Two analyses of data recorded in proton-proton collisions at the ATLAS detector in 2012 are presented in this thesis. The first pertains to the beam separation (van der Meer) scans required to calibrate the absolute luminosity. An estimate is made for the size of the correction needed to the standard van der Meer calibration method, which assumes that the proton bunch density profiles are factorisable. This is done by observing and modelling the evolution of various beam spot phenomena during the separation scans. The second analysis described is a series of measurements of the Z/gamma cross-section, differential in the phi star observable, for different ranges of the boson invariant mass and absolute rapidity. In particular the events in which the boson decays to electron-positron pairs are considered. The phi star observable is defined in terms of the well-measured lepton directions and enables a probe of initial state gluon radiation in the non-perturbative regime of QCD.

A search for the Higgs boson produced with large transverse momentum and decaying as H -> bb is presented, using the 80 fb^{-1} from the dataset collected by the ATLAS detector at sqrt{s}=13 TeV. The Higgs boson is reconstructed as a large-R jet with two b-tagged variable radius track-jets. The work focuses on a peculiar event topology in which the Higgs is produced in association with another Large-R jet. Considering events with reconstructed pT above 480 GeV and with a reconstructed mass from 70-230 GeV, a signal significance of 1.6 sigma for the Higgs and of 5 sigma for the V (Z boson + W boson) is observed. Furthermore, the new Full Run2 analysis is presented, using 136 fb^{-1} from the dataset collected by the ATLAS detector at sqrt{s}=13 TeV. The strategy up to the computation of the expected sensitivity for the Higgs boson is presented in this thesis. The validation of the background modeling is described in details, including tests on data. A preliminary extraction of the Z boson signal is performed and the measured signal strength corresponds to muZ = 0.82 +/- 0.09.

This thesis will present results on the measurement of Z boson production in the electron channel associated with b-jets in proton-proton collision at 13 TeV, a measurement of fundamental interest in precision measurements and physics searches. This measurement represents important precision tests of perturbative QCD and provides information related to the b-quark inside of the proton. This measurement also represents one of the main sources of background in top quark production studies, Higgs precision measurements and the search for supersymmetric particles. The results on cross section measurements and kinematic distributions presented in this work have been unfolded to particle level and are compared to the four and five flavor schemes in Monte Carlo generators, showing that the predictions are consistent within the experimental uncertainties. In this thesis it will be also shown results of the development of the new event selection system proposed for high luminosity measurements. This system will be implemented during the second LHC long shutdown (2019-2020), which involves studies on the reconstruction of electrons using the concept of supercells, where the fine granularity of the cells of the ATLAS Liquid Argon detector is exploited to mitigate the problems to be found in high luminosity conditions. One of the problems is the increase of pile-up, caused by secondary collisions of protons in the same event, generating a large number of low pT jets that can be erroneously identified as electrons. The studies in this work introduce new discriminants based on the electromagnetic shower shape, showing that is possible to further reduce the rate of low pT jets maintaining a good performance on electron reconstruction. / Esta tese apresentará resultados da medida da produção de bósons Z no canal de elétrons associado com jatos b em colisões próton-próton a 13 TeV, uma medida de fundamental interesse em medidas de precisão e buscas por nova física. Essa medida representa importantes testes de precisão da QCD perturbativa e prove informações relacionadas ao quark b dentro do próton. Essa medida também representa uma das principais fontes de background na produção do quark top, medidas de precisão do Higgs e na busca de partículas supersimétricas. Os resultados na medida da seção de choque e distribuições cinemáticas apresentadas neste trabalho são comparados com os esquemas de quatro e cinco sabores nos geradores Monte Carlo, mostrando que as predições são consistentes dentro das incertezas experimentais. Nesta tese também serão apresentados estudos do desenvolvimento de um sistema de seleção de eventos proposto para medidas em alta luminosidade. Esse sistema será implementado durante o segundo LHC long shutdown (2019-2020), envolvendo estudos na reconstrução de elétrons usando o conceito de supercélulas, onde a fina granularidade das células do detector de Argônio Líquido do ATLAS será aproveitada para mitigar as dificuldades que se terão em condições de alta luminosidade. Um dos problemas é o aumento do empilhamento (pile-up), causado por colisões secundárias de prótons no mesmo evento, gerando uma grande quantidade de jatos de baixo pT que podem ser erroneamente identificados como elétrons. Os estudos neste trabalho apresentam novos discriminantes com base na forma da cascata eletromagnética, mostrando que é possível reduzir ainda mais a taxa de jatos de baixo pT mantendo uma boa reconstrução de elétrons.

