Establishing a deep underground physics laboratory to study, amongst others, double beta decay, geoneutrinos, reactor neutrinos and dark matter has been discussed for more than a decade within the austral African physicists' community. PAUL, the Paarl Africa Underground Laboratory, is an initiative foreseeing an open international laboratory devoted to the development of competitive science in the austral region. It has the advantage that the location, the Huguenot tunnel, exists already and the geology and the environment of the site is appropriate for an experimental facility. The paper describes the PAUL initiative, presents the physics prospects and discusses the capacity for building the future experimental facility.

A bstract A search for the exclusive decays of the Higgs and Z bosons to a ϕ or ρ meson and a photon is performed with a pp collision data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of up to 35 . 6 fb −1 collected at $$ \sqrt{s}=13 $$ s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. These decays have been suggested as a probe of the Higgs boson couplings to light quarks. No significant excess of events is observed above the background, as expected from the Standard Model. Upper limits at 95% confidence level were obtained on the branching fractions of the Higgs boson decays to ϕ γ and ρ γ of 4 . 8 × 10 −4 and 8 . 8 × 10 −4 , respectively. The corresponding 95% confidence level upper limits for the Z boson decays are 0 . 9 × 10 −6 and 25 × 10 −6 for ϕ γ and ρ γ, respectively.

This letter presents a search for narrow, high-mass resonances in the Zγ final state with the Z boson decaying into a pair of electrons or muons. The s=13 TeV pp collision data were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider and have an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1. The data are found to be in agreement with the Standard Model background expectation. Upper limits are set on the resonance production cross section times the decay branching ratio into Zγ. For spin-0 resonances produced via gluon–gluon fusion, the observed limits at 95% confidence level vary between 65.5 fb and 0.6 fb, while for spin-2 resonances produced via gluon–gluon fusion (or quark–antiquark initial states) limits vary between 77.4 (76.1) fb and 0.6 (0.5) fb, for the mass range from 220 GeV to 3400 GeV.

The first measurement of longitudinal decorrelations of harmonic flow amplitudes v_{n} for n=2-4 in Xe+Xe collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.44  TeV is obtained using 3  μb^{-1} of data with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The decorrelation signal for v_{3} and v_{4} is found to be nearly independent of collision centrality and transverse momentum (p_{T}) requirements on final-state particles, but for v_{2} a strong centrality and p_{T} dependence is seen. When compared with the results from Pb+Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV, the longitudinal decorrelation signal in midcentral Xe+Xe collisions is found to be larger for v_{2}, but smaller for v_{3}. Current hydrodynamic models reproduce the ratios of the v_{n} measured in Xe+Xe collisions to those in Pb+Pb collisions but fail to describe the magnitudes and trends of the ratios of longitudinal flow decorrelations between Xe+Xe and Pb+Pb. The results on the system-size dependence provide new insights and an important lever arm to separate effects of the longitudinal structure of the initial state from other early and late time effects in heavy-ion collisions.

Figure 5b of the paper [1] contained a misinterpretation in the comparison between the reported new ATLAS measurement of the process pp -> Xp and previously published CMS data [2]. The ATLAS measurement corresponds to cases where either proton dissociates.

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.

The production cross-sections for W +/- and Z bosons are measured using ATLAS data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.0 pb-1 collected at a centre-ofmass energy v s = 2.76 TeV. The deca ...

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.

A measurement of the associated production of a top-quark pair ($t\bar{t}$) with a vector boson ($W$, $Z$) in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is presented, using $36.1$ fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events are selected in channels with two same- or opposite-sign leptons (electrons or muons), three leptons or four leptons, and each channel is further divided into multiple regions to maximize the sensitivity of the measurement. The $t\bar{t}Z$ and $t\bar{t}W$ production cross sections are simultaneously measured using a combined fit to all regions. The best-fit values of the production cross sections are $\sigma_{t\bar{t}Z} = 0.95 \pm 0.08_{\mathrm{stat.}} \pm 0.10_{\mathrm{syst.}}$ pb and $\sigma_{t\bar{t}W} = 0.87 \pm 0.13_{\mathrm{stat.}} \pm 0.14_{\mathrm{syst.}}$ pb in agreement with the Standard Model predictions. The measurement of the $t\bar{t}Z$ cross section is used to set constraints on effective field theory operators which modify the $t\bar{t}Z$ vertex.

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 .

This change does not have any impact on the measured helicity fractions, but it changes the obtained limits on the anomalous couplings.

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.

This paper reports searches for heavy resonances decaying into ZZ or ZW using data from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √(s)=13 TeV. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb −1 , were recorded with the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016 at the Large Hadron Collider. The searches are performed in final states in which one Z boson decays into either a pair of light charged leptons (electrons and muons) or a pair of neutrinos, and the associated W boson or the other Z boson decays hadronically. No evidence of the production of heavy resonances is observed. Upper bounds on the production cross sections of heavy resonances times their decay branching ratios to ZZ or ZW are derived in the mass range 300-5000GeV within the context of Standard Model extensions with additional Higgs bosons, a heavy vector triplet or warped extra dimensions. Production through gluon-gluon fusion, Drell-Yan or vector-boson fusion are considered, depending on the assumed model.

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.