A search for flavor violating decays of the <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>Z</mi></math> boson to charged leptons is performed using data from proton-proton collisions at <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msqrt><mi>s</mi></msqrt><mo>=</mo><mn>13</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>TeV</mi></math> collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mn>138</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><msup><mi>fb</mi><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></msup></math>. Each of the decays <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>Z</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mi>e</mi><mi>μ</mi></math>, <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>Z</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mi>e</mi><mi>τ</mi></math>, and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>Z</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mi>μ</mi><mi>τ</mi></math> is considered. The data are consistent with the backgrounds expected from standard model processes. For the <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>Z</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mi>e</mi><mi>μ</mi></math> channel the observed (expected) 95% confidence level upper limit on the branching fraction is <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mn>1.9</mn><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>2.0</mn><mo stretchy="false">)</mo><mo>×</mo><msup><mn>10</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>7</mn></mrow></msup></math>, which is the most stringent direct limit to date on this process; the corresponding limits for the <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>Z</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mi>e</mi><mi>τ</mi></math> and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>Z</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mi>μ</mi><mi>τ</mi></math> channels are <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mn>13.8</mn><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>11.4</mn><mo stretchy="false">)</mo><mo>×</mo><msup><mn>10</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>6</mn></mrow></msup></math> and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mn>12.0</mn><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>5.3</mn><mo stretchy="false">)</mo><mo>×</mo><msup><mn>10</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>6</mn></mrow></msup></math>, respectively. Additionally, the <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>e</mi><mi>μ</mi></math> final state is used to search for lepton flavor violating decays of <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msup><mi>Z</mi><mo>′</mo></msup></math> resonances in the mass range from 110 to <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mrow><mn>500</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>GeV</mi></mrow></math>. No significant excess is observed above the predicted background levels.

Armenia

A. Hayrapetyan

V. Makarenko

A. Tumasyan

Austria

W. Adam

J.W. Andrejkovic

L. Benato

T. Bergauer

M. Dragicevic

C. Giordano

P.S. Hussain

M. Jeitler

N. Krammer

A. Li

D. Liko

I. Mikulec

J. Schieck

R. Schöfbeck

D. Schwarz

M. Shooshtari

M. Sonawane

W. Waltenberger

C.E. Wulz

Belgium

T. Janssen

H. Kwon

D. Ocampo Henao

T. Van Laer

P. Van Mechelen

J. Bierkens

N. Breugelmans

J. D’Hondt

S. Dansana

A. De Moor

M. Delcourt

F. Heyen

Y. Hong

P. Kashko

S. Lowette

I. Makarenko

D. Müller

J. Song

S. Tavernier

M. Tytgat

G.P. Van Onsem

S. Van Putte

D. Vannerom

B. Bilin

B. Clerbaux

A.K. Das

I. De Bruyn

G. De Lentdecker

H. Evard

L. Favart

P. Gianneios

A. Khalilzadeh

F.A. Khan

A. Malara

M.A. Shahzad

L. Thomas

M. Vanden Bemden

C. Vander Velde

P. Vanlaer

F. Zhang

M. De Coen

D. Dobur

G. Gokbulut

J. Knolle

L. Lambrecht

D. Marckx

K. Skovpen

N. Van Den Bossche

J. van der Linden

J. Vandenbroeck

L. Wezenbeek

S. Bein

A. Benecke

A. Bethani

G. Bruno

A. Cappati

J. De Favereau De Jeneret

C. Delaere

A. Giammanco

A.O. Guzel

V. Lemaitre

J. Lidrych

P. Malek

P. Mastrapasqua

S. Turkcapar

Brazil

G.A. Alves

M. Barroso Ferreira Filho

E. Coelho

C. Hensel

T. Menezes De Oliveira

C. Mora Herrera

P. Rebello Teles

M. Soeiro

E.J. Tonelli Manganote

A. Vilela Pereira

W.L. Aldá Júnior

H. Brandao Malbouisson

W. Carvalho

Search for charged lepton flavor violating <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>Z</mi></math> and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msup><mi>Z</mi><mo>′</mo></msup></math> boson decays in proton-proton collisions at <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msqrt><mi>s</mi></msqrt><mo>=</mo><mn>13</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>TeV</mi></math>

