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The first measurement of the production cross section for a single top quark in association with a W boson with the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider is presented. The analysed data is from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 fb-1. The analysis focuses on the leptonic final states of the process and implements a cut-based method. The final state consists of two leptons, two neutrinos and a jet from the fragmentation of a b-quark. The primary source of background events arises from tt(overbar) production, followed by Z/gamma* processes. The observed signal has a significance of 3:5sigma and corresponds to a cross section measurement of 14:9+5:0 -5:1 (stat + syst) pb, in agreement with the Standard Model expectations.

Deux analyses de physique des particules à hautes énergies sont présentées dans ce manuscrit de thèse, utilisant des événements avec deux leptons de charges opposées et de l'énergie transverse manquante. Ces événements sont sélectionnés parmi 9.7 fb-1 de données totales de collisions pp enregistrées par le détecteur DØ auprès du collisionneur TeVatron du Fermilab à √s=1.96 TeV.La première analyse est la recherche du boson de Higgs se désintégrant en H→WW→μνμν. Aucun excès significatif au-dessus de l'attente pour le bruit de fond n'est observé.Des limites supérieures sur la section efficace de production du boson de Higgs sont donc calculées dans le cadre du modèle standard mais aussi dans l'hypothèse de l'existence d'une quatrième génération de fermions et dans le contexte de couplages fermiophobiques du boson de Higgs.Pour valider la méthodologie de cette recherche, la section efficace de production de la paire de bosons W est mesurée.La seconde analyse est la mesure de l'asymétrie avant-arrière de production de la paire tt. Il s'agit de la première mesure dans le canal dileptonique de l'expérience DØ. Dans ce contexte, une méthode inédite de reconstruction de la cinématique de la paire est utilisée (méthode des éléments de matrice) pour donner une mesure brute de l'asymétrie avant-arrière. A l'aide d'une méthode de calibration dédiée, nous donnons une mesure finale de AFB=18.0 ± 6.0 (stat) ± 3.3 (syst). / Two high energy particle physics analyses are presented in this PhD report using events with two leptons oppositely charged and with missing transverse energy. These events are selected using 9.7 fb-1 of total pp collisions data collected with the DØ detector at the TeVatron at √s=1.96 TeV.The first analysis is the research of the Higgs boson decaying in the H→WW→μνμν channel. No significant excess above the background prediction is observed.Upper limits on Higgs boson production cross-section are computed in the standard model framework but also in the 4th generation of fermions and in the fermiophobic coupling to Higgs boson hypotheses. In order to validate the research methodology, the W boson pair production cross-section is measured.The second analysis is the measurement of the forward-backward asymmetry of the tt pair production. This is the first measurement in the dileptonic channel at DØ experiment. In this context, a new tt pair kinematic reconstruction is used (matrix element method) to give a raw measurement of the forward-backward asymmetry. Thanks to a dedicated calibration method, we give a final measurement of AFB=18.0 ± 6.0 (stat) ± 3.3 (syst).

