This report reviews the published results of searches for possible additional scalar particles and exotic decays of the Higgs boson performed by the ATLAS Collaboration using up to 140 fb⁻¹ of 13 TeV proton–proton collision data collected during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider. Key results are examined, and observed excesses, while never statistically compelling, are noted. Constraints are placed on parameters of several models which extend the Standard Model, for example by adding one or more singlet or doublet fields, or offering exotic Higgs boson decay channels. Summaries of new searches as well as extensions of previous searches are discussed. These new results have a wider reach or attain stronger exclusion limits. New experimental techniques that were developed for these searches are highlighted. Search channels which have not yet been examined are also listed, as these provide insight into possible future areas of exploration.

A combination of searches for the single production of vectorlike top quarks (𝑇) is presented. These analyses are based on proton-proton collisions at √𝑠 =13  TeV recorded in 2015–2018 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb⁻¹. The 𝑇 decay modes considered in this combination are into a top quark and either a Standard Model Higgs boson or a 𝑍 boson (𝑇 →𝐻⁡𝑡 and 𝑇→𝑍⁢𝑡). The individual searches used in the combination are differentiated by the number of leptons (𝑒, 𝜇) in the final state. The observed data are found to be in good agreement with the Standard Model background prediction. Interpretations are provided for a range of masses and couplings of the vectorlike top quark for benchmark models and generalized representations in terms of 95% confidence level limits. For a benchmark signal prediction of a vectorlike top quark SU(2) singlet with electroweak coupling, 𝜅, of 0.5, masses below 2.1 TeV are excluded, resulting in the most restrictive limits to date.

This Letter presents a constraint on the total width of the Higgs boson (ΓH) using a combined measurement of on-shell Higgs boson production and the production of four top quarks, which involves contributions from off-shell Higgs boson-mediated processes. This method relies on the assumption that the tree-level Higgs-top Yukawa coupling strength is the same for on-shell and off-shell Higgs boson production processes, thereby avoiding any assumptions about the relationship between on-shell and off-shell gluon fusion Higgs production rates, which were central to previous measurements. The result is based on up to 140 fb−1 of proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s = 13 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The observed (expected) 95% confidence level upper limit on ΓH is 450 MeV (75 MeV). Additionally, considering the constraint on the Higgs-top Yukawa coupling from loop-induced Higgs boson production and decay processes further yields an observed (expected) upper limit of 160 MeV (55 MeV).

Differential measurements of Higgs boson production in the τ-lepton-pair decay channel are presented in the gluon fusion, vector-boson fusion (VBF), VH and tt¯H associated production modes, with particular focus on the VBF production mode. The data used to perform the measurements correspond to 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions collected by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Two methods are used to perform the measurements: the Simplified Template Cross-Section (STXS) approach and an Unfolded Fiducial Differential measurement considering only the VBF phase space. For the STXS measurement, events are categorized by their production mode and kinematic properties such as the Higgs boson’s transverse momentum (pTH), the number of jets produced in association with the Higgs boson, or the invariant mass of the two leading jets (mjj). For the VBF production mode, the ratio of the measured cross-section to the Standard Model prediction for mjj > 1.5 TeV and pTH > 200 GeV (pTH < 200 GeV) is 1.29−0.34+0.39 (0.12−0.33+0.34). This is the first VBF measurement for the higher-pTH criteria, and the most precise for the lower-pTH criteria. The fiducial cross-section measurements, which only consider the kinematic properties of the event, are performed as functions of variables characterizing the VBF topology, such as the signed ∆ϕjj between the two leading jets. The measurements have a precision of 30%–50% and agree well with the Standard Model predictions. These results are interpreted in the SMEFT framework, and place the strongest constraints to date on the CP-odd Wilson coefficient cHW~.

The production of D^± and D^±s charmed mesons is measured using the D^±/D^±s → ϕ(μμ)π^± decay channel with 137 fb⁻¹ of √s = 13 TeV proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider during the years 2016–2018. The charmed mesons are reconstructed in the range of transverse momentum 12 < p_T < 100 GeV and pseudorapidity |η| < 2.5. The differential cross-sections are measured as a function of transverse momentum and pseudorapidity, respectively, and compared with next-to-leading- order QCD predictions. The predictions are found to be consistent with the measurements in the visible kinematic region within the large theoretical uncertainties.

