions at the centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV is presented using data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.6 inverse-femtobarns. This analysis is performed in the t-tbar decay channels with one isolated, high transverse momentum electron or muon and at least four jets, at least one of which is required to be identified as originating from hadronization of a b quark. The calibration of the jet energy scale and the efficiency of b jet identification are determined from data. The measured t-tbar cross section is 228.5 +/- 3.8 (stat) +/- 13.7 (syst) +/- 6.0 (lumi) pb. This measurement is compared with an analysis of 7 TeV data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 inverse-femtobarns, to determine the ratio of 8 TeV to 7 TeV cross sections, which is found to be 1.43 +/- 0.04 (stat) +/- 0.07 (syst) +/- 0.05 (lumi). The measurements are in agreement with QCD predictions up to next-to-next-to-leading order.

Measurements of the associated production of a Z boson with at least one jet originating from a b quark in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV are presented. Differential cross sections are measured with data collected by the CMS experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.8 inverse femtobarns. Z bosons are reconstructed through their decays to electrons and muons. Cross sections are measured as a function of observables characterizing the kinematics of the b jet and the Z boson. Ratios of differential cross sections for the associated production with at least one b jet to the associated production with any jet are also presented. The production of a Z boson with two b jets is investigated, and differential cross sections are measured for the dijet system. Results are compared to theoretical predictions, testing two different flavour schemes for the choice of initial-state partons.

The inclusive cross section for top quark pair production is measured in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 and 8 TeV, corresponding to 5.0 and 19.7 invers-femtobarns, respectively, with the CMS experiment at the LHC. The cross sections are measured in the electron-muon channel using a binned likelihood fit to multi-differential final state distributions related to identified b quark jets and other jets in the event. The measured cross section values are 173.6 +/- 2.1 (stat) +4.5-4.0 (syst) +/- 3.8 (lumi) pb at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, and 244.9 +/- 1.4 (stat) +6.3-5.5 (syst) +/- 6.4 (lumi) pb at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, in good agreement with QCD calculations at next-to-next-to-leading-order accuracy. The ratio of the cross sections measured at 7 and 8 TeV is determined, as well as cross sections in the fiducial regions defined by the acceptance requirements on the two charged leptons in the final state. The cross section results are used to determine the top quark pole mass via the dependence of the theoretically predicted cross section on the mass, giving a best result of 173.8 +1.7-1.8 GeV. The data at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV are also used to set limits, for two neutralino mass values, on the pair production of supersymmetric top squarks with masses close to the top quark mass.

Results are reported from a search for the top squark, the lighter of the two supersymmetric partners of the top quark. The data sample corresponds to 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The search targets top squark to b chi+/- and top squark to t(*) chi0 decay modes, where chi+/- and chi0 are the lightest chargino and neutralino, respectively. The reconstructed final state consists of jets, b jets, missing transverse energy, and either one or two leptons. Leading backgrounds are determined from data. No significant excess in data is observed above the expectation from standard model processes. The results exclude a region of the two-dimensional plane of possible top squark and chi0 masses. The highest excluded top squark and chi0 masses are about 700 GeV and 250 GeV, respectively.

A search is performed for heavy Majorana neutrinos (N) decaying into a W boson and a lepton using the CMS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. A signature of two jets and either two same sign electrons or a same sign electron-muon pair is searched for using 19.7 inverse-femtobarns of data collected during 2012 in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The data are found to be consistent with the expected standard model (SM) background and, in the context of a Type-1 seesaw mechanism, upper limits are set on the cross section times branching fraction for production of heavy Majorana neutrinos in the mass range between 40 and 500 GeV. The results are additionally interpreted as limits on the mixing between the heavy Majorana neutrinos and the SM neutrinos. In the mass range considered, the upper limits range between 0.00015 - 0.72 for |V[eN]|² and 6.6E-5 - 0.47 for |V[eN]V*[muN]|² / ( |V[eN]|² + |V[muN]|² ), where V[lN] is the mixing element describing the mixing of the heavy neutrino with the SM neutrino of flavour l. These limits are the most restrictive direct limits for heavy Majorana neutrino masses above 200 GeV.

