During Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider, the ATLAS experiment recorded proton-proton collision events at 13 TeV, the highest energy ever achieved in a collider. Analysis of this dataset has provided new opportunities for precision measurements of the Higgs boson, including its interaction with the top quark. The Higgs-top coupling can be directly probed through the production of a Higgs boson in association with a top-antitop quark pair (ttH). The Higgs to diphoton decay channel is among the most sensitive for ttH measurements due to the excellent diphoton mass resolution of the ATLAS detector and the clean signature of this decay. Event selection criteria were developed using novel Machine Learning techniques to target ttH events, yielding a precise measurement of the ttH cross section in the diphoton channel and a 6.3 $\sigma$ observation of the ttH process in combination with other decay channels, as well as stringent limits on CP violation in the Higgs-top coupling.

This thesis presents the measurement of the Higgs boson cross section in the diphoton decay channel. The measurement relies on proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy √s = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The collected data correspond to the full Run-2 dataset with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb-1. The measured cross sections are used to constrain anomalous Higgs boson interactions in the Effective Field Theory (EFT) framework. The results presented in this thesis represent a reduction by a factor 2 of the different photon and jet energy scale and resolution systematic uncertainties with respect to the previous ATLAS publication. The thesis details the calibration of electron and photon energies in ATLAS, in particular the measurement of the presampler energy scale and the estimation of its systematic uncertainty. This calibration was used to perform a measurement of the Higgs boson mass in the H → γγ and H → 4l channels using the 36 fb−1 dataset.

This thesis presents the first experimental calibration of the top-quark Monte-Carlo mass. It also provides the top-quark mass-independent and most precise top-quark pair production cross-section measurement to date. The most precise measurements of the top-quark mass obtain the top-quark mass parameter (Monte-Carlo mass) used in simulations, which are partially based on heuristic models. Its interpretation in terms of mass parameters used in theoretical calculations, e.g. a running or a pole mass, has been a long-standing open problem with far-reaching implications beyond particle physics, even affecting conclusions on the stability of the vacuum state of our universe. In this thesis, this problem is solved experimentally in three steps using data obtained with the compact muon solenoid (CMS) detector. The most precise top-quark pair production cross-section measurements to date are performed. The Monte-Carlo mass is determined and a new method for extracting the top-quark mass from theoretical calculations is presented. Lastly, the top-quark production cross-sections are obtained – for the first time – without residual dependence on the top-quark mass, are interpreted using theoretical calculations to determine the top-quark running- and pole mass with unprecedented precision, and are fully consistently compared with the simultaneously obtained top-quark Monte-Carlo mass.

This thesis contains new research in both experimental and theoretical particle physics, making important contributions in each. Two analyses of collision data from the ATLAS experiment at the LHC are presented, as well as two phenomenological studies of heavy coloured resonances that could be produced at the LHC. The first data analysis was the measurement of top quark-antiquark production with a veto on additional jet activity. As the first detector-corrected measurement of jet activity in top-antitop events it played an important role in constraining the theoretical modelling, and ultimately reduced these uncertainties for ATLAS's other top-quark measurements by a factor of two. The second data analysis was the measurement of Z+2jet production and the observation of the electroweak vector boson fusion (VBF) component. As the first observation of VBF at a hadron collider, this measurement demonstrated new techniques to reliably extract VBF processes and paved the way for future VBF Higgs measurements. The first phenomenological study developed a new technique for identifying the colour of heavy resonances produced in proton-proton collisions. As a by-product of this study an unexpected and previously unnoticed correlation was discovered between the probability of correctly identifying a high-energy top and the colour structure of the event it was produced in. The second phenomenological study explored this relationship in more detail, and could have important consequences for the identification of new particles that decay to top quarks.

This doctoral thesis focuses on the search for new phenomena in top-antitop quark (tt) final states with additional b-quark jets at the LHC. It uses the full Run 1 dataset collected by the ATLAS experiment in proton-proton collisions at √s=8 TeV. The final state of interest consists of an isolated lepton, a neutrino and at least six jets with at least four b-tagged jets, a challenging experimental signature owing to the large background from tt+heavy-flavor production. This final state is characteristic of ttH production, with the Higgs boson decaying into bb, a process that allows direct probing of the top-Higgs Yukawa coupling. This signature is also present in many extensions of the Standard Model that have been proposed as solutions to the hierarchy problem, such as supersymmetry or composite Higgs models, which predict the pair production of bosonic or fermionic top quark partners, or the anomalous production of four-top-quark events. All these physics processes have been searched for using an ambitious search strategy that has been developed on the basis of a combination of state-of-art theoretical predictions and a sophisticated statistical analysis to constrain in-situ the large background uncertainties. As a result, the most restrictive bounds to date on the above physics processes have been obtained.

This book introduces the reader to the field of jet substructure, starting from the basic considerations for capturing decays of boosted particles in individual jets, to explaining state-of-the-art techniques. Jet substructure methods have become ubiquitous in data analyses at the LHC, with diverse applications stemming from the abundance of jets in proton-proton collisions, the presence of pileup and multiple interactions, and the need to reconstruct and identify decays of highly-Lorentz boosted particles. The last decade has seen a vast increase in our knowledge of all aspects of the field, with a proliferation of new jet substructure algorithms, calculations and measurements which are presented in this book. Recent developments and algorithms are described and put into the larger experimental context. Their usefulness and application are shown in many demonstrative examples and the phenomenological and experimental effects influencing their performance are discussed. A comprehensive overview is given of measurements and searches for new phenomena performed by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations. This book shows the impressive versatility of jet substructure methods at the LHC.

This unique volume contains the materials of the XXIXth International Workshop on High Energy Physics. The content of the volume is much wider than just high-energy physics and actually concerns all the most fundamental areas of modern physics research: high-energy physics proper, gravitation and cosmology. Presentations embrace both theory and experiment.