A measurement of event-shape variables is presented, using a data sample produced in a special run with approximately one inelastic proton-proton collision per bunch crossing. The data were collected with the CMS detector at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mrow><mn>64</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mrow><mi mathvariant="normal">μ</mi><msup><mrow><mi mathvariant="normal">b</mi></mrow><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></msup></mrow></mrow></math>. A number of observables related to the overall distribution of charged particles in the collisions are corrected for detector effects and compared with simulations. Inclusive event-shape distributions, as well as differential distributions of event shapes as functions of charged-particle multiplicity, are studied. None of the models investigated are able to satisfactorily describe the data. Moreover, there are significant features common amongst all generator setups studied, particularly showing data being more isotropic than any of the simulations. Multidimensional unfolded distributions are provided, along with their correlations.

V. Chekhovsky

S. Chatterjee

K. Damanakis

C. Caputo

I.S. Donertas

Sa. Jain

T.T. Tran

G. Correia Silva

J. Chinellato

Measurement of event shapes in minimum-bias events from proton-proton collisions at <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msqrt><mi>s</mi></msqrt><mo>=</mo><mn>13</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>TeV</mi></math>

A search for <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>γ</mi><mi>H</mi></math> production is performed with data from the CMS experiment at the LHC corresponding to an integrated luminosity of <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mn>138</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><msup><mi>fb</mi><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></msup></math> at a proton-proton center-of-mass collision energy of <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mrow><mn>13</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>TeV</mi></mrow></math>. The analysis focuses on the topology of a boosted Higgs boson recoiling against a high-energy photon. The final states of <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>H</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mrow><mi>b</mi><mover accent="true"><mi>b</mi><mo stretchy="false">¯</mo></mover></mrow></math> and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>H</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mn>4</mn><mo>ℓ</mo></math> are analyzed. This study examines effective <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>H</mi><mi>Z</mi><mi>γ</mi></math> and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>H</mi><mi>γ</mi><mi>γ</mi></math> anomalous couplings within the context of an effective field theory. In this approach, the production cross section is constrained to be <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi>σ</mi><mrow><mi>γ</mi><mi>H</mi></mrow></msub><mo>&lt;</mo><mn>16.4</mn><mtext> </mtext><mtext> </mtext><mi>fb</mi></math> at 95% confidence level (CL). Simultaneous constraints on four anomalous couplings involving <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>H</mi><mi>Z</mi><mi>γ</mi></math> and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>H</mi><mi>γ</mi><mi>γ</mi></math> are provided. Additionally, the production rate for <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>H</mi><mo stretchy="false">→</mo><mn>4</mn><mo>ℓ</mo></math> is examined to assess potential enhancements in the Yukawa couplings between light quarks and the Higgs boson. Assuming the standard model values for the Yukawa couplings of the bottom and top quarks, the following simultaneous constraints are obtained: <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi>κ</mi><mi>u</mi></msub><mo>=</mo><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>0.0</mn><mo>±</mo><mn>1.5</mn><mo stretchy="false">)</mo><mo>×</mo><msup><mn>10</mn><mn>3</mn></msup></math>, <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi>κ</mi><mi>d</mi></msub><mo>=</mo><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><msubsup><mn>0.0</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>6.8</mn></mrow><mrow><mo>+</mo><mn>6.7</mn></mrow></msubsup><mo stretchy="false">)</mo><mo>×</mo><msup><mn>10</mn><mn>2</mn></msup></math>, <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi>κ</mi><mi>s</mi></msub><mo>=</mo><msubsup><mn>0</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>32</mn></mrow><mrow><mo>+</mo><mn>30</mn></mrow></msubsup></math>, and <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi>κ</mi><mi>c</mi></msub><mo>=</mo><msubsup><mn>0.0</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>2.8</mn></mrow><mrow><mo>+</mo><mn>2.3</mn></mrow></msubsup></math>. This rules out the hypothesis that up- or down-type quarks in the first or second generation have the same Yukawa couplings as those in the third generation, with a CL greater than 95%.