A search for exclusive or quasi-exclusive gamma-gamma to W+W- production, via pp to p(*) W+W- p(*) to p(*) mu+/- e-/+ at sqrt(s)=8 TeV, is reported using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns. Events are selected by requiring the presence of an electron-muon pair with large transverse momentum pt(mu+/- e-/+>) 30 GeV, and no associated charged particles detected from the same vertex. The 8 TeV results are combined with the previous 7 TeV results (obtained for 5.05 inverse femtobarns of data). In the signal region, 13 (2) events are observed over an expected background of 3.9 +/- 0.6 (0.84 +/-0.15) events for 8 (7) TeV, resulting in a combined excess of 3.4 sigma over the background-only hypothesis. The observed yields and kinematic distributions are compatible with the standard model prediction for exclusive and quasi-exclusive gamma-gamma to W+W- production. Upper limits on the anomalous quartic gauge coupling operators a[W;0,C] (dimension-6) and f[M0,1,2,3] (dimension-8), the most stringent to date, are derived from the measured dilepton transverse momentum spectrum.

A search for a massive resonance W' decaying into a W and a Higgs boson in the l nu b anti-b (l = e, mu) final state is presented. Results are based on data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s)=8 TeV, collected using the CMS detector at the LHC. For a high-mass (> 1 TeV) resonance, the two bottom quarks coming from the Higgs boson decay are reconstructed as a single jet, which can be tagged by placing requirements on its substructure and flavour. Exclusion limits at 95% confidence level are set on the production cross section of a narrow resonance decaying into WH, as a function of its mass. In the context of a little Higgs model, a lower limit on the W' mass of 1.4 TeV is set. In a heavy vector triplet model that mimics the properties of composite Higgs models, a lower limit on the W' mass of 1.5 TeV is set. In the context of this model, the results are combined with related searches to obtain a lower limit on the W' mass of 1.8 TeV, the most restrictive to date for decays to a pair of standard model bosons.

A search for narrow resonances decaying to an electron and a muon is presented. The e-mu mass spectrum is also investigated for non-resonant contributions from the production of quantum black holes (QBHs). The analysis is performed using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse-femtobarns collected in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. With no evidence for physics beyond the standard model in the invariant mass spectrum of selected e-mu pairs, upper limits are set at 95% confidence level on the product of cross section and branching fraction for signals arising in theories with charged lepton flavour violation. In the search for narrow resonances, the resonant production of a tau sneutrino in R-parity violating supersymmetry is considered. The tau sneutrino is excluded for masses below 1.28 TeV for couplings lambda[132] = lambda[231] = lambda'[311] = 0.01, and below 2.30 TeV for lambda[132] = lambda[231] = 0.07 and lambda'[311] = 0.11. These are the most stringent limits to date from direct searches at high-energy colliders. In addition, the resonance searches are interpreted in terms of a model with heavy partners of the Z boson and the photon. In a framework of TeV-scale quantum gravity based on a renormalization of Newton's constant, the search for non-resonant contributions to the e-mu mass spectrum excludes QBH production below a threshold mass M[th] of 1.99 TeV. In models that invoke extra dimensions, the bounds range from 2.36 TeV for one extra dimension to 3.63 TeV for six extra dimensions. This is the first search for QBHs decaying into the e-mu final state.

The cross section for ttbar production in the all-jets final state is measured in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV at the LHC with the CMS detector, in data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 18.4 inverse femtobarns. The inclusive cross section is found to be 275.6 +/- 6.1 (stat) +/- 37.8 (syst) +/- 7.2 (lumi) pb. The normalized differential cross sections are measured as a function of the top quark transverse momenta, pt, and compared to predictions from quantum chromodynamics. The results are reported at detector, parton, and particle levels. In all cases, the measured top quark pt spectra are significantly softer than theoretical predictions.