Search for top squarks in events with a Higgs or Z boson using 139 fb - 1 of pp collision data at √s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Abstract

This paper presents a search for direct top squark pair production in events with missing transverse momentum plus either a pair of jets consistent with Standard Model Higgs boson decay into b-quarks or a same-flavour opposite-sign dilepton pair with an invariant mass consistent with a Z boson. The analysis is performed using the proton–proton collision data at s=13 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector during the LHC Run-2, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb- 1. No excess is observed in the data above the Standard Model predictions. The results are interpreted in simplified models featuring direct production of pairs of either the lighter top squark (t~ <inf>1</inf>) or the heavier top squark (t~ <inf>2</inf>), excluding at 95% confidence level t~ <inf>1</inf> and t~ <inf>2</inf> masses up to about 1220 and 875 GeV, respectively. © 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.