This thesis will present results on the measurement of Z boson production in the electron channel associated with b-jets in proton-proton collision at 13 TeV, a measurement of fundamental interest in precision measurements and physics searches. This measurement represents important precision tests of perturbative QCD and provides information related to the b-quark inside of the proton. This measurement also represents one of the main sources of background in top quark production studies, Higgs precision measurements and the search for supersymmetric particles. The results on cross section measurements and kinematic distributions presented in this work have been unfolded to particle level and are compared to the four and five flavor schemes in Monte Carlo generators, showing that the predictions are consistent within the experimental uncertainties. In this thesis it will be also shown results of the development of the new event selection system proposed for high luminosity measurements. This system will be implemented during the second LHC long shutdown (2019-2020), which involves studies on the reconstruction of electrons using the concept of supercells, where the fine granularity of the cells of the ATLAS Liquid Argon detector is exploited to mitigate the problems to be found in high luminosity conditions. One of the problems is the increase of pile-up, caused by secondary collisions of protons in the same event, generating a large number of low pT jets that can be erroneously identified as electrons. The studies in this work introduce new discriminants based on the electromagnetic shower shape, showing that is possible to further reduce the rate of low pT jets maintaining a good performance on electron reconstruction. / Esta tese apresentará resultados da medida da produção de bósons Z no canal de elétrons associado com jatos b em colisões próton-próton a 13 TeV, uma medida de fundamental interesse em medidas de precisão e buscas por nova física. Essa medida representa importantes testes de precisão da QCD perturbativa e prove informações relacionadas ao quark b dentro do próton. Essa medida também representa uma das principais fontes de background na produção do quark top, medidas de precisão do Higgs e na busca de partículas supersimétricas. Os resultados na medida da seção de choque e distribuições cinemáticas apresentadas neste trabalho são comparados com os esquemas de quatro e cinco sabores nos geradores Monte Carlo, mostrando que as predições são consistentes dentro das incertezas experimentais. Nesta tese também serão apresentados estudos do desenvolvimento de um sistema de seleção de eventos proposto para medidas em alta luminosidade. Esse sistema será implementado durante o segundo LHC long shutdown (2019-2020), envolvendo estudos na reconstrução de elétrons usando o conceito de supercélulas, onde a fina granularidade das células do detector de Argônio Líquido do ATLAS será aproveitada para mitigar as dificuldades que se terão em condições de alta luminosidade. Um dos problemas é o aumento do empilhamento (pile-up), causado por colisões secundárias de prótons no mesmo evento, gerando uma grande quantidade de jatos de baixo pT que podem ser erroneamente identificados como elétrons. Os estudos neste trabalho apresentam novos discriminantes com base na forma da cascata eletromagnética, mostrando que é possível reduzir ainda mais a taxa de jatos de baixo pT mantendo uma boa reconstrução de elétrons.

There are experimental and theoretical indications that the Standard Model of particle physics, although tremendously successful, is not sufficient to describe the universe, even at energies well below the Planck scale. One of the most promising new theories to resolve major open questions, the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, predicts additional neutral and charged Higgs bosons, among other new particles. For the search of the new heavy neutral bosons, the decay into two hadronically decaying tau leptons is especially interesting, as in large parts of the search parameter space it has the second largest branching ratio while allowing for a considerably better background rejection than the leading decay into b-quark pairs. This search, based on proton-proton collisions recorded at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV in 2015 and early 2016 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, is presented in this thesis. No significant deviation from the Standard Model expectation is observed and CLs exclusion limits are determined, both model-independent and in various MSSM benchmark scenarios. The MSSM exclusion limits are significantly stronger compared to previous searches, due to the increased collision energy and improvements of the event selection and background estimation techniques. The upper limit on tan beta at 95% confidence level in the mhmod+ MSSM benchmark scenario ranges from 10 at mA = 300 GeV to 48 at mA = 1.2 TeV.