The high-luminosity phase of LHC operations (HL-LHC), will feature a large increase in simultaneous proton-proton interactions per bunch crossing up to 200, compared with a typical leveling target of 64 in Run 3. Such an increase will create a very challenging environment in which to perform charged particle trajectory reconstruction, a task crucial for the success of the ATLAS physics program, and will exceed the capabilities of the current ATLAS Inner Detector (ID). A new all-silicon Inner Tracker (ITk) will replace the current ID in time for the start of the HL-LHC. To ensure successful use of the ITk capabilities in Run 4 and beyond, the ATLAS tracking software has been successfully adapted to achieve state-of-the-art track reconstruction in challenging high-luminosity conditions with the ITk detector. This paper presents the expected tracking performance of the ATLAS ITk based on the latest available developments since the ITk technical design reports.

Measurements of jet substructure are key to probing the energy frontier at colliders, and many of them use track-based observables which take advantage of the angular precision of tracking detectors. Theoretical calculations of track-based observables require ‘track functions’, which characterize the transverse momentum fraction r_q carried by charged hadrons from a fragmenting quark or gluon. This letter presents a direct measurement of r_q distributions in dijet events from the 140 fb⁻¹ of proton–proton collisions at √s=13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector. The data are corrected for detector effects using machine-learning methods. The scale evolution of the moments of the r_q distribution is sensitive to non-linear renormalization group evolution equations of QCD, and is compared with analytic predictions. When incorporated into future theoretical calculations, these results will enable a precision program of theory-data comparison for track-based jet substructure observables.

In ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions at the LHC, each nucleus acts a sources of high-energy real photons that can scatter off the opposing nucleus in ultraperipheral photonuclear ((Formula presented)) collisions. Hard scattering processes initiated by the photons in such collisions provide a novel method for probing nuclear parton distributions in a kinematic region not easily accessible to other measurements. ATLAS has measured production of dijet and multijet final states in ultraperipheral (Formula presented) collisions at (Formula presented) using a dataset recorded in 2018 with an integrated luminosity of (Formula presented). Photonuclear final states are selected by requiring a rapidity gap in the photon direction; this selects events where one of the outgoing nuclei remains intact. Jets are reconstructed using the anti-(Formula presented) algorithm with radius parameter, (Formula presented). Triple-differential cross sections, unfolded for detector response, are measured and presented using two sets of kinematic variables. The first set consists of the total transverse momentum ((Formula presented)), rapidity, and mass of the jet system. The second set uses (Formula presented) and particle-level nuclear and photon parton momentum fractions, (Formula presented) and (Formula presented), respectively. The results are compared with leading-order perturbative QCD calculations of photonuclear jet production cross sections, where all leading order predictions using existing fits fall below the data in the shadowing region. More detailed theoretical comparisons will allow these results to strongly constrain nuclear parton distributions, and these data provide results from the LHC directly comparable to early physics results at the planned Electron-Ion Collider.

This paper reports the measurement of Higgs boson production in association with a pair in the decay channel. The analysis uses 140^-1 fb of 13 TeV proton–proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The final states with one or two electrons or muons are employed. An excess of events over the expected background is found with an observed (expected) significance of 4.6 (5.4) standard deviations. The cross-section is for a Higgs boson mass of 125.09 GeV, consistent with the prediction of the Standard Model of fb. The cross-section is also measured differentially in bins of the Higgs boson transverse momentum within the simplified template cross-section framework.

The Lund jet plane (LJP) is measured for the first time in events, using 140^-1  of √s = 13 TeV pp collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The LJP is a two-dimensional observable of the sub-structure of hadronic jets that acts as a proxy for the kinematics of parton showers and hadron formation. The observable is constructed from charged particles and is measured for R = 1.0 anti-k_t jets with transverse momentum above 350 GeV containing the full decay products of either a top quark or a daughter W boson. The other top quark in the event is identified from its decay into a b-quark, an electron or a muon and a neutrino. The measurement is corrected for detector effects and compared with a range of Monte Carlo predictions sensitive to different aspects of the hadronic decays of the heavy particles. In the W-boson-initiated jets, all the predictions are incompatible with the measurement. In the top quark initiated jets, disagreement with all predictions is observed in smaller subregions of the plane, and with a subset of the predictions across the fiducial plane. The measurement could be used to improve the tuning of Monte Carlo generators, for better modelling of hadronic decays of heavy quarks and bosons, or to improve the performance of jet taggers.