A search for excited states of the Bc(±) meson is performed using 4.9  fb(-1) of 7 TeV and 19.2  fb(-1) of 8 TeV pp collision data collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. A new state is observed through its hadronic transition to the ground state, with the latter detected in the decay Bc(±)→J/ψπ(±). The state appears in the m(Bc(±)π(+)π(-))-m(Bc(±))-2m(π(±)) mass difference distribution with a significance of 5.2 standard deviations. The mass of the observed state is 6842±4±5  MeV, where the first error is statistical and the second is systematic. The mass and decay of this state are consistent with expectations for the second S-wave state of the Bc(±) meson, Bc(±)(2S).

Study of the rare decays of B 0 s and B 0 mesons into muon pairs using data collected during 2015 and 2016 with the ATLAS detector The ATLAS Collaboration A study of the decays B 0 s → µ + µ − and B 0 → µ + µ − has been performed using 26.3 fb −1 of 13 TeV LHC proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector in 2015 and 2016. Since the detector resolution in µ + µ − invariant mass is comparable to the B 0 s -B 0 mass difference, a single fit determines the signal yields for both decay modes. This results in a measurement of the branching fraction B(B 0 s → µ + µ − ) = 3.2 +1.1 −1.0 × 10 −9 and an upper limit B(B 0 → µ + µ − ) < 4.3 × 10 −10 at 95% confidence level. The result is combined with the Run 1 ATLAS result, yielding B(B 0 s → µ + µ − ) = 2.8 +0.8 −0.7 ×10 −9 and B(B 0 → µ + µ − ) < 2.1×10 −10 at 95% confidence level. The combined result is consistent with the Standard Model prediction within 2.4 standard deviations in the B(B 0 → µ + µ − )-B(B 0 s → µ + µ − ) plane.

A measurement of the cross section for the inclusive production of isolated prompt photons in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy ffiffi ffi s p ¼ 7 TeV is presented. The measurement covers the pseudorapidity ranges j j < 1:37 and 1:52 j j < 1:81 in the transverse energy range 15 E T < 100 GeV. The results are based on an integrated luminosity of 880 nb À1 , collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Photon candidates are identified by combining information from the calorimeters and from the inner tracker. Residual background in the selected sample is estimated from data based on the observed distribution of the transverse isolation energy in a narrow cone around the photon candidate. The results are compared to predictions from next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations.

Electron reconstruction and identification in the ATLAS experiment using the 2015 and 2016 LHC proton-proton collision data at √ s = 13 TeVThe ATLAS Collaboration Algorithms used for the reconstruction and identification of electrons in the central region of the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are presented in this paper; these algorithms are used in ATLAS physics analyses that involve electrons in the final state and which are based on the 2015 and 2016 proton-proton collision data produced by the LHC at √ s = 13 TeV. The performance of the electron reconstruction, identification, isolation, and charge identification algorithms is evaluated in data and in simulated samples using electrons from Z → ee and J/ψ → ee decays. Typical examples of combinations of electron reconstruction, identification, and isolation operating points used in ATLAS physics analyses are shown.

To assess the properties of the quark-gluon plasma formed in ultrarelativistic ion collisions, the ATLAS experiment at the LHC measures a correlation between the mean transverse momentum and the flow harmonics. The analysis uses data samples of lead-lead and proton-lead collisions obtained at the centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.02 TeV, corresponding to total integrated luminosities of 22 μb −1 and 28 nb −1 , respectively. The measurement is performed using a modified Pearson correlation coefficient with the charged-particle tracks on an event-by-event basis. The modified Pearson correlation coefficients for the 2nd-, 3rd-, and 4th-order flow harmonics are measured in the lead-lead collisions as a function of event centrality quantified as the number of charged particles or the number of nucleons participating in the collision. The measurements are performed for several intervals of the charged-particle transverse momentum. The correlation coefficients for all studied harmonics exhibit a strong centrality evolution, which only weakly depends on the charged-particle momentum range. In the proton-lead collisions, the modified Pearson correlation coefficient measured for the 2nd-order flow harmonics shows only weak centrality dependence. The lead-lead data is qualitatively described by the predictions based on the hydrodynamical model.