The search for additional heavy neutral Higgs bosons predicted in Minimal Supersymmetric Extensions of the Standard Model is presented, using the direct decay channel into two tau leptons which themselves decay hadronically. The study is based on proton-proton collisions recorded in 2011 at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. With a sample size corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.5 fb−1, no significant excess above the expected Standard Model background prediction is observed and CLs exclusion limits at a 95% confidence level are evaluated for values of the CP-odd Higgs boson mass mA between 140 GeV to 800 GeV within the context of the mhmax and mhmod± benchmark scenarios. The results are combined with searches for neutral Higgs bosons performed using proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector in 2012, with a corresponding integrated luminosity of 19.5 fb−1. The combination allowed an improvement of the exclusion limit at the order of 1 to 3 units in tan β. Within the context of this study, the structure of additional interactions during a single proton-proton collision (the “underlying event”) in di-jet final states is analyzed using collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector in 2010, with a corresponding integrated luminosity of 37 pb−1. The contribution of the underlying event is measured up to an energy scale of 800 GeV and compared to the predictions of various models. For several models, significant deviations compared to the measurements are found and the results are provided for the optimization of simulation algorithms.

This thesis presents a search for neutral bosons, such as new Higgs and Z' bosons, predicted by theories extending the Standard Model of particle physics. The search is performed in the di-tau analysis channel, where both tau leptons decay hadronically. Promising candidates of such theories are the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) and the non-universal G(221) model, which predict large couplings to tau leptons in large regions of their parameter space. Proton–proton collisions produced by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, recorded with the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016, are analyzed for this search. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb^-1. This search relies on sophisticated algorithms for the reconstruction of hadronic tau decays from their decay products. This thesis presents a novel approach employing multivariate techniques to significantly improve existing algorithms, which became the default for reconstruction of hadronic tau decays in ATLAS since 2017. Additionally, the new method can provide useful information for subsequent tau identification algorithms. The MSSM extends the Higgs sector of the Standard Model by four additional Higgs bosons. Of particular interest for this thesis are the neutral CP-even H and CP-odd A bosons. The search for these bosons is performed in the mass range of 0.2 TeV to 2.25 TeV in two orthogonal categories depending on the number of identified b-quarks, each preferring one of the two considered production modes via gluon–gluon fusion or b-associated production. The data are in good agreement with the Standard Model prediction. Upper limits are set on the cross-section times branching fraction using a confidence level (CL) of 95 % independently for both production modes. Most stringent observed limits are found for a resonance mass of 1.5 TeV to be 4.94 fb and 3.65 fb for gluon–gluon fusion and b-associated production, respectively. The results are further interpreted in the hMSSM, mhmax and mhmod scenarios. Observed upper limits in the hMSSM scenario on tanβ are found to be between 4.6 at mA = 0.25 TeV and 41.4 at mA = 1.5 TeV. The search for additional Z' bosons is performed independently on the number of identified b-quarks in the mass range of 0.2 TeV to 4 TeV. As for the search for additional Higgs bosons no significant hint for new physics has been observed. 95 % CL observed upper limits are set on the cross-section times branching fraction for Z' bosons in the Sequential Standard Model (SSM) benchmark scenario between 20.5 pb at mZ' = 0.2 TeV and 7.74 fb at mZ' = 1.75 TeV. The observed upper limit for the highest considered mass of mZ' = 4 TeV is found to be 16 fb. Z' bosons in the SSM and the non-universal G(221) model are excluded at 95 % CL for masses below 2353 GeV and 2232 GeV, respectively.