K. Lee

Search for <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>γ</mi><mi>H</mi></math> production and constraints on the Yukawa couplings of light quarks to the Higgs boson

We propose a neural network training method capable of accounting for the effects of systematic variations of the data model in the training process and describe its extension towards neural network multiclass classification. The procedure is evaluated on the realistic case of the measurement of Higgs boson production via gluon fusion and vector boson fusion in the $${\uptau } {\uptau } $$ decay channel at the CMS experiment. The neural network output functions are used to infer the signal strengths for inclusive production of Higgs bosons as well as for their production via gluon fusion and vector boson fusion. We observe improvements of 12 and 16% in the uncertainty in the signal strengths for gluon and vector-boson fusion, respectively, compared with a conventional neural network training based on cross-entropy.

J. Andrejkovic

P. Hussain

T. Laer

P. Mechelen

A. Moor

G. Onsem

S. Putte

A. Das

I. Bruyn

G. Lentdecker

F. Khan

M. Shahzad

M. Coen

N. Bossche

J. Linden

J. Favereau De Jeneret

I. Donertas

A. Guzel

S Jain

T. Tran

G. Alves

E. Tonelli Manganote

W. Aldá Júnior

Development of systematic uncertainty-aware neural network trainings for binned-likelihood analyses at the LHC

The dimensional reduction of M-theory couplings at order <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msubsup><mo>ℓ</mo><mi>p</mi><mn>6</mn></msubsup></math> is known to produce one-loop <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msup><mrow><mi>α</mi></mrow><mrow><mo>′</mo><mn>3</mn></mrow></msup></math> corrections in type IIA string theory. In this paper, we perform the Kaluza-Klein reduction of the M-theory Chern-Simons coupling <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi>t</mi><mn>8</mn></msub><msub><mi>ε</mi><mn>11</mn></msub><mi>A</mi><msup><mi>R</mi><mn>4</mn></msup></math> at this order. By meticulously accounting for nongauge-invariant total derivative terms, we derive the complete set of corresponding one-loop, gauge-invariant couplings in the type IIA effective action. Our results not only reproduce the standard Chern-Simons term <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi>t</mi><mn>8</mn></msub><msub><mi>ε</mi><mn>10</mn></msub><mi>B</mi><msup><mi>R</mi><mn>4</mn></msup></math>—which is gauge invariant up to total derivatives—but also unveil a new set of gauge-invariant couplings involving Ramond-Ramond and Neveu-Schwarz–Neveu-Schwarz field strengths. To validate our findings, we test their consistency under string dualities. We dimensionally reduce the derived type IIA couplings on a K3 manifold and show that the resulting one-loop <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msup><mi>α</mi><mo>′</mo></msup></math> corrections in six dimensions transform under S-duality into the dimensional reduction of the tree-level heterotic string Chern-Simons coupling <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msub><mi>H</mi><mrow><mi>μ</mi><mi>ν</mi><mi>α</mi></mrow></msub><msup><mi mathvariant="normal">Ω</mi><mrow><mi>μ</mi><mi>ν</mi><mi>α</mi></mrow></msup></math> on <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msup><mi>T</mi><mn>4</mn></msup></math>. This nontrivial agreement provides strong evidence for the correctness of both the M-theory Chern-Simons term and its reduction to type IIA.

Iran

Mohammad R. Garousi

Dimensional reduction of the M-theory Chern-Simons term at order <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><msubsup><mo>ℓ</mo><mi>p</mi><mn>6</mn></msubsup></math>

We discuss that the string/M-theory partition function requires a choice of ensembles, depending on which background fields are held fixed. The background fields correspond to worldvolume couplings in the effective action approach to the superstring, which we extrapolate to the M2-brane. One natural ensemble in this context, which we call the M2-ensemble, corresponds to fixing the value of the M-theory three-form potential. In holographic setups the choice of ensemble is important when comparing to observables in the dual field theory. Indeed, in AdS holography the M2-ensemble does not map gravitational observables directly to field theory observables at a fixed rank $\textit{N}$, but rather to observables in the grand canonical ensemble. We remark that many M2-brane partition functions take a simple form in this ensemble hinting at one-loop exactness. We also discuss how in AdS holography, the M2-ensemble does correspond to the canonical ensemble in the field theory, i.e. the (2,0) theory at fixed rank $\textit{N}$.