Thesis advisor: Vidya Madhavan / It has been long established that the phenomenon of superconductivity is administered by lattice deformations (phonons) which act to pair electrons into spinless bosons free to condense into a coherent ground state. This superconducting phase is protected up to a critical temperature above which thermal fluctuations are potent enough to destroy the resistance free phase. The strength of this phonon mediation has been calculated by strong coupling theory and found to be capable of accommodating pairing up to near 40 K. So with the advent of copper-oxide (cuprate) superconductors boasting transitions temperatures exceeding 90 K it was clear that these material represented a new breed of superconducting physics. More than twenty years after the initial discovery of these high-transition temperatures the most basic questions are yet to be answered, the most fundamental of which is by what mechanism does pairing occur? The field splits between those who feel that a boson mediator is still necessary to act as the virtual glue which binds electrons into cooper pairs while others insist that really the Coulomb force alone is enough to induce pairing physics. Even within the boson-seeker community there is no consensus on what particular type of boson is contained in this system whether it be a lattice excitation or spin excitation. This answer has been clouded by previous experimental results on the hole-doped cuprates which have made strong cases for every scenario rendering them largely inconclusive. For this answer though it is possible to explore materials that have not yet been clouded by conflicting results by performing the first high resolution ultra-high-vacuum low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) study of an electron-doped cuprate. A distinct and unambiguous bosonic mode is found at energy near 10.5 meV. Through comparison with other experimental data it is found that this mode does not fit the characteristics of a phonon. It is found, through comparison with neutron scattering experiments on the same sample, that this mode is consistent with a spin collective mode. Further more it is found that this mode is linked with the strength of superconductivity nominating it as the possible electron pairing mechanism. Doping and temperature dependence studies are performed to investigate this possibility. Finally the same procedures developed can be applied to the newly discovered iron based superconductors which may represent yet another type of new superconductor physics. Initial results on the first bosonic mode STM study of SrFe$_{2-x}$Co$_{x}$As$_{2}$ and BaFe$_{2-x}$Co$_{x}$As$_{2}$ are presented. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Physics.

Since the observation of a narrow mass resonance consistent with the Higgs boson by ATLAS and CMS collaborations in 2012, a number of important studies have been made in order to understand the properties of the newly discovered particle. The most fundamental precision measurements include the Higgs coupling to other particles and itself; properties that have a direct relation with the total decay width. The theoretical total width of the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson is extremely small (4.2 MeV), making its direct measurement by the LHC experiments non feasible due to the finite experimental detector resolution. Recent publications have shown a novel way to set an indirect limit on the total Higgs boson width by using measurements of both off-shell and on-shell production. This thesis presents a determination of the off-shell Higgs boson coupling, and a further interpretation of the Higgs total width in the H → ZZ → 4l channel (l = e; μ). The results are based on pp collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb-1 at a collision energy of √s = 8 TeV. Using the CLs statistical method and assuming the same higher-order QCD corrections applied for both signal and background processes, the observed 95% confidence level (CL) upper limit on the off-shell signal strength is 7.3 (with the yields normalized to the SM expectation). Similarly, the 95% CL upper limit on the Higgs total width is 24.7 MeV. The LHC will undergo its last big upgrade in 2021, in preparation for the high-luminosity LHC Run (HL-LHC), with a luminosity increase of approximately a factor of 5 beyond its nominal design rate. Raising the muon transverse momentum threshold becomes a necessity in order to maintain a low online selection rate with the existing trigger system, at the cost of a reduced efficiency for the electroweak scale physics. An alternative to this approach is a proposed design of a first-level hardware trigger that uses tracking information. Being able to use tracking information at the first level of the ATLAS trigger in the implementation of a muon isolation algorithm offers an extra handle for differentiating between signal and background. The second part of this thesis presents studies on the performance of tracking-based muon isolation designed for a first-level hardware trigger system. These studies demonstrate the improved trigger performance of the muon isolation algorithm when compared to an increase of the transverse momentum threshold of the muon candidates.

<p>Conventional searches for the charged Higgs boson using its production in association with Standard Model (SM) quarks is notoriously weak in the mid-tanB range. Hoping to find an alternate channel to fill this gap, the production of the charged Higgs boson in association with supersymmetric squarks is studied. Using Monte Carlo generators the production at the LHC is simulated within the non universal Higgs mass model (NUHM). If the six parameters of the model (m₀, m_1/2, A₀, tanB, u, m_A) induce small masses of the stop, sbottom and charged Higgs, the production cross section can be of the order pb. Through scans of the input parameter the cross section is maximized, with the requirement that the stop decays directly to a neutralino - simplifying detection, in the point (m₀, m_1/2, A₀, tanB, u, m_A) = (190, 187, -1147, 179, 745, 13.2) where the cross section is 559 fb.</p><p>The production is compared to the irreducible backgrounds stop, stop, t, tbar and t, tbar + 2 jets. The former poses no severe constraints and can be easily removed using appropriate cuts. The latter, SM background, has a cross section almost 1000 times larger and strong cuts must be imposed to suppress it. Neglecting hadronization and systematic effects, we show that a 5 sigma discovery is possible at 133 fb^-1. In this range, mH+ = 194 GeV and tanB = 13.2, other channels have little or no prospects of detecting the charged Higgs and the studied process shows good prospects for complementing charged Higgs searches at the LHC in the mid-tanB range.</p>

