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The large rate of multiple simultaneous proton–proton interactions, or pile-up, generated by the Large Hadron Collider in Run 1 required the development of many new techniques to mitigate the adverse effects of these conditions. This paper describes the methods employed in the ATLAS experiment to correct for the impact of pile-up on jet energy and jet shapes, and for the presence of spurious additional jets, with a primary focus on the large 20.3 fb−1 data sample collected at a centre-of-mass energy of s√=8 TeV. \\nThe energy correction techniques that incorporate sophisticated estimates of the average pile-up energy density and tracking information are presented. Jet-to-vertex association techniques are discussed and projections of performance for the future are considered. Lastly, the extension of these techniques to mitigate the effect of pile-up on jet shapes using subtraction and grooming procedures is presented.

The luminosity determination for the ATLAS detector at the LHC during pp collisions at s√= 8 TeV in 2012 is presented. The evaluation of the luminosity scale is performed using several luminometers, and comparisons between these luminosity detectors are made to assess the accuracy, consistency and long-term stability of the results. A luminosity uncertainty of δL/L=±1.9% is obtained for the 22.7fb−1 of pp collision data delivered to ATLAS at s√= 8 TeV in 2012.

A bstract A search for Higgs boson pair production in the b b ¯ b b ¯ final state is carried out with up to 36.1 fb −1 of LHC proton-proton collision data collected at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016. Three benchmark signals are studied: a spin-2 graviton decaying into a Higgs boson pair, a scalar resonance decaying into a Higgs boson pair, and Standard Model non-resonant Higgs boson pair production. Two analyses are carried out, each implementing a particular technique for the event reconstruction that targets Higgs bosons reconstructed as pairs of jets or single boosted jets. The resonance mass range covered is 260–3000 GeV. The analyses are statistically combined and upper limits on the production cross section of Higgs boson pairs times branching ratio to b b ¯ b b ¯ are set in each model. No significant excess is observed; the largest deviation of data over prediction is found at a mass of 280 GeV, corresponding to 2.3 standard deviations globally. The observed 95% confidence level upper limit on the non-resonant production is 13 times the Standard Model prediction.

A search for the decay of the Standard Model Higgs boson into a bb¯¯ pair when produced in association with a W or Z boson is performed with the ATLAS detector. The analysed data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1, were collected in proton-proton collisions in Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Final states containing zero, one and two charged leptons (electrons or muons) are considered, targeting the decays Z → νν, W → ℓν and Z → ℓℓ. For a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV, an excess of events over the expected background from other Standard Model processes is found with an observed significance of 3.5 standard deviations, compared to an expectation of 3.0 standard deviations. This excess provides evidence for the Higgs boson decay into b-quarks and for its production in association with a vector boson. The combination of this result with that of the Run 1 analysis yields a ratio of the measured signal events to the Standard Model expectation equal to 0.90 ± 0.18(stat.) − 0.19 + 0.21 (syst.). Assuming the Standard Model production cross-section, the results are consistent with the value of the Yukawa coupling to b-quarks in the Standard Model.

Combined analyses of the Higgs boson production and decay rates as well as its coupling strengths to vector bosons and fermions are presented. The combinations include the results of the analyses of the H→γγ,ZZ∗,WW∗,Zγ,bb¯,ττ and μμ decay modes, and the constraints on the associated production with a pair of top quarks and on the off-shell coupling strengths of the Higgs boson. The results are based on the LHC proton-proton collision datasets, with integrated luminosities of up to 4.7 fb−1 at s√=7 TeV and 20.3 fb−1 at s√=8 TeV, recorded by the ATLAS detector in 2011 and 2012. Combining all production modes and decay channels, the measured signal yield, normalised to the Standard Model expectation, is 1.18+0.15−0.14. The observed Higgs boson production and decay rates are interpreted in a leading-order coupling framework, exploring a wide range of benchmark coupling models both with and without assumptions on the Higgs boson width and on the Standard Model particle content in loop processes. The data are found to be compatible with the Standard Model expectations for a Higgs boson at a mass of 125.36 GeV for all models considered.