The discovery of a heavy neutral particle would be a direct hint for new physics beyond the Standard Model. In this thesis searches for new heavy neutral particles decaying into two tau leptons, which further decay into hadrons, are presented. They cover neutral Higgs bosons in the context of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) as well as Z′ bosons, predicted by various theories with an extended gauge sector. Both analyses are based on the full 2012 proton-proton collision dataset taken by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The extended Higgs sector in the MSSM suggests additional heavy neutral Higgs bosons which decay into tau leptons in about 10% of the time. Given that the dominant final state, φ → b¯b, suffers from tremendous QCD initiated backgrounds, the decay into two tau leptons is the most promising final state to discover such new resonances. The fully hadronic final state is the dominant one with a branching fraction of about 42%. It governs the sensitivity, in particular at high transverse momentum when the QCD multijet background becomes small. Other theoretical extensions of the Standard Model, which are mainly driven by the concept of gauge unification, predict additional heavy particles arising from an extended underlying gauge group. Some of them further predict an enhanced coupling to fermions of the third generation. This motivates the search for Z′ bosons in the fully hadronic di-tau final state. One major challenge in physics analyses involving tau leptons is to have an outstanding performance of trigger and identification algorithms suitable to select real tau leptons with high efficiency, while rejecting fake taus originating from quark or gluon initiated jets. In this work a new tau trigger concept based on multivariate classifiers has been developed and became the default tau trigger algorithm in 2012 data-taking. An updated tau identification technique based on the log-likelihood approach has been provided for 2011 data-taking. Furthermore, a new framework has been developed to perform the tuning of the tau identification algorithm and exploited for the optimisation for 2012 data-taking, accordingly. The search for new heavy neutral Higgs bosons in the context of the MSSM has been performed exploiting the full 2012 dataset corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.5 fb−1 taken at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 8 TeV. Updated event selection criteria and novel data-driven background estimation techniques have been developed and are suitable to increase the sensitivity of the analysis significantly. No deviations from the Standard Model prediction are observed, and thus 95% C.L. exclusion limits on the production cross section times branching ratio, σ(pp → φ) × BR(φ → ττ), are derived exploiting the CLs method. The exclusion ranges from 13.0 pb at 150GeV to 7.0 fb at 1 TeV for Higgs boson production in association with b-quarks and from 23.6 pb at 150GeV to 7.5 fb at 1 TeV for Higgs bosons produced via gluon-gluon fusion. The obtained exclusion limit on σ(pp → φ) × BR(φ → ττ) can be related to an exclusion of the MSSM parameter space in the MA-tan β-plane. Various benchmark scenario are considered. The ”standard candle” is the mhmax scenario, for which tan β values between 13.3 and 55 can be excluded at 95% C.L. in the considered mass range. Updated benchmark scenarios designed to incorporate the recently discovered SM-like Higgs boson were suggested and analysed as well. In the mhmod+ (mhmod−) scenario tan β values between 13.5 (13.3 ) and 55 (52 ) can be excluded. Finally, a search for heavy neutral resonances in the context of Z′ bosons was performed. As in the search for new Higgs bosons, no deviation from the Standard Model prediction is observed, and hence exclusion limits on the production cross section times branching ratio, σ(pp → Z′) × BR(Z′ → ττ), and on the Z′ boson mass are derived exploiting the Bayesian approach. Z′ bosons with MZ′ < 1.9 TeV can be excluded at 95% credibility, and thus mark the strongest exclusion limit obtained in the di-tau final state by any collider experiment so far.