Conventional searches for the charged Higgs boson using its production in association with Standard Model (SM) quarks is notoriously weak in the mid-tanB range. Hoping to find an alternate channel to fill this gap, the production of the charged Higgs boson in association with supersymmetric squarks is studied. Using Monte Carlo generators the production at the LHC is simulated within the non universal Higgs mass model (NUHM). If the six parameters of the model (m0, m1/2, A0, tanB, u, mA) induce small masses of the stop, sbottom and charged Higgs, the production cross section can be of the order pb. Through scans of the input parameter the cross section is maximized, with the requirement that the stop decays directly to a neutralino - simplifying detection, in the point (m0, m1/2, A0, tanB, u, mA) = (190, 187, -1147, 179, 745, 13.2) where the cross section is 559 fb. The production is compared to the irreducible backgrounds stop, stop, t, tbar and t, tbar + 2 jets. The former poses no severe constraints and can be easily removed using appropriate cuts. The latter, SM background, has a cross section almost 1000 times larger and strong cuts must be imposed to suppress it. Neglecting hadronization and systematic effects, we show that a 5 sigma discovery is possible at 133 fb-1. In this range, mH+ = 194 GeV and tanB = 13.2, other channels have little or no prospects of detecting the charged Higgs and the studied process shows good prospects for complementing charged Higgs searches at the LHC in the mid-tanB range.

<p>The discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 provided confirmation of the</p><p>proposed mechanism for preserving the electroweak $SU(2) \times U(1)$</p><p>gauge symmetry of the Standard Model of particle physics. It also</p><p>heralded in a new era of precision Higgs physics. This thesis presents a</p><p>measurement of the rate at which the Higgs boson is produced by vector</p><p>boson fusion in the $WW^{(\ast)}\rightarrow\,\ell\nu\ell\nu$ decay channel. With gauge boson couplings</p><p>in both the production and decay vertices, a VBF measurement in this</p><p>channel is a powerful probe of the $VVH$ vertex strength. Using</p><p>$4.5$~fb$^{-1}$ and $20.3$~fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data collected</p><p>at respective center-of-mass energies of 7 and $8 \tev$ in the ATLAS</p><p>detector, measurements of the statistical significance and the signal</p><p>strength are carried out in the Higgs mass range $100 \leq m_H \leq</p><p>200 \gev$. These measurements are enhanced with a boosted decision</p><p>tree that exploits the correlations between eight kinematic inputs in</p><p>order to separate signal and background processes. At the benchmark</p><p>Higgs mass of $125.36 \gev$, the significance of the data assuming the</p><p>background-only hypothesis to be true has been observed to be</p><p>$3.2\sigma$ ($2.7\sigma$ expected), constituting evidence of VBF Higgs boson</p><p>production. The measured signal strength (ratio of observed cross section times</p><p>branching ratio to that predicted by the SM) is</p><p>$1.27^{+0.53}_{-0.45}$. The inclusive cross section times</p><p>branching ratio is found to be $0.51^{+0.22}_{-0.17}$~pb at $\sqrts =</p><p>8 \tev$, consistent with the SM prediction of $0.34$~pb. No</p><p>significant deviations from the SM predictions for VBF Higgs boson</p><p>production are observed.</p> / Dissertation

The rate of decay of the process W -> Wγ is well-defined by the Standard Model, so measured deviation is a strong but indirect indicator of non-Standard Model physics. Deviations of this coupling strength can be parameterized, in a model independent, general sense, into two parameters, Δk and λ.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2000--Freiburg (Breisgau).