United Kingdom

Friðrik Gautason

Jesse Muiden

Ensembles in M-theory and holography

This paper presents the first search for a cH signal sensitive to the coupling of the charm quark (c) to the Higgs boson (H) in the associated production of at least one charm quark with a Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The results are based on a data set of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected with the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb . Assuming the standard model (SM) rates for all other Higgs boson production processes, the observed (expected) upper limit at 95% confidence level on the cH signal strength is 243 (355) times the SM prediction. Under the same assumption, the observed (expected) allowed interval on the Higgs boson to charm quark coupling modifier, $\textit{κ}$ , is $\textit{|κ}$ $\textit{| <}$ 38$\textit{.}$1 ($\textit{|κ}$ $\textit{| <}$ 72$\textit{.}$5) at 95% confidence level.

C. Velde

N. Den Bossche

Search for a cH signal in the associated production of at least one charm quark with a Higgs boson in the diphoton decay channel in pp collisions at $$\sqrt{s}=13$$ TeV

Many analyses at the CERN LHC exploit the substructure of jets to identify heavy resonances produced with high momenta that decay into multiple quarks and/or gluons. This paper presents a new technique for correcting the substructure of simulated large-radius jets from multiprong decays. The technique is based on reclustering the jet constituents into several subjets such that each subjet represents a single prong, and separately correcting the radiation pattern in the Lund jet plane of each subjet using a correction derived from data. The data presented here correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb collected by the CMS experiment between 2016–2018 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The correction procedure improves the agreement between data and simulation for several different substructure observables of multiprong jets. This technique establishes, for the first time, a robust calibration for the substructure of jets with four or more prongs, enabling future measurements and searches for new phenomena containing these signatures.

A method for correcting the substructure of multiprong jets using the Lund jet plane

Within the framework of the next-to-minimal supersymmetric (SUSY) extension of the Standard Model (SM) with a local B-L gauge symmetry (N-B-LSSM), we study lepton flavor violating (LFV) $ \tau\rightarrow e M^+ M^- $ decays: $ \tau \rightarrow e \pi^+\pi^- $ , $ \tau \rightarrow e \pi^+K^- $ , and $ \tau \rightarrow e K^+K^- $ . Based on the latest experimental data, the influence of different sensitive parameters on the branching ratios is considered. It can be seen from the numerical analysis that the main sensitive parameters and LFV sources are non-diagonal elements corresponding to the initial and final leptons. This work can provide a basis for discovering the existence of new physics (NP).

China

Rong-Zhi Sun

Shu-Min Zhao

Shuang Di

Portugal

Xing-Xing Dong

Study of ${\boldsymbol\tau\rightarrow {\boldsymbol e M^+ M^-}}$ decays in N-B-LSSM * Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFC) (12075074), Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (A2023201040, A2022201022, A2022201017, A2023201041), Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Education Department (QN2022173), Post-graduate's Innovation Fund Project of Hebei University (HBU2024SS042), the Project of the China Scholarship Council (CSC) (202408130113). X. Dong acknowledges support from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) through the projects CFTP FCT Unit (UIDB/00777/2020, UIDP/00777/2020)

Several new physics models including versions of supersymmetry (SUSY) characterized by $\textit{R}$-parity violation (RPV) or with additional hidden sectors predict the production of events with top quarks, low missing transverse momentum, and many additional quarks or gluons. The results of a search for top squarks decaying to two top quarks and six additional light-flavor quarks or gluons are reported. The search employs a novel machine learning method for background estimation from control samples in data using decorrelated discriminators. The search is performed using events with 0, 1, or 2 electrons or muons in conjunction with at least six jets. No requirement is placed on the magnitude of the missing transverse momentum. The result is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions at $$\sqrt{s}=13$$ TeV corresponding to 138 fb of integrated luminosity collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2016–2018. With no statistically significant excess of events observed beyond the expected contributions from the standard model, the data are used to determine upper limits on the top squark pair production cross section in the frameworks of RPV and stealth SUSY. Models with top squark masses less than 700 (930) GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level for RPV (stealth) SUSY scenarios.

Türkiye

Search for top squarks in final states with many light-flavor jets and 0, 1, or 2 charged leptons in proton-proton collisions at $$\sqrt{s}=13$$ TeV