Die Entdeckung eines geladenen Higgs-Bosons, H+, wäre ein unbestreitbarer Nachweis von Physik jenseits des Standardmodells. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird die Suche nach dem H+ mit Hilfe von Proton-Proton-Kollisionen, welche im Jahr 2011 mit dem ATLAS Experiment am Large Hadron Collider, LHC, des CERN aufgenommen wurden, beschrieben. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurde eine überarbeitete Analyse der Suche nach geladenen Higgs-Bosonen, die eine Verhältnismethode anwendet und damit die Sensitivität des traditionell direkten Suchansatzes stark verbessert, durchgeführt. Leichte geladene Higgs-Bosonen, welche eine Masse geringer als die des Top-Quarks aufweisen, können aus einem Top-Quark-Zerfall hervorgehen. Im Gegensatz zu den schweren geladenen Higgs-Bosonen sind die leichten aufgrund des hohen Produktionswirkungsquerschnitts von Top-Quark-Paaren am LHC potenziell mit den ersten Daten des Experiments beobachtbar. In den meisten Theorien und Szenarien sowie dem größten Bereich ihres Phasenraumes zerfallen leichte geladene Higgs-Bosonen meist im H± → τ±ν Kanal. Demzufolge spielen sowohl die τ-Identifikation als auch die τ-Fehlidentifikation eine besondere Rolle für die Suche nach geladenen Higgs-Bosonen. Eigens für die Ermittlung der Fehlidentifikationswahrscheinlichkeiten von Elektronen als hadronisch zerfallende τ-Leptonen wurde eine “tag-and-probe”-Methode, basierend auf Z → ee Ereignissen, entwickelt. Diese Messungen sind mit den allerersten Daten durchgeführt worden. Dabei haben diese einerseits für alle Analysen, welche die Elektronenveto-Algorithmen der τ-Identifikation nutzen, essenzielle Skalenfaktoren hervorgebracht. Andererseits wurde, beruhend auf diesen Ergebnissen, eine datenbasierte Abschätzungsmethode entwickelt und für die Untergründe der geladenen Higgs-Boson-Suche, die von der Fehlidentifikation von Elektronen als hadronisch zerfallende τ-Leptonen stammen, erfolgreich implementiert. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurden Triggerstudien, mit dem Ziel höchstmögliche Signaleffizienzen zu gewährleisten, durchgeführt. Neuartige Triggerobjekte, basierend auf einer Kombination aus τ-Trigger und fehlender transversaler Energie-Trigger, wurden entworfen, überprüft und in das Triggermenü für die Datennahme im Jahr 2012 aufgenommen. Eine direkte Suche nach dem geladenen Higgs-Boson wurde in drei Kanälen mit einem τ-Lepton im Endzustand unter Berücksichtigung des gesamten Datensatzes des Jahres 2011 durchgeführt. Da kein signifikanter Überschuss, der von den Vorhersagen des Standardmodells abweicht, in den Daten beobachtet wurde, sind obere Ausschlussgrenzen auf B(t → bH+) gesetzt worden. Letztlich ist die Analyse des Kanals mit einem hadronisch zerfallenden τ-Lepton und einem Myon oder Elektron im Endzustand des tt ̄-Zerfalls, unter Anwendung der sogenannten Verhältnismethode, wiederholt worden. Diese Methode misst Verhältnisse von Ereignisausbeuten, anstatt die Verteilungen diskriminierender Variablen zu evaluieren. Folglich kürzen sich die meisten dominant beitragenden systematischen Unsicherheiten intrinsisch heraus. Die Daten stimmen mit den Vorhersagen des Standardmodells überein. Durch Zuhilfenahme der Verhältnismethode wurden die oberen Ausschlussgrenzen, im Vergleich zur direkten Suche, signifikant verbessert. Die Resultate der Verhältnismethode sind mit denen der direkten Suche, welche ein hadronisch zerfallendes τ-Lepton und zwei Jets im Endzustand des tt ̄-Zerfalls nutzt, kombiniert worden. Auf diese Art und Weise konnten obere Ausschlussgrenzen auf B(t → bH+) in einem Bereich von 0,8 %–3,4 % für geladene Higgs-Bosonen in einem Massenbereich für m_H+ zwischen 90 GeV und 160 GeV gesetzt werden. Sollte