Data preservation significantly increases the scientific output of high-energy physics experiments during and after data acquisition. For new and ongoing experiments, the careful consideration of long-term data preservation in the experimental design contributes to improving computational efficiency and strengthening the scientific activity in HEP through Open Science methodologies. This contribution is based on 15 years of experience of the DPHEP collaboration in the field of data preservation and focuses on aspects relevant for the strategic programming of particle physics in Europe: the preparation of future programs using data sets preserved from previous similar experiments (e.g. HERA for EIC), and the use of LHC data long after the end of the data taking. The lessons learned from past collider experiments and recent developments open the way to a number of recommendations for the full exploitation of the investments made in large HEP experiments.

The ATLAS experiment at CERN is one of the largest scientific machines built to date and will have ever growing computing needs as the Large Hadron Collider collects an increasingly larger volume of data over the next 20 years. ATLAS is conducting R&D projects on Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud as complementary resources for distributed computing, focusing on some of the key features of commercial clouds: lightweight operation, elasticity and availability of multiple chip architectures. The proof of concept phases have concluded with the cloud-native, vendoragnostic integration with the experiment’s data and workload management frameworks. Google Cloud has been used to evaluate elastic batch computing, ramping up ephemeral clusters of up to O(100k) cores to process tasks requiring quick turnaround. Amazon Web Services has been exploited for the successful physics validation of the Athena simulation software on ARM processors. We have also set up an interactive facility for physics analysis allowing endusers to spin up private, on-demand clusters for parallel computing with up to 4 000 cores, or run GPU enabled notebooks and jobs for machine learning applications. The success of the proof of concept phases has led to the extension of the Google Cloud project, where ATLAS will study the total cost of ownership of a production cloud site during 15 months with 10k cores on average, fully integrated with distributed grid computing resources and continue the R&D projects.

The computing challenges at the HL–LHC require fundamental changes to the distributed computing models that have served experiments well throughout LHC. ATLAS planning for HL–LHC computing started back in 2020 with a Conceptual Design Report outlining various challenges to explore. This was followed in 2022 by a roadmap defining concrete milestones and associated effort required. Today, ATLAS is proceeding further with a set of "demonstrators" with focused R&D in specific topics described in the roadmap. The demonstrators cover areas such as optimised tape writing and access, data recreation on–demand and the use of commercial clouds.

The High Luminosity upgrade to the LHC (HL-LHC) is expected to deliver scientific data at the multi-exabyte scale. In order to address this unprecedented data storage challenge, the ATLAS experiment launched the Data Carousel project in 2018. Data Carousel is a tape-driven workflow whereby bulk production campaigns with input data resident on tape are executed by staging and promptly processing a sliding window to disk buffer such that only a small fraction of inputs are pinned on disk at any one time. Data Carousel is now in production for ATLAS in Run3. In this paper, we provide updates on recent Data Carousel R&D projects, including data-on-demand and tape smart writing. Data-on-demand removes from disk data that has not been accessed for a predefined period, when users request them, they will be either staged from tape or recreated by following the original production steps. Tape smart writing employs intelligent algorithms for file placement on tape in order to retrieve data back more efficiently, which is our long term strategy to achieve optimal tape usage in Data Carousel.

The total and differential Higgs boson production cross-sections are measured through a combined statistical analysis of the H → ZZ* → 4ℓ and H → γγ decay channels. The results are based on a dataset of 139 fb−1 of proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The measured total Higgs boson production cross-section is 55.5_-3.8^+4.0 pb, consistent with the Standard Model prediction of 55.6 ± 2.5 pb. All results from the two decay channels are compatible with each other, and their combination agrees with the Standard Model predictions. A combined statistical interpretation of the measured fiducial cross-sections as a function of the Higgs boson transverse momentum is performed in order to probe the Yukawa couplings to the bottom and charm quarks. A similar interpretation is performed by including also the constraints from the measurements of Higgs boson production in association with a W or Z boson in the H → bb and cc decay channels.

The lepton–proton collisions produced at the HERA collider represent a unique high energy physics data set. A number of years after the end of collisions, the data collected by the H1 experiment, as well as the simulated events and all software needed for reconstruction, simulation and data analysis, were migrated into a preserved operational mode at DESY. A recent modernisation of the H1 software architecture has been performed, which will not only facilitate on going and future data analysis efforts with the new inclusion of modern analysis tools, but also ensure the long-term availability of the H1 data and associated software. The present status of the H1 software stack, the data, simulations and the currently supported computing platforms for data analysis activities are discussed.