The production of two prompt J/ψ mesons, each with transverse momenta pT>8.5 GeV and rapidity |y|<2.1, is studied using a sample of proton-proton collisions at s√=8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 11.4 fb−1 collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The differential cross-section, assuming unpolarised J/ψ production, is measured as a function of the transverse momentum of the lower-pTJ/ψ meson, di-J/ψpT and mass, the difference in rapidity between the two J/ψ mesons, and the azimuthal angle between the two J/ψ mesons. The fraction of prompt pair events due to double parton scattering is determined by studying kinematic correlations between the two J/ψ mesons. The total and double parton scattering cross-sections are compared with predictions. The effective cross-section of double parton scattering is measured to be σeff=6.3±1.6(stat)±1.0(syst) mb.

Results of a search for physics beyond the Standard Model in events containing an energetic photon and large missing transverse momentum with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. As the number of events observed in data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb - 1   of proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV , is in agreement with the Standard Model expectations, model-independent limits are set on the fiducial cross section for the production of events in this final state. Exclusion limits are also placed in models where dark-matter candidates are pair-produced. For dark-matter production via an axial-vector or a vector mediator in the s -channel, this search excludes mediator masses below 750– 1200 GeV for dark-matter candidate masses below 230– 480 GeV at 95% confidence level, depending on the couplings. In an effective theory of dark-matter production, the limits restrict the value of the suppression scale M ∗ to be above 790 GeV at 95% confidence level. A limit is also reported on the production of a high-mass scalar resonance by processes beyond the Standard Model, in which the resonance decays to Z γ and the Z boson subsequently decays into neutrinos.

Measurements of normalized differential cross-sections of top-quark pair production are presented as a function of the top-quark, t t ¯ system and event-level kinematic observables in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s = 8 TeV . The observables have been chosen to emphasize the t t ¯  production process and to be sensitive to effects of initial- and final-state radiation, to the different parton distribution functions, and to non-resonant processes and higher-order corrections. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb - 1 , recorded in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Events are selected in the lepton+jets channel, requiring exactly one charged lepton and at least four jets with at least two of the jets tagged as originating from a  b -quark. The measured spectra are corrected for detector effects and are compared to several Monte Carlo simulations. The results are in fair agreement with the predictions over a wide kinematic range. Nevertheless, most generators predict a harder top-quark transverse momentum distribution at high values than what is observed in the data. Predictions beyond NLO accuracy improve the agreement with data at high top-quark transverse momenta. Using the current settings and parton distribution functions, the rapidity distributions are not well modelled by any generator under consideration. However, the level of agreement is improved when more recent sets of parton distribution functions are used.

Searches for new resonances decaying into two photons in the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider are described. The analysis is based on proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb−1 at s√=13 TeV recorded in 2015. Two searches are performed, one targeted at a spin-2 particle of mass larger than 500 GeV, using Randall-Sundrum graviton states as a benchmark model, and one optimized for a spin-0 particle of mass larger than 200 GeV. Varying both the mass and the decay width, the most significant deviation from the background-only hypothesis is observed at a diphoton invariant mass around 750 GeV with local significances of 3.8 and 3.9 standard deviations in the searches optimized for a spin-2 and spin-0 particle, respectively. The global significances are estimated to be 2.1 standard deviations for both analyses. The consistency between the data collected at 13 TeV and 8 TeV is also evaluated. Limits on the production cross section times branching ratio to two photons for the two resonance types are reported.

Measurements of the production cross section of a Z boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at s√=13 TeV are presented, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.16 fb−1 collected by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider in 2015. Inclusive and differential cross sections are measured for events containing a Z boson decaying to electrons or muons and produced in association with up to seven jets with pT>30 GeV and |y|<2.5. Predictions from different Monte Carlo generators based on leading-order and next-to-leading-order matrix elements for up to two additional partons interfaced with parton shower and fixed-order predictions at next-to-leading order and next-to-next-to-leading order are compared with the measured cross sections. Good agreement within the uncertainties is observed for most of the modelled quantities, in particular with the generators which use next-to-leading-order matrix elements and the more recent next-to-next-to-leading-order fixed-order predictions.