This analysis searches for enhancements in Standard Model cross sections in the context of effective field theory. The analysis was performed on the 2017 CMS dataset of proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV center-of-mass energy. Events were chosen from final states containing two leptons of opposite sign or three or more leptons along with a massive boson. The signal processes for the analysis are ttll, ttlnu, ttH, tllq, and tHq, and the signal parameters are 15 carefully selected Wilson coefficients of dimension-6 effective field theory operators. Best fit values and their corresponding uncertainty intervals were determined for these Wilson coefficients, and all are consistent with the Standard Model expectation. In addition, no significant excesses in the Standard Model signal strengths were found.

This book reports on the search for a new heavy particle, the Vector-Like Top quark (VLT), in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The signal process is the pair production of VLT decaying into a Higgs boson and top quark (TT→Ht+X, X=Ht, Wb, Zt). The signal events result in top–antitop quarks final states with additional heavy flavour jets. The book summarises the analysis of the data collected with the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016. In order to better differentiate between signals and backgrounds, exclusive taggers of top quark and Higgs boson were developed and optimised for VLT signals. These efforts improved the sensitivity by roughly 30%, compared to the previous analysis. The analysis outcomes yield the strongest constraints on parameter space in various BSM theoretical models. In addition, the book addresses detector operation and the evaluation of tracking performance. These efforts are essential to properly collecting dense events and improving the accuracy of the reconstructed objects that are used for particle identification. As such, they represent a valuable contribution to data analysis in extremely dense environments.

This thesis presents the search for New Physics in events with four top quarks using the data collected in proton-proton collisions by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The dataset corresponds to the one taken during all 2011 at √s = 7 TeV and a part of 2012 at √s = 8 TeV. The analysis focuses on a final state with two leptons (electrons and muons) with the same electric charge. This signature is experimentally favored since the presence of two same-sign leptons in the final state allows to reduce the background coming from Standard Model (SM) processes. The results are interpreted in the context of a low energy effective field theory, which assumes that New Physics at low energy can manifest itself as a four right-handed top contact interaction. In this context, this analysis allows testing a class of beyond-the-SM (BSM) theories which at low energy can manifest in this way. Backgrounds to this search have been estimated using simulated samples and data-driven techniques. Different sources of systematic uncertainties have been also considered. The final selection of events has been optimized by aiming at minimizing the expected upper limit on the four tops production cross-section in case of no signal events found. The signal region is then analyzed by looking for an excess of events with respect to the predicted background. No excess of events has been observed, and the observed upper limit on the four tops production cross-section has been computed. This limit is then translated to an upper limit on the coupling strength C=2 of the model. An upper limit on the four tops production cross-section in the SM has been also computed in the analysis performed at √s = 8 TeV. In addition to the physics analysis of the four tops signal, some studies about the LASER calibration system of the ATLAS Tile calorimeter are presented. In particular, they are related to the photodiodes system used to measure the intensity of the laser light in the LASER system.

A search for pair production of the lightest supersymmetric partner of the top quark, {tilde t}1, is performed in the lepton+jets channel using 0.9 fb−1 of data collected by the D0 experiment. Kinematic differences between {tilde t}1{bar {tilde t}}1 and the dominant top quark pair production background are used to separate the two processes. First limits from Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron Collider for the scalar top quark decaying to a chargino and a b quark ({tilde t}1 2!{tilde {chi}}1 b) are obtained for scalar top quark masses of 130-190 GeV and chargino masses of 90-150 GeV.

This book discusses searches for Dark Matter at the CERN’s LHC, the world’s most powerful accelerator. It introduces the relevant theoretical framework and includes an in-depth discussion of the Effective Field Theory approach to Dark Matter production and its validity, as well as an overview of the formalism of Simplified Dark Matter models. Despite overwhelming astrophysical evidence for Dark Matter and numerous experimental efforts to detect it, the nature of Dark Matter still remains a mystery and has become one of the hottest research topics in fundamental physics. Two searches for Dark Matter are presented, performed on data collected with the ATLAS experiment. They analyze missing-energy final states with a jet or with top quarks. The analyses are explained in detail, and the outcomes and their interpretations are discussed, also in view of the precedent analysis of theoretical approaches. Given its depth of coverage, the book represents an excellent reference guide for all physicists interested in understanding the theoretical and experimental considerations relevant to Dark Matter searches at the LHC.