The High Luminosity LHC project at CERN, which is expected to deliver a ten-fold increase in the luminosity of proton-proton collisions over LHC, will start operation towards the end of this decade and will deliver an unprecedented scientific data volume of multi-exabyte scale. This vast amount of data has to be processed and analysed, and the corresponding computing facilities must ensure fast and reliable data processing for physics analyses by scientific groups distributed all over the world. The present LHC computing model will not be able to provide the required infrastructure growth, even taking into account the expected evolution in hardware technology. To address this challenge, several novel methods of how end-users analysis will be conducted are under evaluation by the ATLAS Collaboration. State-of-the-art workflow management technologies and tools to handle these methods within the existing distributed computing system are now being evaluated and developed. In addition the evolution of computing facilities and how this impacts ATLAS analysis workflows is being closely followed.

Following the outbreak of the COVID–19 pandemic, the ATLAS experiment considered how it could most efficiently contribute using its distributed computing resources. After considering many suggestions, examining several potential projects and following the advice of the CERN COVID Task Force, it was decided to engage in the Folding@Home initiative, which provides payloads that perform protein folding simulations. This paper describes how ATLAS made a significant contribution to this project over the summer of 2020.

This paper presents a search for direct top squark pair production in events with missing transverse momentum plus either a pair of jets consistent with Standard Model Higgs boson decay into b-quarks or a same-flavour opposite-sign dilepton pair with an invariant mass consistent with a Z boson. The analysis is performed using the proton–proton collision data at \n$$\\sqrt{s}=13$$\n\n TeV collected with the ATLAS detector during the LHC Run-2, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb\n$$^{-1}$$\n\n. No excess is observed in the data above the Standard Model predictions. The results are interpreted in simplified models featuring direct production of pairs of either the lighter top squark (\n$$\\tilde{t}_1$$\n\n) or the heavier top squark (\n$$\\tilde{t}_2$$\n\n), excluding at 95% confidence level \n$$\\tilde{t}_1$$\n\n and \n$$\\tilde{t}_2$$\n\n masses up to about 1220 and 875 GeV, respectively.

This Letter presents a search for new light resonances decaying to pairs of quarks and produced in association with a high-pT photon or jet. The dataset consists of proton–proton collisions with an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb−1 at a centre-of-mass energy of s=13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Resonance candidates are identified as massive large-radius jets with substructure consistent with a particle decaying into a quark pair. The mass spectrum of the candidates is examined for local excesses above background. No evidence of a new resonance is observed in the data, which are used to exclude the production of a lepto-phobic axial-vector Z′ boson.

A search is conducted for the electroweak pair production of a chargino and a neutralino pp -> (chi) over tilde (+/-)(1)(chi) over tilde (0)(2), where the chargino decays into the lightest neutralino and a W boson, (chi) over tilde (+/-)(1) -> (chi) over tilde W-0(1)+/- while the neutralino decays into the lightest neutralino and a Standard Model-like 125 GeV Higgs boson,(chi) over tilde (0)(2) -> (chi) over tilde (0)(1)h. Fully hadronic, semileptonic, diphoton, and multilepton (electrons, muons) final. states with missing transverse momentum are considered in this search. Higgs bosons in the final state are identified by either two jets originating from bottom quarks (h -> b (b) over bar), two photons (h -> gamma gamma), or leptons from the decay modes h -> WW, h -> ZZ or h -> tau tau. The analysis is based on 36.1 fb(-1) of s root s = 13 TeV proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Observations are consistent with the Standard Model expectations, and 95% confidence-level limits of up to 680 GeV in (chi) over tilde (+/-)(1)/(chi) over tilde (0)(2) mass are set in the context of a simplified supersymmetric model.

This Letter presents a search for heavy charged long-lived particles produced in proton–proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV at the LHC using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 . 1 fb − 1 collected by the ATLAS experiment in 2015 and 2016. These particles are expected to travel with a velocity significantly below the speed of light, and therefore have a specific ionisation higher than any high-momentum Standard Model particle of unit charge. The pixel subsystem of the ATLAS detector is used in this search to measure the ionisation energy loss of all reconstructed charged particles which traverse the pixel detector. Results are interpreted assuming the pair production of R -hadrons as composite colourless states of a long-lived gluino and Standard Model partons. No significant deviation from Standard Model background expectations is observed, and lifetime-dependent upper limits on R -hadron production cross-sections and gluino masses are set, assuming the gluino always decays to two quarks and a 100 GeV stable neutralino. R -hadrons with lifetimes above 1.0 ns are excluded at the 95% confidence level, with lower limits on the gluino mass ranging between 1290 GeV and 2060 GeV. In the case of stable R -hadrons, the lower limit on the gluino mass at the 95% confidence level is 1890 GeV. © 2018 The Author. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Funded by SCOAP 3 .