das Minimal Supersymmetrische Standardmodell (MSSM) in der Natur realisiert sein, so haben die hier ermittelten oberen Ausschlussgrenzen auf B(t → bH+) direkte Konsequenzen für die Identität des Higgs-Boson-ähnlichen Teilchens, welches im Jahr 2012 am LHC entdeckt wurde.:Kurzfassung v Abstract vii Contents ix 1 Introduction 1 2 Theoretical Framework 3 2.1 The Standard Model of Particle Physics 3 2.1.1 Particles, Fields and Interactions 3 2.1.2 Gauge Theory in a Nutshell 6 2.1.3 Brout-Englert-Higgs Mechanism 9 2.2 Supersymmetry 11 2.2.1 Sources of Supersymmetry Breaking 20 2.2.2 Two Higgs Doublet Model 21 2.2.3 Charged Higgs Boson Production and Decay 22 2.3 Current Status of charged Higgs Boson Searches 24 3 Monte Carlo Simulation 33 3.1 Methodology of Monte Carlo Simulation 33 3.2 Monte Carlo Simulation for Electron to t Mis-identification Analysis 35 3.3 Monte Carlo Simulation for H± Analysis with Data taken 2010 35 3.4 Monte Carlo Simulation for H± Analyses with Data taken 2011 37 4 LHC and the ATLAS Detector 41 4.1 The Large Hadron Collider 41 4.2 The ATLAS Detector 42 4.2.1 Magnet Systems 46 4.2.2 Inner Detector 47 4.2.3 Calorimeter Systems 50 4.2.4 Muon Spectrometer 60 4.2.5 Forward Detectors 61 4.2.6 Trigger and Data Acquisition 63 4.3 Data Taking 67 5 Event Selection and Data-Driven Background Estimation Techniques 73 5.1 Event Cleaning 74 5.2 Trigger for the Charged Higgs Boson Analyses 74 5.2.1 Trigger for the thad+Lepton and tlep+Jets Channels 75 5.2.2 Trigger for the thad+Jets Channel 77 5.3 Physics Object Reconstruction 77 5.3.1 Muons 77 5.3.2 Electrons 77 5.3.3 Jets 78 5.3.4 b-Tagging 79 5.3.5 Hadronically decaying t Leptons 79 5.3.6 Missing Transverse Momentum 79 5.3.7 Removal of Geometric Overlaps between Objects 80 5.4 Selection and Cut Optimisation 80 5.4.1 thad+Lepton Analysis Selection 80 5.4.2 tlep+Jets Analysis Selection 82 5.4.3 thad+Jets Analysis Selection 83 5.5 Background Estimations 84 5.5.1 Measurement of the t Lepton Mis-identification Probability from Electrons 84 5.5.2 Backgrounds with Electrons and Jets Mis-identified as t Leptons 88 5.5.3 Embedding Method 92 5.5.4 Multi-Jet Background 92 5.5.5 Backgrounds with Mis-identified Leptons 93 6 Direct Searches for the Charged Higgs Boson 95 6.1 Analysis of the thad+Lepton Channel 95 6.2 Analysis of the tlep+Jets Channel 95 6.3 Analysis of the thad+Jets Channel 98 6.4 Systematic Uncertainties 101 6.4.1 Systematic Uncertainties of Detector Simulation 101 6.4.2 Systematic Uncertainties of Generation of tt Events 103 6.4.3 Systematic Uncertainties of Data-Driven Background Estimates 103 6.5 Results 107 7 Indirect Search for the Charged Higgs Boson – The Ratio-Method 111 7.1 Ratio-Method: A Re-Analysis of the thad+Lepton Channel 111 7.2 Event Selection 112 7.3 Measured Event Yield Ratios 115 7.4 Systematic Uncertainties 115 7.4.1 Systematic Uncertainties of Detector Simulation 115 7.4.2 Systematic Uncertainties of Generation of tt Events 115 7.4.3 Systematic Uncertainties of Data-Driven Background Estimates 118 7.5 Results 119 7.5.1 Upper Limits obtained from Results of the Ratio-Method 119 7.5.2 Combination of Upper Limits obtained from Direct Searches for Charged Higgs Bosons in the thad+jets final state and the Ratio-Method Results 124 8 Comparison and Discussion of the Results 131 9 Summary and Outlook 137 A Monte Carlo Simulation Samples 141 A.1 Monte Carlo Simulation Samples for 2010 Analyses 141 A.1.1 Monte Carlo Simulation Samples for the Electron to t Lepton Mis-identification Analysis 141 A.1.2 Monte Carlo Simulation Samples for the H± Analysis 143 A.2 Monte Carlo Simulation Samples for 2011 Analyses 147 A.2.1 Monte Carlo Samples for H± Ratio-Method Search Analysis 147 List of Figures 149 List of Tables 153 Bibliography 155 Acknowledgements 179

