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.
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.
In this work, the interaction between the Higgs boson and the top quark is studied with the proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV provided by the LHC at the CMS detector at CERN (Geneva). At the LHC, these particles are produced simultaneously via the associate production of the Higgs boson with one top quark (tH process) or two top quarks (ttH process). Compared to many other possible outcomes of the proton-proton interactions, these processes are very rare, as the top quark and the Higgs boson are the heaviest elementary particles known. Hence, identifying them constitutes a significant experimental challenge. A high particle selection efficiency in the CMS detector is therefore crucial. At the core of this selection stands the Level-1 (L1) trigger system, a system that filters collision events to retain only those with potential interest for physics analysis. The selection of hadronically decaying τ leptons, expected from the Higgs boson decays, is especially demanding due to the large background arising from the QCD interactions. The first part of this thesis presents the optimization of the L1 τ algorithm in Run 2 (2016-2018) and Run 3 (2022-2024) of the LHC. It includes the development of a novel trigger concept for the High-Luminosity LHC, foreseen to start in 2027 and to deliver 5 times the current instantaneous luminosity. To this end, sophisticated algorithms based on machine learning approaches are used, facilitated by the increasingly modern technology and powerful computation of the trigger system. The second part of the work presents the search of the tH and ttH processes with the subsequent decays of the Higgs boson to pairs of τ lepton, W bosons or Z bosons, making use of the data recorded during Run 2. The presence of multiple particles in the final state, along with the low cross section of the processes, makes the search an ideal use case for multivariant discriminants that enhance the selectivity of the signals and reject the overwhelming background contributions. The discriminants presented are built using state-of-the-art machine learning techniques, able to capture the correlations amongst the processes involved, as well as the so-called Matrix Element Method (MEM), which combines the theoretical description of the processes with the detector resolution effects. The level of sophistication of the methods used, along with the unprecedented amount of collision data analyzed, result in the most stringent measurements of the tH and ttH cross sections up to date.
This work was nominated as an outstanding PhD thesis by the LPSC, Université Grenoble Alpes, France. The LHC Run 1 was a milestone in particle physics, leading to the discovery of the Higgs boson, the last missing piece of the so-called "Standard Model" (SM), and to important constraints on new physics, which challenge popular theories like weak-scale supersymmetry. This thesis provides a detailed account of the legacy of the LHC Run 1 ≤¥regarding these aspects. First, the SM and the need for its extension are presented in a concise yet revealing way. Subsequently, the impact of the LHC Higgs results on scenarios of new physics is assessed in detail, including a careful discussion of the relevant uncertainties. Two approaches are considered: generic modifications of the Higgs couplings, possibly arising from extended Higgs sectors or higher-dimensional operators; and tests of specific new physics models. Lastly, the implications of the null results of the searches for new physics are discussed with a particular focus on supersymmetric dark matter candidates. Here as well, two approaches are presented: the "simplified models" approach, and recasting by event simulation. This thesis stands out for its educational approach, its clear language and the depth of the physics discussion. The methods and tools presented offer readers essential practical tools for future research.
Astrophysical observations implying the existence of Dark Matter and Dark Energy, which are not described by the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics, have led to extensions of the SM predicting new particles that could be directly produced at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Based on 2015 and 2016 ATLAS proton-proton collision data, this thesis presents searches for the supersymmetric partner of the top quark, for Dark Matter, and for DarkEnergy, in signatures with jets and missing transverse energy. Muon detection is key to some of the most important LHC physics results, including the discovery of the Higgs boson and the measurement of its properties. The efficiency with which muons can be detected with the ATLAS detector is measured using Z boson decays. The performance of high-precision Monitored Drift Tube muon chambers under background rates similar to the ones expected for the High Luminosity-LHC is studied.
In 1964, a mechanism explaining the origin of particle masses was proposed by Robert Brout, François Englert, and Peter W. Higgs. 48 years later, in 2012, the so-called Higgs boson was discovered in proton-proton collisions recorded by experiments at the LHC. Since then, its ability to interact with quarks remained experimentally unconfirmed. This book presents a search for Higgs bosons produced in association with top quarks tt̄H in data recorded with the CMS detector in 2016. It focuses on Higgs boson decays into bottom quarks H → bb̅ and top quark pair decays involving at least one lepton. In this analysis, a multiclass classification approach using deep learning techniques was applied for the first time. In light of the dominant background contribution from tt̄ production, the developed method proved to achieve superior sensitivity with respect to existing techniques. In combination with searches in different decay channels, the presented work contributed to the first observations of tt̄H production and H → bb̅ decays.
This book highlights the most complete characterization of the Higgs boson properties performed to date in the "golden channel," i.e., decay into a pair of Z bosons which subsequently decay into four leptons. The data collected by the CMS experiment in the so-called Run-II data-taking period of the LHC are used to produce an extensive set of results that test in detail the predictions of the Standard Model. Given the remarkable predictive power of the SM when including the Higgs boson, possible new physics will require even more extensive studies at higher statistics. A massive upgrade of the detectors is necessary to maintain the current physics performance in the harsh environment of the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) project, expected to start by the end of 2027. The CMS Collaboration will replace the current endcap calorimeters with a High Granularity Calorimeter (HGCAL). The HGCAL will be the very first large-scale silicon-based imaging calorimeter ever employed in a high-energy physics experiment. This book presents the results of the analysis of the test beam data collected with the first large-scale prototype of the HGCAL. The results of this analysis are used to corroborate the final design of the HGCAL and its nominal physics performance expected for the HL-LHC operations.
The book discusses the recent experimental results obtained at the LHC that involve electroweak bosons. The results are placed into an appropriate theoretical and historical context. The work pays special attention to the rising subject of hadronically decaying bosons with high boosts, documenting the state-of-the-art identification techniques and highlighting typical results. The text is not limited to electroweak physics in the strict sense, but also discusses the use of electroweak vector-bosons as tool in the study of other subjects in particle physics, such as determinations of the proton structure or the search for new exotic particles. The book is particularly well suited for graduate students, starting their thesis work on topics that involve electroweak bosons, as the book provides a comprehensive description of phenomena observable at current accelerators as well as a summary of the most relevant experimental techniques.
This book provides a comprehensive overview of the field of Higgs boson physics. It offers the first in-depth review of the complete results in connection with the discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider and based on the full dataset for the years 2011 to 2012. The fundamental concepts and principles of Higgs physics are introduced and the important searches prior to the advent of the Large Hadron Collider are briefly summarized. Lastly, the discovery and first mensuration of the observed particle in the course of the CMS experiment are discussed in detail and compared to the results obtained in the ATLAS experiment.
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.