A measurement of off-shell Higgs boson production in the ZZ -> 4l and ZZ -> 2l2v decay channels, where stands for either an electron or a muon, is performed using data from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 13 TeV. The data were collected by the ATLAS experiment in 2015 and 2016 at the Large Hadron Collider, and they correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1). An observed (expected) upper limit on the off-shell Higgs signal strength, defined as the event yield normalised to the Standard Model prediction, of 3.8 (3.4) is obtained at 95% confidence level (CL). Assuming the ratio of the Higgs boson couplings to the Standard Model predictions is independent of the momentum transfer of the Higgs production mechanism considered in the analysis, a combination with the on-shell signal-strength measurements yields an observed (expected) 95% CL upper limit on the Higgs boson total width of 14.4 (15.2) MeV. (C) 2018 The Author. Published by Elsevier B.V.

A search is presented for the direct pair production of the stop, the supersymmetric partner of the top quark, that decays through an R-parity-violating coupling to a final state with two leptons and two jets, at least one of which is identified as a b-jet. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of root s = 13 TeV, collected in 2015 and 2016 by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. No significant excess is observed over the Standard Model background, and exclusion limits are set on stop pair production at a 95% confidence level. Lower limits on the stop mass are set between 600 GeV and 1.5 TeV for branching ratios above 10% for decays to an electron or muon and a b-quark.

A search for heavy resonances decaying into a Higgs boson (H) and a new particle (X) is reported, utilizing 36.1 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data at root s = 13 TeV collected during 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The particle Xis assumed to decay to a pair of light quarks, and the fully hadronic final state XH -> q (q) over bar 'b (b) over bar is analysed. The search considers the regime of high XH resonance masses, where the X and H bosons are both highly Lorentz-boosted and are each reconstructed using a single jet with large radius parameter. A two-dimensional phase space of XH mass versus X mass is scanned for evidence of a signal, over a range of XH resonance mass values between 1 TeV and 4 TeV, and for X particles with masses from 50 GeV to 1000 GeV. All search results are consistent with the expectations for the background due to Standard Model processes, and 95% CL upper limits are set, as a function of XH and X masses, on the production cross-section of the XH -> q (q) over bar 'b (b) over bar resonance. (c) 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.

A search for the decay of the Standard Model Higgs boson into a b ¯ b pair when produced in association with a W or Z boson is performed with the ATLAS detector. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 79 . 8 fb − 1 were collected in proton–proton collisions during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. 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 (expected) significance of 4.9 (4.3) standard deviations. A combination with the results from other searches in Run 1 and in Run 2 for the Higgs boson in the b ¯ b decay mode is performed, which yields an observed (expected) significance of 5.4 (5.5) standard deviations, thus providing direct observation of the Higgs boson decay into b -quarks. The ratio of the measured event yield for a Higgs boson decaying into b ¯ b to the Standard Model expectation is 1 . 01 ± 0 . 12 ( stat .) + 0 . 16 − 0 . 15 ( syst .) . Additionally, a combination of Run 2 results searching for the Higgs boson produced in association with a vector boson yields an observed (expected) significance of 5.3 (4.8) standard deviations. © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Funded by SCOAP 3 .

This Letter presents a search for exotic decays of the Higgs boson to a pair of new (pseudo) scalar particles, H -> aa, where the a particle has a mass in the range 20-60 GeV, and where one of the a bosons decays into a pair of photons and the other to a pair of gluons. The search is performed in event samples enhanced in vector-boson fusion Higgs boson production by requiring two jets with large invariant mass in addition to the Higgs boson candidate decay products. The analysis is based on the full dataset of pp collisions at root s = 13 TeV recorded in 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.7 fb(-1). The data are in agreement with the Standard Model predictions and an upper limit at the 95% confidence level is placed on the production cross section times the branching ratio for the decay H -> aa -> gamma gamma gg. This limit ranges from 3.1 pb to 9.0 pb depending on the mass of the a boson. (C) 2018 The Author. Published by Elsevier B.V.