Die Suche nach dem Higgs-Boson des Standardmodells der Teilchenphysik stellte einen der Hauptgründe für den Bau des Large Hadron Colliders (LHC) dar, dem derzeit größten Teilchenphysik-Experiment der Welt. Die vorliegende Arbeit ist gleichfalls von dieser Suche getrieben. Der direkte Zerfall des Higgs-Bosons in Myonen wird untersucht. Dieser Kanal hat mehrere Vorteile. Zum einen ist der Endzustand, bestehend aus zwei Myonen unterschiedlicher Ladung, leicht nachzuweisen und besitzt eine klare Signatur. Weiterhin ist die Massenauflösung hervorragend, sodass eine gegebenenfalls vorhandene Resonanz gleich in ihrer grundlegenden Eigenschaft - ihrer Masse - bestimmt werden kann. Leider ist der Zerfall des Higgs-Bosons in ein Paar von Myonen sehr selten. Lediglich etwa 2 von 10000 erzeugten Higgs-Bosonen zeigen diesen Endzustand . Außerdem existiert mit dem Standardmodellprozess Z/γ∗ → μμ ein Zerfall mit einer sehr ähnlichen Signatur, jedoch um Größenordnungen höherer Eintrittswahrscheinlichkeit. Auf ein entstandenes Higgs-Boson kommen so etwa 1,5 Millionen Z-Bosonen, welche am LHC bei einer Schwerpunktsenergie von 8 TeV produziert werden. In dieser Arbeit werden zwei eng miteinander verwandte Analysen präsentiert. Zum einen handelt es sich hierbei um die Untersuchung des Datensatzes von Proton-Proton-Kollisionen bei einer Schwerpunktsenergie von 8 TeV, aufgezeichnet vom ATLAS-Detektor im Jahre 2012, auch als alleinstehende Analyse bezeichnet. Zum anderen erfolgt die Präsentation der kombinierten Analyse des kompletten Run-I Datensatzes, welcher aus Aufzeichnungen von Proton-Proton-Kollisionen der Jahre 2011 und 2012 bei Schwerpunktsenergien von 7 TeV bzw. 8 TeV besteht. In beiden Fällen wird die Verteilung der invarianten Myon-Myon-Masse nach einer schmalen Resonanzsignatur auf der kontinuierlichen Untergrundverteilung hin untersucht. Dabei dient die theoretisch erwartete Massenverteilung sowie die Massenauflösung des ATLAS-Detektors als Grundlage, um analytische Parametrisierungen der Signal- und Untergrundverteilungen zu entwickeln. Auf diese Art wird der Einfluss systematischer Unsicherheiten auf Grund von ungenauer Beschreibung der Spektren in Monte-Carlo Simulationen verringert. Verbleibende systematische Unsicherheiten auf die Signalakzeptanz werden auf eine neuartige Weise bestimmt. Zusätzlich wird ein bisher einzigartiger Ansatz verfolgt, um die systematische Unsicherheit resultierend aus der Wahl der Untergrundparametrisierung in der kombinierten Analyse verfolgt. Zum ersten Mal wird dabei die Methode des scheinbaren Signals auf einem simulierten Untergrunddatensatz auf Generator-Niveau angewendet, was eine Bestimmung des Einflusses des Untergrundmodells auf die Anzahl der ermittelten Signalereignisse mit nie dagewesener Präzision ermöglicht. In keiner der durchgeführten Analysen konnte ein signifikanter Überschuss im invarianten Massenspektrum des Myon-Myon-Systems nachgewiesen werden, sodass obere Ausschlussgrenzen auf die Signalstärke μ = σ/σ(SM) in Abhängigkeit von der Higgs-Boson-Masse gesetzt werden. Dabei sind Stärken von μ ≥ 10,13 bzw. μ ≥ 7,05 mit einem Konfidenzniveau von 95% durch die alleinstehende bzw. kombinierte Analyse ausgeschlossen, jeweils für eine Higgs-Boson-Masse von 125,5 GeV. Die erzielten Ergebnisse werden ebenfalls im Hinblick auf die kürzlich erfolgte Entdeckung des neuen Teilchens interpretiert, dessen Eigenschaften mit den Vorhersagen eines Standardmodell-Higgs-Bosons mit einer Masse von etwa 125,5 GeV kompatibel sind. Dabei werden obere Grenzen auf das Verzweigungsverhältnis von BR(H → μμ) ≤ 1,3 × 10^−3 und auf die Yukawa-Kopplung des Myons von λμ ≤ 1,6 × 10^−3 gesetzt, jeweils mit einem Konfidenzniveau von 95%.:1. Introduction 2. Theoretical Foundations 3. Experimental Setup 4. Event Simulation 5. Muon Reconstruction and Identification 6. Event Selection 7. Signal and Background Modeling 8. Systematic Uncertainties 9. Statistical Methods 10. Results 11. Summary and Outlook / The search for the Standard Model Higgs boson was one of the key motivations to build the world’s largest particle physics experiment to date, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This thesis is equally driven by this search, and it investigates the direct muonic decay of the Higgs boson. The decay into muons has several advantages: it provides a very clear final state with two muons of opposite charge, which can easily be detected. In addition, the muonic final state has an excellent mass resolution, such that an observed resonance can be pinned down in one of its key properties: its mass. Unfortunately, the decay of a Standard Model Higgs boson into a pair of muons is very rare, only two out of 10000 Higgs bosons are predicted to exhibit this decay. On top of that, the non-resonant Standard Model background arising from the Z/γ∗ → μμ process has a very similar signature, while possessing a much higher cross-section. For one produced Higgs boson, there are approximately 1.5 million Z bosons produced at the LHC for a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. Two related analyses are presented in this thesis: the investigation of 20.7 fb^−1 of the proton-proton collision dataset recorded by the ATLAS detector in 2012, referred to as standalone analysis, and the combined analysis as the search in the full run-I dataset consisting of proton-proton collision data recorded in 2011 and 2012, which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of L = 24.8 fb^−1 . In each case, the dimuon invariant mass spectrum is examined for a narrow resonance on top of the continuous background distribution. The dimuon phenomenology and ATLAS detector performance serve as the foundations to develop analytical models describing the spectra. Using these analytical parametrisations for the signal and background mass distributions, the sensitivity of the analyses to systematic uncertainties due to Monte-Carlo simulation mismodeling are minimised. These residual systematic uncertainties are addressed in a unique way as signal acceptance uncertainties. In addition, a new approach to assess the systematic uncertainty associated with the choice of the background model is designed for the combined analysis. For the first time, the spurious signal technique is performed on generator-level simulated background samples, which allows for a precise determination of the background fit bias. No statistically significant excess in the dimuon invariant mass spectrum is observed in either analysis, and upper limits are set on the signal strength μ = σ/σ(SM) as a function of the Higgs boson mass. Signal strengths of μ ≥ 10.13 and μ ≥ 7.05 are excluded for a Higgs boson mass of 125.5 GeV with a confidence level of 95% by the standalone and combined analysis, respectively. In the light of the discovery of a particle consistent with the predictions for a Standard Model Higgs boson with a mass of m H = 125.5 GeV, the search results are reinterpreted for this special case, setting upper limits on the Higgs boson branching ratio of BR(H →μμ) ≤ 1.3 × 10^−3, and on the muon Yukawa coupling of λμ ≤ 1.6 × 10^−3 , both with a confidence level of 95 %.:1. Introduction 2. Theoretical Foundations 3. Experimental Setup 4. Event Simulation 5. Muon Reconstruction and Identification 6. Event Selection 7. Signal and Background Modeling 8. Systematic Uncertainties 9. Statistical Methods 10. Results 11. Summary and Outlook